"Contagion" scared the crap outta me.

[Graybeard]

Filmed in documentary style Contagion is about a killer virus and how it is transmitted, person to person, around the world.

It has a dynamite cast including Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Matt Damon, Jude Law and Lawrence Fishburn.

Gave me goosebumps. Recommended.

[siligut]

1. I enjoyed it but it was dramatized for Hollywood.

You can't take it as fact. We get a scare every five years or so about MSRA ( Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), bird flu and that flesh eating bacteria (necrotizing fasciitis). It's always something to keep us scared. Not saying it can't happen, but the probability at this time is very low. In the film, everything went just right for the virus, in reality it doesn't work that way. I was surprised Matt Damon would act in what is essentially a propaganda film.

That being said, it was an entertaining film and I would also recommend it.

I hope TZ will chime in here, if she can tear herself away from Facebook.

[TZ]

2. Haven't seen it BUT

I have read many scientific blogs about it. It is indeed a very realistic scenario. Don't want to scare you but its apparantly based on a lot of real epidemiology and virology with of couse some of it overdramaticized. I tend not to watch these types of movies, real life is scary enough, like the fact that a lab has indeed engineered a lethal to human most likely H1N1 virus.

[siligut]

3. My understanding it that a human host would be necessary to create a new virus that . . .

could infect humans. And if a lab has created a lethal H1N1 virus, then a vaccine isn't too far off.

Glad you brought some real life experience to the discussion.

[TZ]

4. its an interesting discussion

The lab that engineered this virus is having its data kept secret because people are afraid it could be misused. Which of course is not a thing in science anyone wants to see, data being basically censored but the work is somewhat important. I've got extremely mixed feelings on the topic

[siligut]

5. 12 Monkeys, a movie about a virus spreading death having been stolen from a lab.

Another apocalyptic film about the mass demise of humans. It could happen, but all we can do is keep our immune systems healthy. Really? Avoid enclosed spaces that other people are in? No planes, trains or any mass transit? People in China wear masks when they are ill, maybe that practice will be adopted worldwide as so many diseases are spread by droplets that people cough up. I agree the work is important and secrecy for the sake of safety is needed.

[TZ]

6. Couple of links for you

A discussion of the science of Contagion:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15390209
The debate on the bird flu data:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21328535.300-publish-lethal-flu-virus-work-says-who.html

[siligut]

7. Thanks TZ I will read these

I still believe that I heard the most about Avian flu during sweeps week a few years ago and the media appreciates the sensationalism that it offers. That doesn't mean it can't happen though.

[siligut]

8. The last few sentences from the BBC article

So, if Contagion depicts a possible, if worst-case, scenario, what's the most likely real-life candidate?

Well the scientists say it could be any of the things they know about, if they change or mutate in some way.

Prof Mike Catchpole, of the Health Protection Agency, said: "The one we watch particularly is flu. You only need to look back to the 1918 pandemic to see it can cause a huge number of cases - and a huge number of deaths.

"And we just don't know when or where the next pandemic flu will come along."

Or, perhaps more likely, the next global disease could be something that no-one has thought of yet.

That is it, the scenario we aren't prepared for. I spoke with a city planner a few years back about disaster preparedness and what I got from it is that a great deal of thought has gone into how to deal with everything from a tsunami to a flu pandemic. And it is knowledge of that preparation that allows me to not sweat every flu season. It is truly the thing we haven't even though of yet, that could be disastrous.

[bigwillq]

9. I thougt it was a very interesting movie.

I really enjoyed it.

[Alex4Martinez]

10. Kick. May 10, 2020. 80,000 dead and counting.

It happened.