When the SARS epidemic started between 2002-2003, it spread rapidly throughout different countries and infected so many people. It was fatal because it was an airbourne disease and could spread from person to person by so much as sharing the same breathing space. What I find to be so interesting, is the fact that this disease was able to be stopped quicker than it was spread due to the power of Internet communication.
@EthanZ #NHsmc I remember the epidemic of SARS shocking the world, it's amazing how internet was able to prevent more lives from being lost.
— Imani Wallace (@ImaniWallace_) January 31, 2016
This was the case because doctors were able to contact each other and let them know which countries they were traveling to and give updates on the patients they dealt with or the symptoms to look out for. At the time, Internet communication wasn’t as advanced, but the concept of an airborne disease that was rapidly spreading and killing so many people had forced society to find solutions in sharing information. The Center for Disease Control stated that “Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome spread to more than two dozen countries in North America, South America, Europe and Asia before the global outbreak of 2003 was contained.”
In today’s day and age, communication and technology is much more advanced. Diseases and illnesses that are spreading now will cause for a much greater upsurge in communication tactics and medical treatments. For example, a relatively new virus that’s spreading called Zika, has the public in a frenzy comparing it to SARS and all of the others that have preceded it.
We hate to say it, but Zika will probably have a bigger impact on #travel than SARS or Avian flu combined.
— airfarewatchdog (@airfarewatchdog) January 27, 2016
Modern social media, such as Twitter for example, truly are the definition to information access. On most days, all I have to do is open up my Twitter app or Facebook and a world of news. It helps me become more connected with current events. It gives me the ability to see so many things going on around me in the palm of my hand. My relationships with others are much more relevant given the circumstance that we are not in each others’ presence. Modern-day social media allow for an active network of my thoughts and ideas to be transferred among others, and vice versa. I think social media have done the task of bringing people closer together, while simultaneously tearing them apart (in a physical sense). I just believe that 10 years from now, there will be a whole new advanced platform of communication through these networks, as these digital networks are advancing each day.