Anthrax 101 for Med School students

For science majors at Yale, learning about pathogens such as smallpox and anthrax is no longer a matter of medical history, but rather life-saving necessity. In the aftermath of Sept. 11 and the sudden outbreak of anthrax, previously commonplace flu-like symptoms now potentially warn of a much greater biological menace. Concerns have already begun to influence the education of future doctors as medical institutions prepare for a new kind of medical threat.

A few weeks ago, flu-like symptoms would have been treated with common, over-the-counter pharmaceuticals. But no longer. Doctors must now know when to assess flu-like symptoms as a possible case of anthrax. Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a warning to doctors around the nation warning that flu-like symptoms may be signs of more than just a relatively innocuous virus. Suddenly, doctors have become responsible for far more than the well-being of their individual patient. Physicians are now responsible for quickly assessing outbreaks and preventing further spread of deadly diseases that three weeks ago were safely relegated to the archives of medical history.

The School of Edpidemiology and Public Health (EPH) recently held a symposium on bioterrorism. It had been planned prior to the events of recent weeks, but was nevertheless very timely and appropriate.

Jeanne Guillemin, author of Anthrax: The Investigation of a Deadly Outbreak, also visited EPH to discuss her book on the 1979 outbreak of anthrax in Russia. Guillemin, professor of Sociology at Boston College, had visited what was then Sverdlovsk in the Soviet Union with a team of scientists to investigate the outbreak. The book draws on interviews with families of victims and the notes she kept during the project—thus providing a in-depth look at a community coping with anthrax.

According to Dr. Nancy Ruddle, head of the Division of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, EPH is "very receptive" to the idea of bringing in more lecturers such as Guillemin to discuss the emergence of anthrax and the concomitant issues of biological warfare.

"If people understand basic principles of public health, they will be prepared for this kind of outbreak," Ruddle said, emphasizing the need to "instill basic principles" in medical students. EPH does offer a course, Outbreaks Investigation, and other courses designed to educate students broadly about the science of outbreaks. However it does not seem that more courses will be offered in that specific area of study. Meanwhile, according to Dr. Ruddle, "the State department of Public Health has responded well and accurately—many of them are our graduates."

While anthrax has dominated the media in recent weeks, other diseases such as smallpox, tularemia and the bubonic plague have been rare in the U.S. for decades but also pose grave threats to national security.

According to an AP article, the University of Connecticut School of Medicine now offers a course on the pathogens terrorists may employ in their war against the U.S. According to the same article, graduate students in forensic nursing at Quinnepiac University are also being instructed in the threats bioterrorism pose.

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