"CONTAGION" 

THE MOVIE 

THE WORLD NEED 

TO SEE

By

Søren Nielsen

2021

Fears of the coronavirus have prompted movie fans to re-examine Steven Soderbergh’s star-studded 2011 thriller, "Contagion," a fictional account of a pandemic that kills 26 million people worldwide.

The virus in the Soderbergh film, called MEV-1, started in Asia and is easily transmitted through touch. 

(Anyone who watches it will never look at a doorknob the same way again.) 

The first symptom is a hacking cough. 

MEV-1 takes out Ms. Paltrow, patient zero in the film.

Matt Damon, who plays Ms. Paltrow’s husband, proves immune.

The concept of "social distancing" — which has recently been in the news — comes up often in the film. 

In a Feb. 25 news conference, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, recommended that cities and towns familiarize themselves with "social distancing measures," like dividing school classes into smaller groups or advising businesses to allow their employees to work from home.

"Contagion" also shows diligent scientists who ultimately save the day — a comfort for anyone looking for optimism — while highlighting the work of conspiracy theorists profiting off the spread of disinformation.

In an article for Vox, Alissa Wilkinson recommended watching the film for its skillful depiction of the spread of disinformation. 

"It feels like it could have been released yesterday," she wrote.

Scott Z. Burns, who wrote the "Contagion" script, agreed.

"These viruses are tracer bullets through our society," he said. 

"They illuminate a lot of the problems that we have. One of the things I didn’t anticipate was that we would have an issue with how truthful and on top of things our administration would be. I remember being most concerned that the spread of misinformation could be as prolific and dangerous as the virus."

As we live through a developing pandemic, some of us can't help but compare it to the 2011 American thriller which some claim predicted Covid-19: "Contagion."

Here is how the virus and drama of "Contagion" compares with the real life coronavirus pandemic as it currently stands.

In "Contagion" reveals that the fictional "MEV-1" virus originated from a pig that ate a piece of banana dropped by an infected bat escaping the destruction of its palm tree forest habitat in China.

That pig is then slaughtered and prepared by a chef who, without washing them first, shakes hands with Beth Emhoff (played by Gwyneth Paltrow), thus transmitting the virus to her. 

Emhoff becomes the "index case," meaning she was the first identified case.

The origin of the novel coronavirus terrorizing us today is still a mystery to scientists.

However, like "Contagion," bats are considered by some epidemiologists to be the possible source of the coronavirus.

Zoologists, ecologists and disease experts have told CNN that human behaviors -- such as destroying natural habitats -- might be to blame for the transfer of the disease.

When bats are stressed, which can occur from destruction of their habitats, their typically strong immune system is challenged, which makes it harder to cope with pathogens they could usually fight off. 

This allows an increase in infections and the shedding of them.

One theory on the origin of the current coronavirus is that the initial epicenter was likely a "wet market" in Wuhan, China. 

In "wet markets," wild animals that also may be infected and stressed are held together and sold as food or pets, leading to a mix of viruses and species.

Any "zoonotic spillover," or the transfer of disease from animals to humans, is exacerbated by population density and public transport, which make it easy for a virus to spread rapidly.

Scientists studying the spread of the coronavirus have provided another theory: 

"It may have spread into humans from animals in a less deadly form and circulated at low levels in humans for years before adapting to us and becoming seriously infectious, according to recent research published in the journal Nature Medicine."

If the "Contagion" bats were under stress from the palm tree destruction, the origin of the "Contagion" virus could mirror the potential origin of the current coronavirus.

Sick people in the film experienced fevers and profuse sweating, pounding headaches, sore throat and cough but also had seizures, dizziness and frothed at the mouth when they passed.

The signs of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, Covid-19 are similar, but there haven't been any reports of seizures or frothing at the mouth. 

Covid-19 symptoms include primarily a fever of at least 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.7 degrees Celsius), cough or trouble breathing, according to the CDC.

Emergency warning signs of Covid-19 include "persistent pain or pressure in the chest," "bluish lips or face" -- indicating a lack of oxygen -- and sudden mental confusion, fatigue or inability to rouse.

