Research: As the example of the current avian influenza situation, to read, a pandemic has not only consequences for the health situation of the infected, but also for the emotional welfare of non-infected.
These see themselves confronted with fears of infection or Impfnebenwirkung and for that reason alone claim of health care resources. This “emotional epidemiology” by Danielle Ofri is a pandemic in New england Journal of Medicine discussed (NEJM 361 (2009) 2594-5):
After news of the outbreak was a panicky mood wide, and the patient asked constantly after vaccination (especially patient, incidentally, who reject the seasonal flu vaccination).
When, after six months of the pandemic was a reality and a vaccine was available, the demand for the latter was far less wide: it was not tested too bad with it, then the arguments of Impfablehner.
This behavior is not rationally explain. Instead, seem certain patterns of emotional responses (emotional epidemiology “) dominate the connected with the emergence of new diseases.
Soon as a new disease such as H1N1 flu first infected, the public psyche rapidly. The fear of the unknown makes people prone to be greedy to vaccination. Over time, however, is a certain tolerance of the new “terror”.
Towards autumn, the mood changed again in the general population: A certain impatience was felt, coupled with the expectation that the H1N1 problem should still be solved. That this was not the case generated a mistrust of the health system. At the same time free Impfangebote but were little used.
These experiences show that there is not enough of a new infectious disease purely medical and epidemiologically to meet. The emotional Epidemiology has its own, from the actual infection situation more or less independent course, but also leads to a strain on health systems.
These considerations may be of assistance in planning for future outbreaks of use.
Tags: avian influenza, Emotional Epidemiology, H1N1
