contagion
MSC Math
Contagion.docx3
2018 [contagion]
Contagion
The movie, Contagion is a US medical thriller-disaster film. It was released in 2011 and has been directed by Steven Soderbergh. The movie has a splendid cast as it constitutes A-list actors like Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Ehle, Matt Damon, Jude Law and Marion Cotillard. The movie was a success, both on box office and among the critics.
The main plot of the movie revolve around the spread of a virus which takes hold of the world by a storm, while public health officials and medical researchers attempt to identify the cause of the virus and possible solutions to solve the ever-growing problem.
The movie ends with the researchers finally reaching a solution, a vaccine to control the spread of this virus and eventually stop it altogether.
Just like other Soderbergh’s movies, the direction in this movie is praiseworthy. To give the impression of hopelessness and despair, the colors in the movie are on the dull side with dreary skies – the only bright color is that of the orange suits worn by the workers in the lab trying desperately to find a cure.
By showing different aspects of the stakeholders in this problem, the movie makes it possible for the audience to empathize with all of them and understand the affect it has on everyone. The three stakeholders in the movie are; public who is suffering from the virus, health officers who are identifying the cause of virus, and government who has the responsibility of taking care of its people.
Contagion showcases a classic example of epidemiology and incorporates its concepts in the true colors. Epidemiology is defined as the disease which is contracted by a population. In the movie, what seems to be a stand-alone incident at first (when Gwyneth Paltrow first suffers from a cold and then dies in two days as her condition worsens) quickly becomes a global problem.
The virus somehow spreads in the population and people start to die as a result of it. This concept was intelligently showcased in the movie; by showing the pain and grief which the public is feeling as a result of their loved ones’ deaths, the audience can see how such viruses are hazardous even for the existence of human kind.
The second concept of epidemiology is the identification and determination of the root cause of the virus. In the movie, the public health officers and researchers can be seen in a frenzy when they realize that the virus is real and is life-threatening to people. There is a long debate and struggle on what the virus is and how it got spread.
The medical staff can be seen arguing and trying their best to find the cause of this virus and how it spread in the population. With a lot of hard work and more deaths in line, the researchers are able to find the reason; the virus was created because of the contact between a pig and bat and was passed onto Gwyneth Paltrow. The genetic material from bat and pig viruses was so detrimental to human health that it caused their death.
At the end of the movie it is showed that Platrow got the virus from a chef working in Hong Kong. The chef was working on piglet, who had consumed banana dropped from a bat’s mouth; thus explaining the chain of events which led to virus.
After this break-through discovery, the medical researchers are enabled to determine that the virus spreads by fomites. The virus has a reproduction number of four as it mutates, the probability of the virus being infected is one in twelve, with the mortality rate of 25-30%.
The third concept of epidemiology is the process of finding a solution to control the situation ad stop the virus from spreading. In the movie, the concept has been incorporated as soon after the medical researches determine what the virus us and its cause, they start to look for solutions to make the situation better.
There is a half at first as scientists cannot find a cell culture as the virus is new and there is no research or studies on it. The first solution comes into existence as one of the scientists find a usable MEV-1 cell culture. By making use of an unattended virus, a possible vaccine is identified by the doctor but it cannot be said for certain if it’ll work; without experimenting on anyone.
In the haste of saving people and not wasting time of getting informed consents, she inoculates herself with the vaccine and visits her father who is gravely ill as a result of the virus; to her happiness, she does not get infected by the virus, proving the vaccine actually works. Soon enough, the vaccine becomes a success as the survivors are given it so that they have the immunity to fight this virus from spreading.
Because of the large number of population, vaccinations are awarded to individuals based on lottery system. In just one year, the researchers are able to vaccine every survivor.
