Daniel Kalla writes medical thrillers and is the author of five books, two of which are bestsellers. Kalla lived through the SARS crisis of 2003 as a front line doctor and as a member of the regional SARS Response Taskforce. This experience inspired him to write his first novel Pandemic which has been optioned for a feature film. Daniel Kalla’s books have been translated into ten languages and he is often dubbed ‘the next Michael Crichton.’
In this exclusive interview with Suite101, Kalla shares his thoughts on the current Swine Flu pandemic and general health care discussion in the U.S.
Swine Flu Pandemic Still a Risk Factor
Q. What are your thoughts of the H1N1 or Swine Flu Virus?
I have fictionalized this type of outbreak in my novel Pandemic. As a student of history I believe we have not seen anything as bad as the Spanish flu outbreak of 1918. The Spanish flu killed more people than any single natural disaster in the history of our planet. The Swine flu so far been mild and has turned out to be more like SARS. It hasn’t been a particularly serious illness and it’s a pandemic only because we haven’t really seen a virus like it before which is what a pandemic is essentially defined as.
What concerns me is the novelty of the virus; we have never seen a virus like it infect humans. Flu viruses are especially notorious for their ability to mutate and change and particularly change in their severity. The Spanish flu started mild and became a killer virus within 6 months. What scares me about the Swine flu is that the Spanish flu started the same way in the spring of 1918. It appeared to be a very harmless virus and didn’t seem to make people very sick but when it came back in the fall, it killed 50-100 million healthy people and no one really knew why.
U.S. Healthcare Reform a Complex Philosophical Undertaking
Q. What are your thoughts on the current health care reform discussion in the U.S.?
There is a need for reform. All medical systems look better from the outside and even with the countries with the best medical care, people have concerns. But for the amount of money that is being spent in the U.S. and the type of medical care that is being delivered everyone seems to agree that it could be better.
Born, raised, and residing in Vancouver, Daniel Kalla works as an Emergency Room Physician in an urban teaching hospital. He writes and manages a dual career as the author five books. His 6th book Of Flesh and Blood will be released in Spring 2010. Read more about the Author and M.D. Daniel Kalla.
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