Nature is scary. And she unleashes epidemics to keep humanity in fear

Our world today is watching the situation in Wuhan and on the floating flu cruise ship very carefully. There is a very deadly coronavirus epidemic that has affected 75,748 people, caused 2,129 confirmed deaths and has spread across 27 countries. The World Health Organisation official website has a dashboard for this virus is scarily fascinating. If Wuhan, China is been the epicentre of the outbreak, then you wonder how with all the modern healthcare we have and stringent health screenings, how one person has reported being affected in as far away land as Finland?

How do we survive a pandemic like this flu? As you should know by now, there is always a fascinating documentary series if you want to know more, feel less scared. Netflix is a treasure trove for documentary seekers. I watched the docuseries Pandemic and I know there is hope. Because caregivers and researchers all across the world - New York, San Francisco, Guatemala, Oklahoma, Cairo, Goma (Congo), and even Jaipur - are working tirelessly to help patients deal with everything from the deadly Ebola to Swine Flu and even the ordinary flu.

I am a fan now of Dr Syra Madad who is working to make sure hospitals are prepared for the outbreak and am sure that if I go to Jaipur, I will seek out Dr Dinesh Vijay who works at a government hospital. And know that it would be great to host Dr Goracke, Dr Kayali, Dr Michael Yao should they come to Bombay. I found myself rooting for the researchers of a biotechnology company who are working to find one universal vaccine shot that can tackle the transmission cycle, break the zoonotic network where the virus moves to animals to humans.

You must have read about Anti-Vaxxers? People, who think vaccinating children is against their spiritual and lifestyle beliefs? There is a serious outbreak of measles across the United States because people do not want to vaccinate their kids! In Africa, teams of health workers who are working with patients of Ebola have to face death threats from the militia and hostility from the public who believe that the healthcare workers are actually bringing the disease to their towns! I was surprised at how much the doctors in India in the documentary are respected. But the words of Dr Yao from Congo resonated with me: If you quarantine people, the people will run away and hide, which means the disease will spread even more.

Remember how they wanted to quarantine entire towns in the movies Contagion and the original scary Outbreak? Dustin Hoffman and Renee Russo in hazmat suits is something that brings a shiver down my spine even today.

If you have been binge-watching drug cartel shows about clever Narcs or DEA agents going undercover to catch the drug lords, then you will love to hear from the man who discovered that there was a rampant drug epidemic in the United States even before it became universally acknowledged as a crisis. The Pharmacist on Netflix is all about the single-minded madness of one father who lost his son to a drug deal gone bad and decided that he was going to examine why so many were dying of an overdose of prescription painkiller called OxyContin.

The Opioid epidemic has decimated so many lives and affected families everywhere, and the American government has not managed to do anything to the Sacklers to own Purdue Phrama who created Oxycontin. They say that hedge funds are backing off from investing in the company, but isn’t it too little, too late?

There are many stories of epidemics that put the fear of God into you. And I’m sure even God will tell you to wash hands (and feet) ever so often and to stay at home of you have the flu.

But what happens if the deadly virus mutates inside you? And turns you into a carnivorous insect? It takes Japanese Anime to bring you this strange world where people safe from the mutation are forced to live within a walled city, the world is scary dangerous (because, insects) and needs insect hunters. Watch Cagasters Of An Insect Cage on Netflix. The animation takes time to get inside your head, but when a cool, laconic hero promises to save a girl, what is there not to like?