How popular perceptions of risk from SARS are fermenting discrimination

Measuring the missing: Knowledge, risk perceptions and self-protection practices of COVID-19 among the Asian population in New Zealand: An online survey

Aim

Asians are the second largest and fastest growing non-European population in New Zealand but are under-researched in terms of their COVID-19 pandemic response. The paper aims to illustrates Asians' risk perceptions and knowledge of COVID-19, and self-protection practices to avoid infection and prevent community transmission.

Subject and methods

An online survey was used to collect data and received 402 valid responses. Data analyses included: 1) a descriptive analysis by using Chi-square tests and a Kruskal-Wallis rank sum tests to explore associations between responses and the four demographic variables (i.e. age, gender, country of origin/ethnicity, and region); and 2) a correlation analysis between different survey objectives.

Results

The descriptive analysis of the survey found that while ethnicity (within the Asian category) was the most influential variable that resulted in varying responses to many questions, gender and age were other two important variables in influencing the answering patterns. The correlation analysis found a positive correlation between the perceived 'dangerousness' of COVID-19 and respondents' overall compliance behaviour to New Zealand authorities' recommendations to prevent spread of COVID-19.

Conclusion

The majority of the respondents provided correct answers to the questions about the vulnerable populations, symptoms, asymptomatic transmission and potential sequelae of COVID-19; however, their understanding of the availability of a cure for, and the incubation period of COVID-19 was not consistent with the official information. The research also found that the higher perceived dangerousness of COVID-19, the better compliance to self-protection practices among the surveyed population.

In Biomedicine, Thin Is Still In: Obesity Surveillance among Racialized, (Im)migrant, and Female Bodies

Currently there is a plethora of research literature which constructs obesity as an alarming new global pandemic associated with a multitude of acute and chronic diseases rooted in lifestyle factors. Although most of these claims related to obesity are well accepted in the research community, some challenges remain. For instance, lifestyle factors only partially explain the risks of developing obesity. In this paper, I advocated for greater caution in interpreting some of the medical claims of obesity due to the epistemological and methodological assumptions that inform certain groups of obesity researchers. While most of the literature has reported lifestyle factors and behavior modification as the major mechanisms to achieving health and wellbeing, a few scholars have raised issues about structural factors.

Bits of Falling Sky and Global Pandemics: Moral Panic and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)

Whether it's a story about crime, the weather, politics, Hollywood celebrities, or public health, sensationalistic and exploitative coverage is a media staple. The mass media's coverage of the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in the spring of 2003 was no exception. The media's construction of the source, virulence, and transmissibility of this disease, a previously unknown cousin of the common cold, diverged considerably from its medical realities and contributed to a widespread though short-lived moral panic. Drawing on work in the areas of the sociology of health and critical criminology, this article explores the claims-making activities behind the SARS “epidemic.” Specifically, it addresses how threats to the public well-being are manufactured by the media and how these threats draw upon past and present cultural myths of dangerous “others” and contribute to unwarranted public fear, intolerance, and distrust.

Public perceptions and reactions to H7N9 in Mainland China

OBJECTIVES

H7N9 poses major challenges for Chinese society. Early examination of public reactions to threat is critical for framing appropriate public health responses. We investigate initial beliefs about the disease, knowledge, media use, anxiety, and behavioural responses to H7N9 METHODS: Randomly selected participants (N = 637) from Mainland China completed an online questionnaire 3 weeks after the first case (response rate 92%). Items assessed risk representations and communications, personal values, mortality and health anxiety, understanding of symptomology, health seeking and preventive and avoidant behaviours.

RESULTS

Despite moderately high anxiety, participants largely trusted official messages, particularly from Chinese officials. Respondents correctly identified symptoms of H7N9; 96% reported 1+ recommended behaviour change; other changes included avoiding poultry, crowds, and migrants, and cancelling travel. Worry was positively related to viewing some groups at enhanced risk, including the sexually active and migrants. 41% had already bought medicines due to the threat, although few (7%) were willing to self-quarantine if infected.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings indicate some understanding of the virus and compliance with recommended behaviours. However they also suggest potential discrimination against some groups, and potential high burden on medical resources, particularly amongst the anxious.

