Dr. Noymer talked about some of public health's successes, as well as failures, regarding infectious diseases. Which of the following is false?
- Historically, we saw a single type of dominating influenza A strain in circulation at a time. However, since 1977, we now have co-circulation of two influenza strains simultaneously. Having two strains in circulation at one time makes it much easier to develop successful flu vaccines because there are more viral components for the vaccine to target.
- The word "quarantine" originates from the Italian word "quarantena," meaning forty days. This is due to the 40-day isolation of people on ships practiced as a measure of disease prevention related to the plague.
- The main Samoan island successfully quarantined from the 1918 flu pandemic, whereas Western Samoa did not. The Western Samoa population experienced devastating infection rates and death as a result.
- Vaccines are the biggest success story in public health, starting with the eradication of smallpox.