Trailer: Epidemic Season 2 — Eradicating Smallpox

EPIDEMIC with Dr. Celine Gounder

KFF Health News and Just Human Productions

Society & Culture, #Eradication, Medicine, #Covid, Science, Life Sciences, #Sarscov2, Documentary, #Coronavirus, #Covid19, Health & Fitness, #Smallpox

4.6 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 6 July 2023

⏱️ 2 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

One of humanity’s greatest triumphs is the eradication of smallpox. It happened because a handful of public health heroes conquered social stigma, local politics, and much more with an unwavering determination to achieve the impossible. This new eight-episode docuseries explores this remarkable triumph and uncovers some striking parallels and marked contrasts to recent history in the shadows of the covid-19 pandemic. Host Céline Gounder, a physician and epidemiologist, traveled to India and Bangladesh, and her field recordings anchor the season. Each episode mines the smallpox-eradication history for lessons relevant to the next public-health emergency. New episodes coming this summer.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Bangladesh 50 years ago, global health leaders were on the cusp of something big.
0:08.2	Something many doctors and scientists thought might be impossible.
0:12.0	So one disease that can be eradicated from the earth.
0:16.2	Smallpox.
0:17.2	A virus's old-as-recorded history had been wiped from the planet.
0:21.6	Absolutely.
0:23.6	And forever.
0:28.3	It was grueling work.
0:30.3	Occasionally you have to park your motorcycle, take your shoes and socks off and walk across
0:35.1	a leech-infested peddysfield to get to the next case.
0:38.9	It demanded fresh ideas.
0:40.7	The standard way of doing things is not going to get us anywhere.
0:45.6	But we did it.
0:46.9	It was one of humanity's greatest triumphs.
0:49.8	And one, public health has not been able to repeat.
0:52.8	If there was a virus like Smallpox today, there's zero chance of eradicating it.
0:59.2	I'm Dr. Celine Gounder.
1:00.7	I'm a physician and epidemiologist.
1:03.4	On this season of Epidemic, we're going to India and Bangladesh to the last days of Smallpox
1:09.9	to learn how health workers beat the virus.
1:12.8	You can't just barge into a community, you have to go gradually with tact, with patience.
1:19.6	People who are pleading to get vaccinated, people who are really alarmed, they wanted vaccination.
	...

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