Pathogens Gone Wild? Medical Anthropology and the “Swine Flu” Pandemic

Singer, Merrill

doi:10.1080/01459740903070451

Cited by 33 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…On a personal level, people are likely to experience fear for their health, family, safety or finances [1]. On a social level, there is a danger of stigmatization and marginalization of persons who have been in contact with the virus or have been infected [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cyberchondria in the age of COVID-19

2020

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The global epidemic of (mis)information, spreading rapidly via social media platforms and other outlets, can be a risk factor for the development of anxiety disorders among vulnerable individuals. Cyberchondria can be a vulnerability factor for developing anxiety in a pandemic situation, particularly when the Internet is flooded with (mis)information. The aim of our study was to examine how cyberchondria is related to changes in levels of COVID-19 concern and safety behaviours among persons living in Croatia during the period in which the first COVID-19 case was identified and when the country recorded its first fatality. Repeated cross-sectional data collection was conducted during two waves over a period of three weeks (N1 = 888; N2 = 966). The first began on the day of the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Croatia (February 24th, 2020) and the second wave began three weeks later, on the day the first COVID-19 fatality was recorded in Croatia (March 19th, 2020). Participants completed an online questionnaire regarding various COVID-19 concerns and safety behaviours aimed at disease prevention (information seeking, avoidance and hygiene) and a measure of cyberchondria (Short Cyberchondria Scale, SCS). We analysed whether changes to the epidemiological situation during the period between the two waves of data collection led to an increase in COVID-19 related behaviour directly and indirectly via an increase in COVID-19 concerns. The results indicated that, between the two waves of research, there was a pronounced increase in concerns regarding COVID-19 (b = 1.11, p < .001) as well as significant behavioural changes (b = 1.18–2.34, p < .001). Also, results demonstrated that cyberchondria plays a moderating role in these changes. In the first wave, persons with severe cyberchondria were already intensely concerned with safety behaviours. High cyberchondria and high levels of concern about the COVID-19 are associated with intense avoidance behaviours, R2 = .63, p < .001. A moderated partial mediation model was confirmed, in which the effect of the epidemiological situation was weaker for those with higher results on the SCS (as indicated by index of moderated mediation between -.10 and -.15, p < .05). As such, cyberchondria is a contributing factor to long-term anxiety and its impact during pandemic on the general mental health burden should therefore be further investigated.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cyberchondria in the age of COVID-19

2020

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“…Because disability is still often viewed from a medical perspective as requiring specialist services, affected populations may be inappropriately excluded from more general health education and intervention programs (Groce & Kett 2013). Similarly, public health measures often focus on biomedical and epidemiological methods and fail to recognize the web of social factors that lead to disparities (Atlani-Duault & Kendall 2009;Singer 2009).…”

Section: Relationships Between Disability and Influenzamentioning

confidence: 99%

1918 Influenza Outcomes among Institutionalized Norwegian Populations: Implications for Disability-Inclusive Pandemic Preparedness

Dimka

Mamelund

2020

Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research

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People with disabilities are often at increased risk during infectious disease pandemics, due to complex biological and social factors. Synergistic biological interactions can lead to severe complications or reduced vaccine efficacy, while people with disabilities also tend to have lower access to health care, higher rates of poverty, might be institutionalized, and are frequently excluded from preparedness planning and crisis responses. Further, there are limited data from historical epidemics to inform public health efforts that address disability concerns. We provide novel evidence for disability-related disparities in influenza outcomes using data from Norwegian psychiatric hospitals and schools for children with disabilities during the 1918 influenza pandemic. Both students and patients suffered higher mortality compared to staff members. Recognition of differential risk factors for people with disabilities is essential for the development of equitable and effective pandemic preparedness policies.

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“…Anthropologists have approached epidemiology in different ways. Some have studied epidemic outbreaks from anthropological perspectives, pointing to the need for understanding epidemiology as a situated practice (Briggs and Mantini-Briggs 2003;Lindenbaum 2001;Briggs and Nichter 2009;Singer 2009;Atlani-Duault and Kendall 2009;Herring and Swedlund 2010;Moran and Hoffman 2014). Other efforts by anthropologists have aimed at influencing how epidemiology is conceived and practiced.…”

Section: Epidemiology and The Right To Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neocolonial epidemiology

Cerón¹

2019

MAT

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The relationship between public health practice and the fulfilment of the right to health is often assumed to be synergistic. With the goal of understanding how exactly this relationship happens, I studied the everyday practice of epidemiology in Guatemala, seeking to understand how it shapes and is shaped by the notion of health as a human right. Here I present findings from my ethnographic investigation of the Guatemalan Centro Nacional de Epidemiología (National Epidemiology Center), created in 2004 with the explicit mission of contributing to fulfilling the right to health for the inhabitants of Guatemala. While the relationship between epidemiological practice and the right to health is influenced by the specific configuration of local and transnational flows (bureaucratic, economic, ideological, political, scientific, social, and symbolic), epidemiologists also play an important mediating role. There are four intermediate social mechanisms that shape the relevance of epidemiological practice to fulfilling the right to health in Guatemala. Given how the country's economic and social inequalities translate into enormous health inequities, an epidemiological practice committed to the right to health should aspire to transform, rather than reproduce, the social hierarchies underlying such inequalities. The mechanisms I identified shape how epidemiological practice contributes to the reproduction or transformation of such hierarchies. These mechanisms shape what I call 'neocolonial epidemiology', and include: institutional chaos, disciplinary conformism, global health international relations, and social relations at the national level.

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Pathogens Gone Wild? Medical Anthropology and the “Swine Flu” Pandemic

Cited by 33 publications

References 6 publications

Cyberchondria in the age of COVID-19

Cyberchondria in the age of COVID-19

1918 Influenza Outcomes among Institutionalized Norwegian Populations: Implications for Disability-Inclusive Pandemic Preparedness

Neocolonial epidemiology

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