Less common symptoms of Covid-19 include those typically experienced during flu and cold: headaches, digestive issues, body aches and fatigue, and a runny nose, sore throat and sneezing.

Anosmia, a lack of sense of smell, and dygeusia, a lack of taste, are symptoms that might flag Covid-19 in its early stages among patients with a mild case.

Like Covid-19, the film's MEV-1 is a respiratory disease, carried in expelled droplets of saliva from a sneeze or cough or other secretions. 

It spreads directly between people when those droplets reach the eyes, nose or mouth of an uninfected person.

The film's virus is also transmitted by fomites, or surfaces that have been contaminated with infections after sick humans touch them.

The spreading of MEV-1 is exacerbated by the average person touching their face a few thousand times per day -- while in between, they're touching door handles, elevator buttons, subway poles and each other.

Evidence shows that the novel coronavirus transmits through the same mechanisms, according to the World Health Organization.

The number of people a sick person is likely to infect is called the R0, or R-naught, of a virus. 

The R0 of the fictional MEV-1 virus was 4, while the R0 of coronavirus is 2.2, according to a recent study of data from the first cases of Covid-19 in Wuhan and investigations conducted by Chinese and American health officials.

They found the epidemic doubled about every seven days. 

In other words, on average, each Covid-19 patient transmits the infection to an additional 2.2 people.

The mortality rate of the "Contagion" virus, or the percentage of those that die among an infected population, was estimated to be about 25% to 30%.

As of March 26, the mortality rate among patients with Covid-19 is between 1.8% to 3.4%, according to the CDC.

In "Contagion," blogger Alan Krumwiede (Jude Law) pushes forsythia, a floral homeopathic tincture, as the cure for the virus, although studies hadn't proved it worked.

Law, in the production notes for the film, described his character as the "index patient" for what becomes a parallel epidemic of fear and panic based on mistrust of news media, the government and health officials.

There are currently no cures or vaccines for Covid-19, yet the drugs chloroquine and its analog hydroxychloroquine have been called "game changers" by President Donald Trump. 

Both drugs are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to treat malaria and other conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

A man living in Phoenix died and his wife was in critical care after the two took a non-pharmaceutical version of chloroquine in an attempt to prevent contracting the virus. 

His wife said he heard Trump tout the drug in a news conference.

On March 29, the FDA issued a limited emergency use authorization for chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to treat patients hospitalized with Covid-19.

Despite limited evidence on the efficacy of the drugs for Covid-19, the US Department of Human Health Services said in a statement that anecdotal reports suggest they may be beneficial in the treatment of hospitalized patients. 

The FDA said the benefits outweigh the risks.

In "Contagion," CDC research scientist Dr. Ally Hextall (Jennifer Ehle) stresses that it can take months, maybe a year, to be able to distribute a vaccine after testing, clinical trials, manufacturing and distribution.

In reality, leading infectious disease experts say the typical vaccine takes between 8 and 10 years to develop. 

American health officials are trying to fast track that time frame, as are laboratories around the world.

Currently a year to 18 months is an optimistic time window for a possible coronavirus vaccine, Dr. Peter Hotez, a leading expert on infectious disease and vaccine development at Baylor College of Medicine, previously told CNN.

That said, a novel coronavirus vaccine Phase I trial in the US gave the first dose to test the safety of the vaccine to a participant in March. 

This trial is meant to establish that the vaccine is safe and that participants immune systems respond well, but proving the vaccine effectively prevents infection will take many more months.

Life as we haven't known it.

In "Contagion," civil unrest rips at the fabric of society, leaving banks and grocery stores ransacked. 

Police seemed unable to respond to crime, as martial law prohibited travel between states to stop the spread of the virus.

That hasn't happened in real life. 

But, as in the film, a lot of us have spent weeks separated from friends, family and places we love, wondering when the pandemic will end so we can get back to life as we've known it. 

People are under variations of restrictions on movement, including social distancing guidelines, shelter-in-place and stay-at-home orders. 

On March 29, Trump extended social distancing guidelines to April 30.

If there are any concrete takeaways "Contagion" offers us, it's a reminder to stop touching your face, and a beacon of hope that this too shall pass.

We can only hope we will one day be able to reach out and touch again, thankful that our pandemic is over.