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Pandemic: Tracking Contagions, from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond
Pandemic: Tracking Contagions, from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond | Sonia Shah
48 posts | 29 read | 68 to read
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tullett94
Pickpick

9/10

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akfreeborn
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Pickpick

I learned so much from this book. I find our history with diseases so interesting and realize that we will have never ending exposure and threats by contagions. In light of the coronavirus that sprang up in wet markets in China it is good to understand what the threat is and what is effective e in terms of our human reaction to stopping the spread. We are our worst enemy sometimes.

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rsteve388
Pickpick

This book was fascinating and at times horrifying. It has a message of both being aware of our behavior with regards to pathogens and how thry spread while also being confident that in some cases modern medicine will save us.

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rsteve388

So I finished Chapter 4 of Pandemic and am.about half way chapter 5.

This book is conjuring up so many ideas for me..

In chaps 2 and 3 she talks about locomotion and crowding... Well ya know in 2019 lightrail and buses are croweded and they move.. Maybe we should think of them as a place to do.some public health work.

What a better way to target a vulnerable population then to give them a flu vaccine for free along with a free ride.

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rsteve388

Started reading this today. It is fascinating and intriguing. I am learning how pandamics start how they travel and the steps we take to beat them.

Crazeedi I've been wanting to read this one 5y
6 likes1 comment
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Amiable
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Ok, so maybe reading about antibiotic-resistant infections and mutated influenza viruses isn't the best idea while riding on a grimy train that hasn't been cleaned in years with people who are coughing and sneezing all around me. 😳😬😷

BkClubCare Ooooo- now I feel itchy! Best to you reading abt germs! Yikes. 6y
51 likes1 comment
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Amiable
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A mug of tea, a lot of fleece and a book about deadly pandemic-causing pathogens. This is how I do Friday night. 😎

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Amiable
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Maybe it's because I work in marketing at a hospital --or maybe I'm just weird!-- but I love books about diseases and epidemics and contagions and medical history. Thanks to @aprilpohren and #litsyswapoween, I get to dive into this book about how epidemiologists track pandemics! I'm so excited. #geekalert

SandyW I've read (and enjoyed) fictionalized accounts, ie Outbreak, Contagion, The Hot Zone. I think the non z fiction version of this topic would scare the pants off me. 6y
Aimeesue My husband is a Nuclear, Biological and Chemical weapons défense specialist; we talk about smallpox and Fukushima, etc. at dinner all the time. I dunno why people think we're weird. It's fascinating! ??? 6y
Amiable @SandyW "The Hot Zone" is actually a nonfiction account--and yes, it is terrifying! (edited) 6y
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Amiable @Aimeesue I know, right? It is fascinating! So I don't understand why I get strange looks from people when I'm reading about Ebola or yellow fever on the train! 😀 6y
Crazeedi I really get into these types of books too. I love all medical type reading 6y
aprilpohren I thought this sounded so good!! 6y
70 likes1 stack add6 comments
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JessNevertheless
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I always seem to pick the worst books to read while eating 😷

ephemeralwaltz Classic 😂😂 looks yummy! 6y
bullbunny Wow so fancy! Since I am a cna.. I am like immune to it. Like I could have had to deal with something nasty, wash my hands and grab something to eat XD or talk about it while eating XD 6y
JessNevertheless @bullbunny Thanks! Too hot to go out today so I just cooked instead. It's actually hard to gross me out too, but I seem to always gravitate towards books about microbes or diseases while eating haha. 6y
64 likes3 comments
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JessNevertheless
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Between books right now and I really really want this to come in on Libby soon! C'mon one person! ⏳⏲

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kristinshafel
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Pickpick

Wow. Really fascinating. Easy to follow for a non-sciencey person like me. Human beings and stupid and disgusting 🤢😷

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Loralie
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Pickpick

A really great book talking about pandemics & cholera. It covered the human & scientific reactions to disease. Right up my alley!

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bookwrm526
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Pickpick

This wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but it was a very interesting approach to the topic. Rather than discussing many different epidemics, she mostly focuses on cholera and uses it to discuss the political, social, economic, evolutionary and historical factors that lead to epidemics. Super short, and not burdensomely scientific language.