A flu by any other name: why the World Health Organization should adopt the World Meteorological Association's storm naming system as a model for naming emerging infectious diseases

This article explores the factors that contributed to the use of different names for H1N1 by diverse actors in the early stages of the pandemic of 2009 and discusses the implications of inconsistent naming practices for the public's understanding of the virus and the credibility of scientists and health authorities. The authors propose a naming protocol for novel variants modeled after the World Meteorological Association's practice for naming weather events, a model that would enable accurate transmission of technical information among experts and provide a stable name for public use, even in the context of incomplete or changing scientific understanding of the nature of the pathogen.

Initial psychological responses to Influenza A, H1N1 ("Swine flu")

BACKGROUND

The outbreak of the pandemic flu, Influenza A H1N1 (Swine Flu) in early 2009, provided a major challenge to health services around the world. Previous pandemics have led to stockpiling of goods, the victimisation of particular population groups, and the cancellation of travel and the boycotting of particular foods (e.g. pork). We examined initial behavioural and attitudinal responses towards Influenza A, H1N1 ("Swine flu") in the six days following the WHO pandemic alert level 5, and regional differences in these responses.

METHODS

328 respondents completed a cross-sectional Internet or paper-based questionnaire study in Malaysia (N = 180) or Europe (N = 148). Measures assessed changes in transport usage, purchase of preparatory goods for a pandemic, perceived risk groups, indicators of anxiety, assessed estimated mortality rates for seasonal flu, effectiveness of seasonal flu vaccination, and changes in pork consumption

RESULTS

26% of the respondents were 'very concerned' about being a flu victim (42% Malaysians, 5% Europeans, p < .001). 36% reported reduced public transport use (48% Malaysia, 22% Europe, p < .001), 39% flight cancellations (56% Malaysia, 17% Europe, p < .001). 8% had purchased preparatory materials (e.g. face masks: 8% Malaysia, 7% Europe), 41% Malaysia (15% Europe) intended to do so (p < .001). 63% of Europeans, 19% of Malaysians had discussed the pandemic with friends (p < .001). Groups seen as at 'high risk' of infection included the immune compromised (mentioned by 87% respondents), pig farmers (70%), elderly (57%), prostitutes/highly sexually active (53%), and the homeless (53%). In data collected only in Europe, 64% greatly underestimated the mortality rates of seasonal flu, 26% believed seasonal flu vaccination gave protection against swine flu. 7% had reduced/stopped eating pork. 3% had purchased anti-viral drugs for use at home, while 32% intended to do so if the pandemic worsened.

CONCLUSION

Initial responses to Influenza A show large regional differences in anxiety, with Malaysians more anxious and more likely to reduce travel and to buy masks and food. Discussions with family and friends may reinforce existing anxiety levels. Particular groups (homosexuals, prostitutes, the homeless) are perceived as at greater risk, potentially leading to increased prejudice during a pandemic. Europeans underestimated mortality of seasonal flu, and require more information about the protection given by seasonal flu inoculation.

SARS and New York's Chinatown: the politics of risk and blame during an epidemic of fear

This paper examines the production of risk and blame discourses during the 2003 SARS epidemic and responses to those messages in New York City's Chinatown, a community stigmatized during the SARS epidemic despite having no SARS cases. The study consisted of 6 weeks participant observation and 37 semi-structured, open-ended interviews with community members. Stigmatizing discourses from the late 19th century resurfaced to blame Chinese culture and people for disease, and were recontextualized to fit contemporary local and global political-economic concerns. Many informants discursively distanced themselves from risk but simultaneously reaffirmed the association of Chinese culture with disease by redirecting such discourses onto recent Chinese immigrants. Legitimizing cultural blame obfuscates the structural and biological causes of epidemics and naturalizes health disparities in marginalized populations. This research demonstrates that myriad historical, political, and economic factors shape responses and risk perceptions during an unfamiliar epidemic, even in places without infection.

Exploratory study on psychosocial impact of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak on Chinese students living in Japan

The aim of this study is to explore the impact of the 2003 SARS outbreak on Chinese students living in Japan. A cross-sectional study was conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire. The participants were recruited at multiple locations at the University of Tokyo, Japan. The results showed approximately 60% (96/161) of the respondents felt an impact of SARS on college life; they had experienced SARS-related fear, worry, depression as well as social discrimination and had taken SARS prevention measures for daily protection in Japan during the epidemic. The magnitude of the impact was associated with socio-demographic factors, including their age, specialty, area of previous residence in China and length of stay in Japan. The findings suggest that the SARS outbreak had a psychosocial impact on the Chinese students living in Japan, even though none of them had SARS. Social support tailored for these foreign students should be provided during such a disease outbreak.