Comments on: Damned if we do?

By: Miriam

Miriam — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 19:22:29 +0000

Dave and Judith, I really like that you guys advocate for the “information is power” side of the issue. I agree that well curated books are an invaluable resource both in the practical and the time capsule sense. Hopefully, we will be able to look back on this outbreak as a pandemic avoided and learn some lessons about how to handle the next threat.

By: Judith Burnett Schneider

Judith Burnett Schneider — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 19:14:29 +0000

Miriam, as a young scientist at the time, I too became obsessed with Ebola in the 80s. My husband and I greedily purchased two copies of the book because neither of us wanted to wait for the other to finish reading. We re-read the book before the movie came out, then saw the film. In fact, I re-read it every few years. The virus exists a perpetual, serious threat to humanity.

My daughter is currently working on her Ph.D. in Immunology (she’s in a Malaria lab), so — of course — I asked her what she thought about bringing the first doctor to this country for treatment. Her words exactly: “It will progress from an epidemic to a pandemic.” That was eight weeks ago. And look where we are, today, with the first death of a patient here and the recent death of a nurse in Spain.

With that being said, I agree with Dave above. It’s the knowledge we need, and where better to gain that knowledge than from a book written by an expert — or a widespread group of experts, not just those from the CDC? As an organic chemist, I hold the CDC in the highest regard. However, I question the thought processes behind the decision to bring the first Ebola patient to the U.S. Did they do so for the shear scientific challenge, sacrificing the responsibility they have to doing what it best for world health?

Work on the book, Miriam. We need it! And if a few people make money in the process, good for them. I’ve thrown away many dollars on books with sagging middles that I didn’t even finish. Buying this book will be money well spent!

Thanks!

By: Dave Sosnowski

Dave Sosnowski — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 19:58:07 +0000

When I was researching “Rapture,” I started reading a lot about epidemiology and emerging viruses. The best — and this predates “The Hot Zone” by about a year — was “Dancing Matrix: How Science Confronts Emerging Viruses” by Robin Marantz Henig. The book addressed not just ebola but a wide range of exotic diseases that could become more common place in our shrinking world at a time when antibiotic resistance is on the rise. One of the points made in the book was that we were long overdue for a pandemic (and this was back in the early 1990s); the facts on the ground haven’t changed much since then (as evidenced by the current scare). That all being said, I guess I come down on the side that knowledge is strength and anything that can be done to educate the public is justified (even if it happens to make money in the process). I vote yes.