Gina Kolata will be visiting the campus of Washington State University on November 6, 2007. Kolata is the author of Flu, the Common Reading at WSU this fall.
Do you have questions you'd like to ask the author? Post your questions in the comments section and they will be forwarded to the author before her talk.
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6 comments:
Assuming that the virus resurrected by Johan Hutlin from permafrost corpses was a 1918 strain with the same lethal effects worldwide, why didn't anyone get sick? Why didn't the tribesman digging through these remains inhale virus and start another pandemic cycle of infection?
With all that we know about antigenic shift and drift, vaccines, and anti-virals for influenza, do you think a pandemic as severe as the 1918 strain could occur again?
What do you think makes the 1918 flu so interesting and worthy of attention? What makes people without science backgrounds, like Kirsty Duncan, want to know more about the science of the flu?
What types of things could we do (if there is more we can do) as a society and as individuals to prevent another pandemic?
In your book, you seemed much more approving of the expeditions made by Johan Hultin than those made by Kirsty Duncan or the army, despite more careful attention to safety by the latter two groups. Is there reason to think the safety precautions were too excessive (should they have known there was no danger)? In other words, did you think those expeditions were very poorly handled, or was your tone more in response to the adventurous spirit and romance associated with a one-man trip?
Do you think national awareness of the 1918 flu could provide the general public with an adequate foundation to organize sufficient anticipatory measures to prevent a future pandemic?
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