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skrishna
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WOW.

zsuzsanna_reads I have two dogs. The stuff is definitely NOT fertiliser. 😂 8y
rockpools Eew. 8y
unabridgedchick Eewwww!!! 8y
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skrishna Right??? This book is disgusting but fascinating. 8y
Suet624 Wow. That's fascinating. And not surprising once you hear it said. 8y
Cobscook Dog waste is a real problem in coastal waterways too. It sometimes causes shellfish beds to be closed to harvest. 8y
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BookishMarginalia
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Officially scared. 😷🙄😱 #firstlines #ReadPastFear

BookNAround Well that's scary as hell! 8y
CouronneDhiver What an introduction! 😯 8y
Betty Shudder 8y
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tournevis I explained what cholera was and how it works to my students this Thursday. They got scared too. Especially when I explains that it is still endemic on Earth, today. 8y
MicheleinPhilly I couldn't read that. I'd constantly be thinking about what's going to kill me first. 😷 8y
TheBookDream Why did I read that! 8y
107 likes12 stack adds6 comments
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BookishMarginalia
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Trying to decide if I'm ready for this one at this particular point in time 🤔 #Picador #ReadPastFear

Kappadeemom Sounds skerry 😳 8y
ScrappyMags I know what u mean.. sometimes it's gotta be the *right* time! 📚 8y
IamIamIam Omigosh, this sounds fantastic!!! Did that come out wrong? Lol 8y
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Oryx My partner is an immunologist AND it's his birthday next week. That's one pressie sorted then! 🎈 8y
CouronneDhiver I'm excited to get my hands on this... so interesting (Im a fan of the dark and twisty, according to some) Sounds similar to the movie "Contagion" 8y
mischa I read it last year - it was excellent. At one stage I was sitting in an airport lounge reading it when the person behind me coughed. I had a bit of a moment. 😝 Then the next day I realised I had bronchitis. 🤦🏼‍♀️ 8y
mjdowens I read The Hot Zone years ago. It scared me so much I actually had to get rid of the book so I never had to look at it again 8y
Handmade_Redhead This is on my tbr and has been yelling at me lately. 8y
pH7 Sounds right up my alley! Interested to hear your thoughts on it. 8y
kammartinez It is very scary, yes, but a very important and enlightening read, considering the state of our world today. It also has a pretty reassuring message about how we can go forward in a world of pandemics, so it does end on a somewhat-uplifting note :). 8y
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jessicareadsthings
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Pickpick

Alarming but not alarmist is how I would describe this. It's a highly readable look at both historical and current epidemics and pandemics, and also explores the current state of public health. Great for those concerned about the next pandemic, and I would also recommend for fans of fictions like 'Station Eleven'.

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Susan
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Barely into the first chapter and hooked!

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Lauren.Archer
Mehso-so

This makes me want to take a shower. It was more of a history of cholera. It wasn't until the last chapter that the author discussed the future of pandemics.

Jenshootsweddings Hmmmm ... I was eyeing this one 8y
DreesReads Hm. It sounds interesting. But I have read sooo much about cholera in historical documents, I also don't think I need any more info lol. 8y
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Lauren.Archer
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Starting the weekend with this light read...LOL

PurpleyPumpkin WOW‼️ I'd be interested to see your challenging reads. 😳😉 8y
hufflepuff_librarian Ooh!! I've been wanting to read that. Let us know how you like it! 8y
72 likes5 stack adds2 comments
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Poindextrix
Pickpick

It had its slow parts and it took me way longer to read than I anticipated, but this book is packed with fascinating (also terrifying) information.

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Poindextrix
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So apparently I'm more likely to survive leprosy... #silverlining

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Poindextrix
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Excuse me, what???

Carol Wut! 8y
[DELETED] 3604292746 Hmmmm, 🤔 that would be interesting! 8y
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Legxleg
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Pickpick

This book was so interesting! She draws parallels between historical pandemics and recent ones, talks about ways our biology may be altered by pandemics, and brings up things I never thought would have been related to disease.

