INGSA CASE STUDIES PANDERIA: WHEN PANDEMIC LEADS TO PANIC Tatjana Buklijas (INGSA/University f Auckland). 1
PANDERIA WHEN PANDEMIC LEADS TO PANIC A new highly cntagius viral disease, labelled Frest Respiratry Encephalitis (FRE), is spreading. S far it has claimed 4,500 lives f which 4000 are in the cuntry f Panderia, a relatively lw-incme cuntry with the ecnmy dminated by lw labur cst-assciated manufacturing and subsistence agriculture. FRE is thught t have been transmitted t peple frm mnkeys riginally, and is nw spreading thrugh human-t-human transmissin. This is likely thrugh drplet spread, as the disease starts with a respiratry infectin. Within 24 hurs it becmes encephalitis, which is ften fatal r leaves individuals with brain damage. Average fatality rates frm FRE are arund 50%, but can vary frm 25% t 90%. The mrtality rate is higher in wmen, especially pregnant, than in men. Cmmunity engagement is essential t cntrlling utbreaks, thrugh a package f interventins: case management, use f face masks, surveillance and cntact tracing, a gd labratry service, safe burial practices and scial mbilisatin. Early supprtive care with rehydratin imprves survival. There is as yet n licensed treatment t neutralise the virus but tw candidate vaccines are under develpment. Effrts t tackle FRE als have t cntend with the pwer f scial media. Claims f cures and panicinducing cnspiracy theries have ften fllwed sudden utbreaks f diseases generally. The cnversatins abut FRE are n exceptin. Facebk, Instagram and Twitter are prminent in urban centres, but much f the infrmatin is wildly inaccurate. On scial media, #KickFREOut is nw a rallying cry. Institutins in cuntries affected by FRE and their neighburs have created Facebk grups as tls fr public awareness and advcacy, psting infgraphics n FRE preventin and sharing infrmatin. The Centers fr Disease Cntrl (CDC) and the Wrld Health Organizatin (WHO) wrk with these grups t disseminate as much infrmatin as pssible. 2
But fr every pst cmmunicating accurate infrmatin, there seems t be anther ne, pushing suppsed cures, r rumurs that pisned water, nt FRE, are causing peple t die. The scial media cnversatin quickly becmes chatic, with pliticians, experts, NGOs and cmmunity leaders all trying t be heard. Cnfusin and rumur have made it harder fr health care wrkers and gvernment fficials t cmbat the utbreak. In a Panderian reginal capital, Bayan, medical staff were chased away by cmmunity members wh feared that their infected relatives wuld be taken away fr treatment, but wuld never return. Dr Celia Lee is the chief medical fficer f Panderia and is wrking hard, with the help f the WHO fficials, t disseminate accurate infrmatin. She acknwledges that: Peple are really scared and nt getting prper infrmatin abut what happens in the treatment centres. They see peple ging int the hspitals and cming ut in bdy bags. Sme are turning t traditinal healers in a bid t cmbat the disease thrugh prayers, cleansing prcedures and herbal tinctures, rather than medical science. Als, unscrupulus merchants are selling FRE vaccines at extrtinate rates, made f little mre than limes and nins. Five days ag, a rumur began t circulate n scial media that drinking ht water with cnsiderable amunts f added salt culd prevent FRE. Already, excessive salt cnsumptin in the summer heat has led t 38 deaths and 140 hspitalizatins in and arund the mst affected regins f Panderia. In situatins like these yu have tw ptins, Dr Lee says. Yu can refute the rumurs ne at a time r yu can change the verall infrmatin envirnment with mre accurate scientific evidence delivered in apprpriate ways. This means hsting chats n Facebk, but it als means fcusing n the mre traditinal media. Dr Lee s netwrk f experts, supprted by varius internatinal agencies, have appeared n lcal 3
Panderian radi statins, distributed psters and dne utreach n FRE preventin, transmissin and signs and symptms. Alngside Dr Lee and her team, the mayr f Bayan has nw appinted a rumr manager t dispel myths abut fake cures that are spreading thrugh the city. Yu are the chief scientific advisr f the neighburing cuntry, Emergeria, a higher-incme ecnmy and up t nw has been free f FRE. Emergeria and Panderia have nt had the best diplmatic relatins and these have wrsened as their ecnmic status diverged. A grup f 12 refugees frm Panderia have entered the cuntry illegally and have been fund at the central bus statin. Three have respiratry symptms. Mass panic is breaking ut. Yu and the chief medical fficer are called t an emergency meeting f the Cabinet. What are the cnsideratins that yu will have t take int accunt in the discussin? 4
Ntes fr the mentr and fr case expansin (nt fr distributin) Cnsider the scenari frm the perspective f varius stakehlders: The ppulatin (urban and rural) Traditinal knwledge hlders, in particular indigenus healers Natinal gvernment Lcal gvernment Cmmunity health wrkers Internatinal medical rganisatins Officials in neighburing Panderia Other Sme cnsideratins might include: Traditinal and new channels f cmmunicatin Disaggregatin f the ppulatin t cnsider varius ways the disease is spreading (different ccupatinal sectrs fr instance) Scial science cnsideratins (insights abut lcal values and practices) Making cntact with fficials in Panderia and ther neighburing cuntries Staying up t date n the evlving science (thrugh CDC, WHO) and thinking thrugh ways t cmmunicate changing science. This wrk is licenced fr nn-cmmercial reuse, with attributin t INGSA and named authrs, and link t http://ingsa.rg. See https://creativecmmns.rg/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ fr mre inf. 5
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