HLS 6000 DF5 Comments Assignment: Infectious Disease Threat

Comment on all 4 1 paragraph for each and write who comment belongs to:
Megan Martin 
Infectious Disease Threat
COLLAPSE
Information of high relevance would include: the number of known cases for infectious diseases of concern for the past 10 years to assess the significant risk, how the disease spreads (for example, airborne versus blood/body fluids), and the severity of the symptoms (fatal versus non-fatal). 
In attempt to identify an infectious disease threat, three resources I would rely on include: the World Health Organization (WHO), the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the National Biosurveillance Integration System (NBIS). (If I can only use three resources, I would forgo the WHO and focus solely on US based organizations). These organizations specialize in collecting data and statistics relating to infectious diseases, along with resources on the best practices to treat existing cases and immunize against exposure. Similarly, I would want to bring in local health professionals who are aware of the diseases the elderly are most susceptible to. If possible to consult with a representative from all or one of the above mentioned organizations, I feel it would be beneficial in diagnosing this issue. Further, I would invite members from the healthcare management side to assist in development of procedures to administer/fund a potential vaccine and raise awareness to the general public, particularly the elder population. 
It appears that influenza already has a serious impact on the elderly. According to U.S. Medicine magazine, 90% of all influenza deaths occur in the elderly. There is an obvious explanation for this since those 65 and older have a weakened immune system and generally suffer from other chronic conditions, in turn increasing the risk for infection. High-dose vaccines have been rolled out for testing specifically in individuals over 65 years. As the deputy director of emergency services for my city, I would want to compile resources on high-dose vaccines to conduct a cost-benefit analysis on these immunizations.
Article found here: http://www(dot)usmedicine(dot)com/agencies/department-of-veterans-affairs/with-90-of-us-influenza-deaths-in-elderly-new-high-dose-vaccine-seeks-lower-mortality-morbidity-rates/ 
Joseph Connor
Discussion 5
COLLAPSE
The three types of information I would look for is infection rate, transfer methods (eg blood, spit, etc) and symptoms. I would use the CDC, World Health Organization as well as the Red Cross to look at similar diseases to attempt to predict and discover the afformentioned information sought as well as a way to potentially create a vaccination. I would bring in other researchers as well as statititions to help find a possible infection rate and to see how long we have to develop a vaccination. I would bring in members from the different resources as well and would also branch out to other countries to see if they have encountered a similar problem. Hopefully to work together and discover the source of the problem and a way to prevent any death. I think I would be most worried about different strains of the flu as well as I would also be concerned about those diseases that have been locked away in various government's storage, if a vaccine hasn't been discovered and dispered to other places and companies it could lead to a large loss of life.
Katherine Albers 
Week 5 Discussion
COLLAPSE
The types of information I would look for are which viruses are emerging internationally, their infection/mortality rates, and methods of transmission. The resources I would use would be the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the United States Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). I would want to know if there are any emerging viruses to prepare for a possible immediate threat. For example, I would want to know if there are currently instances of SARS in Asia. The infection and mortality rates and methods of transmission are very important because we need to know how fast a virus spreads and kills. For example, a virus that is airborne will spread much faster than one that is not, but then we need to consider how infectious and deadly a virus is. Ebola is not airborne, but has a 50% mortality rate (average across epidemics, some are as high as 90% mortality) and has no vaccine as of yet, so health care workers during the 2014 epidemic took extreme precautions to prevent infection. We need to worry about transmission rates specifically because of our global society. An individual can get on a plane in Africa with a mild fever and cough, and infect a plane full of people by the time they land in the US, due to the rapidly increasing viral load in the host's body. CDC and WHO are two agencies the world looks to for emerging virus information, the WHO specifically would be able to help with international information on emerging diseases. USAMRIID is under the Department of Defense, so they can help with possible intentional uses of biological weapons by terror organizations. 
The virus I am most worried about is influenza. Since the flu pops up every year and many of us get a vaccine to protect against it, we don't really think about it, but it can be a formidable threat. Every year, scientists need to predict which strain of influenza is likely to be the dominant strain that year and formulate a vaccine against it, but they can be wrong. The young and old are most likely to be adversely affected by influenza because of their weaker immune systems in comparison to younger adults, so it is a concern every year. Some strains, like the 1918 Spanish Flu, can disproportionately affect adults and young adults, which can lead to overwhelmed health services and blows to the economy due to sick working adults. 
Pamela Racine 
Infectious Diseases and the elder population Discussion
COLLAPSE
In evaluating the threat of infectious disease towards the elder population in the city, we would need to begin with an understanding of what would this population be threatened by, and then look for solutions in how to protect them from this threat. To start, identifying the source of the disease would be the priority, working with intelligence agencies and local health organizations to pinpoint the carrier of the infectious disease. While working on locating the source, a medical and science team can focus on finding the type of disease. Lastly would be pinpointing the most vulnerable populations and how to protect them from being exposed to the threat.
To carry out these tasks, the city would need to refer to resources such as city health and agriculture agencies, as well as consulting a national database such as the National Bio-surveillance Integration System(NBIS). Such a working group would have to be based on the city level, but I would reach out to the city equivalents of health, agriculture and environmental departments to start with, consulting their representatives on the best practices and procedures when facing the threat of an infectious disease. 
After looking at the readings I am actually concerned about the HIV/AIDS pandemic, because of the high rate of fatality, 35 million deaths and counting.