The Next Disease is only a Plane Ride Away...

Plane ride to St. Louis I took in summer of 2010.

Since being in college I have not been one to watch much local or even national news.  Today, however, I decided to open up CNNs website and see what some of the big news headlines had to say.  As a health science major (with great interest in wellbeing), I immediately clicked on the “Health” tab and one of the first articles that grabbed my attention was titled, “CDC director: A disease outbreak anywhere is a risk everywhere” by Dr. Tom Frieden.  It immediately grabbed my attention as we have been discussing the importance of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in my epidemiology class. I then decided to read over the article and what I learned was somewhat unsettling.  In the article Frieden discussed how easy it is for a disease to spread, and spread fast! He states, “We are all connected by the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat, and the next outbreak may be just a plane ride away.”  This statement stood out to me, and could not be more true, which is why it scary to think about. One simple mistake or overlook of a disease could cause an epidemic or even a pandemic! This is a chilling, yet realistic, situation.  Especially in today’s modern world with people traveling from country to country, the spread of disease is even easier and harder to control.  While I have not traveled internationally much, I know many friends who have for study abroad trips and mission trips.  It is scary to think that they could easily contract a disease overseas and bring it back with them to the US. Without epidemiologists and other health professionals working constantly to identify new viruses and bacteria and figuring out how to stop disease from spreading disease, it would be an even bigger issue than it already is. 

With aspirations to be a health professional someday, articles such as this are very informative and helpful.  Even though I hope to be an Occupational Therapist and not an epidemiologist, I can still use my knowledge on epidemiological matter to inform patients on how to help prevent the spread of disease. I can also encourage them to take antibiotics only when absolutely necessary, since the overuse of antibiotics has made many bacteria resistant to medication.  It is well known that it is much easier and cost effective to prevent a disease from ever occurring.  And at the end of the same I want to make sure that myself and those around me are healthy and free from contracting an infectious disease!