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You Vs. The Swine Flu: 3 Little Known Secrets For UsingSocial Networks to Save Lives
Jed Diamond, Ph.D.Contact:Jed@MenAlive.com
www.Freedigitalphotos.net
 
 
It never occurred to me that I might get the swine flu. I’m healthy. I take care of myself. It’s summer time, not flu season. But I did and it wasn’t pleasant. Itcame on really fast. I was feeling fine and within a few hours I was really sick. Ibegan wheezing and had trouble breathing. I couldn’t stop coughing and Icouldn’t sleep at night.Since it started, naturally, on a Friday, I didn’t get in to see the doctor untilMonday. The only thing that took my mind off the discomfort was getting on theinternet. I read for work (I’m a writer) and I read for pleasure. I also came acrossa great article by Jonathan Peck, President of the Institute for AlternativeFutures,http://www.altfutures.com, which helped me see how valuable socialnetworks can be in combating the coming flu epidemic.In an article titled,
Twitter Epidemic 
, he described how the first cough can leadto real health prevention."Just coughed", Judy tweeted. Forty people across the nation paid immediateattention. "Couldn't stop for like 5 minutes." Right away, her boyfriend texted her back. "Probably Swine Flu. Stay in your room. Post a note telling your roommates to stay out. I'll bring Gatorade and Tylenol. I got a mask and gownfrom the clinic." Her father called Fedex to arrange a shipment of masks, gownsand a "care package" his wife put together. He then called Judy's college to notifythem she had flu symptoms and would miss classes. He also got her name onthe wait list for antiviral drugs. He and his wife then got on Skype so they couldsee how she looked while they talked.The mutation of the H1N1 virus into a more lethal form could make it as deadlythis fall as the Spanish Flu was in 1918 and 1919. But there was no Twitter or Skype during the Spanish Flu which killed tens of millions. During the SpanishFlu pandemic the population was only about a third of today's. Now we have 6.8billion people on the planet and more than half of us live in crowded cities. A NewEngland Journal of Medicine article "Urbanization--An Emerging HumanitarianDisaster" argues that this transition to urban living "threatens to create ahumanitarian disaster". IAF pandemic simulations raise questions about howeffective a public health strategy which relies largely on vaccines will really be.So finding other means, such as a modern day quarantine approach, isimportant.Social networking tools could become an effective part of the public healthstrategy for fighting pandemics. The key to stopping epidemics from reaching thetipping point is isolating the virus and reducing transmission. People will spreadthe virus if they converge in hospitals, clinics, doctors' offices and waiting rooms.Yet if they stay home and have isolation kits to protect caregivers, it becomesmuch more difficult for the virus to leap from person to person. Social networktools like Twitter could provide an alternative means of communicating and
 
arranging for care. A web-based public health strategy could allow people to bediagnosed and treated at home while the U.S. Post Office and private deliveryvendors distributing masks, gowns and medicines.Social networking can also be combined with other software tools to improve theknowledge, response times and research of caregivers and scientists. For example, Google is using the information gained through its search engine totrack flu outbreaks through Google Flu Trends. The site has, on average, pickedup outbreaks a couple weeks before the Centers for Disease Control andPrevention (CDC), the critical government organization tasked with trackingdisease. Fast, knowledgeable tools likeGoogle Flu Trendscould dramaticallyimprove the knowledge and response times of healthcare workers tasked withpreventing and containing outbreaks. Social networking tools can also connectcaregivers and scientists to help exchange vital information. IAF designed aconference with the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to developa networked approach that can speed knowledge discovered in basic research tothe practice of medicine. The current lag is often twenty years and the tollpatients pay for delay is already terrible. In a deadly pandemic, it could provecatastrophic.We all hope that this fall will bring a milder flu. A new strain of H1N1 may bemore lethal in younger populations than the older. However, this does notnecessarily lead to an unusually high death toll. In that event, the typicalresponse to flu season should be adequate. Signs suggest we'll have lots of people missing school and work, potentially setting the economy back but notleading to a terrible disaster. If that is the case, we will not need the highlycreative adoption of social networking tools to address this pandemic.However, in the long run a pandemic capable of killing tens of millions of humansis sufficiently likely, whether it's SARS, Avian, Swine or some other virus thatmakes the leap to humans. The growing human population, ecological changesand worldwide movement of people, plants and animals create morevulnerability.We the people can be the most important actors in bringing change whenlongstanding practices endanger health. Perhaps most importantly, networks of citizens can become knowledgeable activists in protecting the public health. Our work with Consumers Advancing Patient Safety and the World HealthOrganization's World Alliance for Patient Safety has taught IAF that patients cando amazing things.It takes organization and widespread sharing of knowledge, but that is whatsocial networks offer, and they can bring it quickly. If H1N1 mutates into a deadlyform this fall, people will need to learn quickly to keep the virus from spreading.That's why Twitter and other social networking tools may prove to be more than just short-lived fads. –End-
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Jed Diamond, Ph.D.

Mustafa, glad you liked it. Social networks, indeed, can save lives.

reply01 / 28 / 2011
Jed Diamond, Ph.D.

Thanks to old and new subscribers. I've pretty much gotten over the swine flu, but concerned about what we all face as the weather changes. I'd like to hear from you and know how your health is and what is happening in your community to deal with a major flu epidemic.

reply09 / 13 / 2009
pdmesq

Yes, and if Ebola goes airborne 90% of us are goners. Wash your hands, cover your sneezes and don't worry. It doesn't help.

reply09 / 08 / 2009
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