Futurity

How culture affects the spread of pandemics like COVID-19

Culture is key in the spread of COVID-19. It also explains why choosing to head to the beach right now isn't a simple decision, a health scientist says.
A man walks down a crowded Florida beach, packed with spring breakers

Events such as the 1918 influenza pandemic and the resurgence of measles in the US and Western Europe can help researchers understand how culture influences the current spread of COVID-19 worldwide.

Carolyn Orbann, an associate teaching professor of health science in the School of Health Professions at the University of Missouri, studies how cultural behavior can play a role in the spread of infectious diseases.

Here, Orbann shares her insight on how cultural behaviors influence the spread of infectious diseases in human populations, including why this can help us understand the current spread of the COVID-19 virus and why the choice to go on spring break during a pandemic is a complex decision:

The post How culture affects the spread of pandemics like COVID-19 appeared first on Futurity.

More from Futurity

Futurity3 min read
Young Heavy Drinkers Cut Alcohol Use During Pandemic
A new study finds heavy-drinking young adults decreased alcohol intake during the pandemic. The researchers found alcohol use and alcohol-related problems substantially decreased in heavy-drinking young adults during the pandemic, and these decreases
Futurity3 min read
Common Antibiotic Tied To Higher Death Risk In Sickest Patients
Decisions about which antibiotics to give a patient when a life-threatening infection is suspected may have unintended consequences for patient outcomes, a new study reveals. Beginning in 2015, a 15-month national shortage of a commonly prescribed an
Futurity2 min read
Fruit Fly Testes Enzyme Could Stymie Harmful Pests
An enzyme from fruit fly testes could control bugs that carry disease and harm crops by stunting their ability to procreate, researchers report. “We have a toe in the door to control fruit fly populations with this enzyme,” says Steven Rokita, a prof

Related Books & Audiobooks