So, the inevitable has finally happened; a disease has broken out worldwide, people are dying everywhere, what can you do to stay safe?
The first step is to quarantine yourself completely. In theory, a global pandemic will take 90 days to kill everybody before the virus dies out, so you will need enough supplies to keep yourself going for 3 months, while you can hide away from other people and reduce your chances of getting infected. Food, water and the Friends: Complete Season 1-10 Box Set will pretty much sort you out.
If you are one of the lucky people who are immune to the virus, this doesn’t mean you are safe. RNA viruses such as those that cause Influenza have high mutation rates due to a lack of proofreading during replication. No strolling round the streets looking smug for you, get indoors like everyone else and wait for a vaccine to be developed. No boasting either, you don’t want to be singled out as a target by those unfortunate enough to not have immunity. On top of that, it’s just not a very nice thing to do.
Scientists, our time has come. We are the only people who can save the world. For once in our lives, we are cool! Or at least, valuable… As soon as people start getting ill, and even after the virus has died out, a vaccine is needed to prevent the spread of the disease further. Non-scientists, find yourself a scientist friend, preferably before a pandemic is declared.
Surprisingly, it is not always the ‘fragile’ members of society who are worst affected in a pandemic. The majority of lives that were claimed in the 1918 outbreak of “Spanish Flu” were adolescents and young adults. Once infected, the immune system would produce a response so strong, that it would kill the human host. Young children and older people, would not have a strong enough immune response to kill them, so had the advantage!
The many, many pandemic themed films out there show that there is a strong correlation between finding yourself a hot man/woman and surviving. That’s up and coming scientific research right there. Even if you don’t survive, you will have spent you last days with the guy or girl of your dreams! Alternatively, a dog will keep you company and make you look cool. If it was good enough for Will Smith…
Symptoms of the infection itself may make it harder to avoid than simply locking yourself in your house for a couple of months. “Catch it, Bin it, Kill it” would not really protect you from a mass of “28 days later” style, virus infected zombies. Unless you were using something a bit more dangerous than a tissue, that is.
Laura Depner