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devon
Pickpick

I will never stop talking about the things I learned in this book. Case in point: I was walking my dog, full poop bag in hand as I searched for a trash can, just as Shah (narrating her own audiobook) drew an uncomfortably close comparison between modern dog owners & Victorian beliefs about hygiene.

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Legxleg
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Apparently people used to think you got cholera from eating too many vegetables.

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Poindextrix
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So technically it's Saturday, but I'm posting this for @Liberty 's Fun Friday. Only about 70% sure that the boom Denbigh decided to sit on is Pandemic. This was a while ago.

Liberty ❤️❤️❤️ 8y
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Poindextrix
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So London got a new sewer system because Goldsworthy Gurney opened the windows in parliament and the lords couldn't deal with the Thames stink. New York got new sewers because Brewers wanted better-tasting water for their beer. Continuing in the tradition of not-at-all surprising trivia.

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Poindextrix
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Well that's the least surprising tidbit of bank trivia I've ever encountered (not that I've run across a whole lot...)

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Nebklvr
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Pickpick

They are gathering more and more deadly abilities and awaiting for a prime opportunity to attack...they are microbes and they fear nothing. Shah makes difficult material engaging and accessible. Everyone should read this!

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catatonic1242
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Mehso-so

I appreciated the way this book was structured, but it just wasn't super interesting.

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Poindextrix
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Noo. Why?

MyBookLife 😖😖 9y
Carol 💩👎 9y
8 likes2 comments
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Poindextrix
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Eating oranges while reading about pandemics will cancel out the paranoia, right?

BookishFeminist Probably not, but you're certainly brave for reading this right before bedtime! How is it so far?? 9y
MyBookLife Well, maybe oranges isn't the cure for exactly everything 🤔 9y
Poindextrix I'm enjoying it, for lack of a better word. It's been going a bit slowly for me, but I think that's just because of the circumstances in which I try to read it. 9y
10 likes4 stack adds3 comments
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Liza
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Prominent Christians openly repudiated water's cleansing effect as superficial, vain, and decadent. "A clean body and a clean dress," opined one, "means an unclean soul."

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Poindextrix
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Bedtime reading. Because apparently I want to give myself nightmares of dying in a horrific plague...

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Poindextrix
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Three of the selections from my readathon stack.

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CoffeeK8
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Mehso-so

I actually learned a lot that I didn't know about pathogens, and much of the book was really interesting, but it was repetitive.

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balletbookworm
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Mehso-so

Good ideas, and I like the idea of the chapter organization themed around how infectious diseases take advantage of human behavior but confusing and needs a tad more science/definitions in the actual text. But hey - a new book about epidemiology!

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balletbookworm
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THIS. Because no one really gave a damn about poor black people in Africa until irrational white people in the US suddenly realized infectious diseases could hitch rides on airplanes. (See also: the AIDS epidemic and gay men/IVDU)

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balletbookworm
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The vaccines aren't very effective. It would be better to spend money on waste management and access to clean water (which would also catch other water-borne disease)

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balletbookworm
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Because the major UN donor nations have basically stopped funding. Private funding always comes with strings.

MelodySchreiber I'm really enjoying your commentary! 9y
balletbookworm @m_scribe thanks! 😃 9y
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balletbookworm
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Holla, Thomas Mann, for not being censored by the Italian government.

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balletbookworm
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So, not only did Burr off Hamilton, he blocked a public water works in NYC because he wanted to charter a bank. 😒

balletbookworm PS: this "water works" which was really used to fund his bank turned into JP Morgan Chase ? 9y
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balletbookworm
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This is why Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven is scary as hell.

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balletbookworm
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HIV is probably not the best comparison to Ebola since the infectious routes and disease progressions are so different.

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balletbookworm
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Ahem, editor/copywriter - the UI and Netherlands studies need better attribution or citation. I know who they actually are, but this is part of my field of study. #pedant #hereformyfellowladyscientists

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balletbookworm
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A spade is a spade is a spade. #hereforit