With Steven Soderbergh in the director’s chair, the 2011 pandemic film “Contagion” unveils a rational post-apocalyptic vision. After the outbreak of the new MEV-1 virus, the world is on fire. As Mitch Emhoff grapples with the loss of his wife, the outbreak’s first patient, global health services struggle to cope with the growing number of cases. Healthcare systems are collapsing and city streets are turning into blazing nightmares.
A star-studded cast of Jude Law, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow and Marion Cotillard bring the drama to life. The score is cerebral, the vision is ambitious and the realism is disturbing. Conspiracy theorists and TV media are touting forsythia and ribavirin as possible cures early in the outbreak. Are they real drugs? Let us find out! FRONT SPOILERS.
Are forsythia and ribavirin real drugs? Do they cure the MEV-1 virus?
Ghost reporter and conspiracy theorist Alan Krumwiede is one of the few to benefit from the virus outbreak. However, he is also an index patient – ​​in a disease of mistrust and paranoia. He is the one who finds the video of the man on the bus and brings it to a colleague from the Chronicle. Alan touts the theory that the video could indicate the start of an outbreak, but his friend doesn’t believe him. For now, the Chronicle does not want to be the paper that cries wolf. But following the outbreak of the epidemic, the readership of Alan’s blog reached twelve million.
In the blog – Truth Serum Now – Alan posts about the pandemic, and the paranoid masses swallow Alan’s concerns like anything. After his pandemic suspicions are proven, Alan touts the cure – Forsythia. He pretends to catch the virus and demonstrates that he takes forsythia on his blog (with a glass of alcohol, to keep his messianic side). After Alan’s prescription, all hell breaks loose as people head to pharmacies to buy the magic cure. When pharmacies restrict their daily allocation of Forsythia, riots break out in the streets.
A forsythia is a real group of plants nicknamed “the Easter tree”. Named after Scottish botanist William Forsyth, the flowering plant family has eleven species. Although found primarily in China and East Asia, Forsythia grows in gardens in southeastern Europe. Primarily a garden plant known for its natural beauty and yellow flowers, one species – Forsythia suspensa – is one of the 50 fundamental herbs of Chinese herbalism.
We understand the impact of Alan’s voice when a Hong Kong official discloses to WHO’s Dr Orantes that they are trying to obtain the herb. However, as Dr. Cheever points out in the interview, forsythia is not a scientific cure for MEV-1. The media is also toying with the possibility of using ribavirin as a cure, but Dr. Cheever dissuades them from making hasty judgments. According to his expert opinion, prevention is the best cure. Ribavirin is an antiviral medication used to treat respiratory syntactic virus (RSV) infection.
As both MEV-1 and RSV belong to the paramoxyviridae family, scientists are testing the drug to cure MEV-1. However, even ribavirin is not the answer. In the end, Dr. Hextall shows the daunting spirit of exposing himself to his sick father to find the cure. After injecting the vaccine made from live attenuated viruses, Dr. Hextall remains alive, proving the effectiveness of the vaccine. After the breakthrough, scientists speed up the mass production process and things go back to normal.
Read more: Where was Contagion filmed?
