Candace Gittens-Valbrune, Third Source Citation

MLA Bibliographic Citation

Gilman, S. L. (2010). The art of medicine: Moral panic and pandemics. The Lancet (British Edition), 375(9729), 1866-. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60862-8

Summary

A pandemic or an epidemic has a lot to do with how it is perceived by the public. The social and emotional consequences in the spread of deadly and uncontrolled diseases has always had a history. There has been historical evidence to back this up, and by 1966, Such terms quickly took on metaphorical and catastrophic meaning, for example in John Milton’s condemnation of an “epidemick whordom” in his 1643 treatise “Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce”. The article uses the example of the Swine Flu of 1918. The science seemed to link the virus’s antigenic characteristics to the 1918 influenza epidemic, which made moral panic about swine flu possible. The public health officials were revealed to have been woefully unprepared for that epidemic, which was seen as a political disaster by many people. Later in 1976, the continuation of this disease reinforced the public’s acceptance that there might be the potential for an epidemic of 1918 proportions. They saw safe, easily manufactured vaccines as a good solution towards the problem. The swine flu vaccine in 1976 caused more harm, the vaccination contributed to death more than the disease itself. Another example is in Hong Kong. In December 2009, the re-emergence of moral panic was present in that city reminiscent of the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). It was accompanied by almost paranoid fear, it was seen with much the same anxiety and paranoia in the West as a new cholera or Black Death. The medical responses to them were determined as much by the developments of medical knowledge as by the social meaning associated with the diseases. The power of the threat and the attendant panic was real, and we must also do so when we label a disease epidemic or pandemic.

Reflection

I do mostly agree with the article itself and the issues presented in it. We must be very careful when we label a disease epidemic or pandemic, as it can cause widespread anxiety and moral panic amongst people. These types of disease have reflected numerous ones in the past, and have also been helpful in shaping our definition of what is an epidemic or pandemic. The absolute panic that these people were facing and describing was absolutely real, even though the science said that their reactions were unproportionate to the actual disease.

Quotation 

 The article states that, “It is easier to generate panic than to disseminate real information. And we have been there before.”