Essay Questions

What is MERS?

The Middle East respiratory syndrome, called MERS for short, is a virus which, as the name suggests, originated in the Middle East (likely from Egyptian tomb bats). A betacoronavirus (MERS-CoV), it is thought that camels are primarily responsible for spreading the virus to humans as infection requires close physical contact (including the ingestion of camel meat). Experts consider the risk of mass infections to be reasonably low because of that.

Although MERS hasn't infected many people, it has killed 36% of those infected with it. Typically, MERS causes symptoms including: fever, muscle pain, cough, shortness of breath, vomiting, diarrhea, expectoration, and abdominal pain.

Currently, there is no vaccine available for MERS and no antivirals available.

According to Osterholm, why is the antivaccine movement so dangerous?

Quite simply, the antivaccine movement is incredibly dangerous because it puts those who are unable to get vaccines (for example, those with Guillain-Barré syndrome and those with compromised immune systems) in grave danger. When much of the population is vaccinated, something called herd immunity occurs. Essentially, herd immunity is an indirect barrier by which those who are not vaccinated can be protected from different diseases. Because of the antivaccine movement, the world has seen a number of diseases reappear, which puts everyone at risk.