The Dangers of Superspreading \u2013 A Conversation with a 5-Year Old<\/strong><\/p>\nThere I am, babysitting 5-year old Thomas, when suddenly the ever-dreaded question comes up: \u201cWhat do you do at work?\u201d I would have expected this from relatives, friends even, but not from this little boy who I am trying to get to sleep. I guess it\u2019s his way to stay up a little longer. Ah well, since this is the most interest anyone has shown in my work for a while, I decide to go for it.<\/p>\n
Me: \u201cRemember that virus that everyone has been talking about? The one that causes COVID?\u201d<\/p>\n
He: \u201cYes, I made a drawing for the NHS! It had rainbows, and unicorns, and\u2013\u201c<\/p>\n
Me: \u201cYes, yes, so remember when the government told everyone to stay at home?\u201d<\/p>\n
He, getting excited: \u201cAnd I didn\u2019t have to go to school for weeks.\u201d Then, more disappointed: \u201cBut they gave me lots of homework, yuck, and mummy and daddy were always on their computer, and they got really annoyed every time I sang the Phineas and Ferb<\/em> song.\u201d<\/p>\nMe: \u201cErm, yes, that\u2019s it. Well, the government did that to prevent the virus from spreading. They thought that everyone could spread it equally.\u201d<\/p>\n
Me: \u201cBut after a few months, scientists did a lot of calculations on their computers and realised that some people spread the virus more than others\u00b9. They called those people superspreaders.\u201d<\/p>\n
He, indignant: \u201cI thought scientists did experiments with explosions and stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Me, under my breath: \u201cHmm, not so different from relatives after all\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Me: \u201cWell no, we can\u2019t all do explosions, but what I do is cool too! So these scientists found that just a few people cause most of the virus transmissions\u00b9. If only they could figure out how to stop this superspreading from happening\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas put on an expression like he was the next Sherlock Holmes: \u201cI know how! We should lock those people up and then we can all go outside again!\u201d<\/p>\n
Me: \u201cUnfortunately, it doesn\u2019t work that way. In theory, everybody could be a superspreader, because we could all cause a superspreading event. For instance, if I were infected and went to see a lot of friends indoors, that could be a superspreading event too. Would you lock me up for that?\u201d<\/p>\n
He: \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Me, sighing: \u201cThat wouldn\u2019t solve the problem. Instead, the government needs to know which measures prevent superspreading events\u00b2. That is where my job comes in. I am trying to find out which measures work best, by looking at the virus\u2019 family tree.\u201d<\/p>\n
He, starting to yawn: \u201cLike finding the virus\u2019 grandma and grandpa?\u201d<\/p>\n
Me: \u201cYes! By doing this, I can see how it spread through countries and find the superspreading events\u00b3. Then I can compare how the virus spread in countries with different COVID-measures. I hope to find out which measures caused the least superspreading to occur. That is cool, right?!\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Me: \u201cRight?!\u201d Still nothing.<\/p>\n
He was fast asleep. I guess viral phylodynamics are an acquired taste.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Anjali Wijnhoven, MSc Student, School of Public Health The Dangers of Superspreading \u2013 A Conversation with a 5-Year Old There I am, babysitting 5-year old Thomas, when suddenly the ever-dreaded question comes up: \u201cWhat do you do at work?\u201d I would have expected this from relatives, friends even, but not from this little boy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":242,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53,82507,82827,3202,154400],"tags":[53,82827],"class_list":["post-1070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-events","category-masters-students","category-phd-students","category-public-engagement","category-science-communication","tag-events","tag-phd-students"],"yoast_head":"\n
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