While the coronavirus is gaining ground in China, Club illico adds to its catalog the two-hour documentary “Pandemic: are we ready?”, Which details the origin and consequences of certain viruses and possible solutions to remedy them .
A timing that is purely coincidental, and which nevertheless confirms the relevance of taking an interest in the subject.
“It’s still crazy that this is happening in the world when the documentary is released!” Exclaimed in an interview Patricia Beaulieu, director of the project, before we even had time to ask a question. only question.
“When we shot it, we didn’t think it was going to be something like that, and we didn’t want it either. But it happens, it is in the news, people are concerned about a pandemic threat and we, we questioned about it just a few months ago … “
It was in fact at the end of summer 2019, on the sidelines of the filming of the series “Epidemic”, that production of “Pandemic: are we ready?” Started, a documentary of two episodes of hour, complementary to the suspense intrigue starring Julie Le Breton and Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, that TVA broadcasts on Tuesday, at 9 p.m.
The narrator Gabriel Sabourin, who plays the emergency physician Marc Gauthier in “Épidémie”, goes there to meet eminent and eloquent specialists capable of enlightening us on the bacteria and viruses that threaten our health. We are talking about, among other things, Ebola, which has killed more than 14,000 people since its discovery in 1976, and A (H1N1), the first pandemic of the 21st century, which affected in 2009 more than 109 victims in Quebec and 400 in Canada.
We also meet two mothers: one whose baby was exposed to measles at Parc Safari last summer, and another whose three-year-old daughter Charlotte was swept away by influenza in just three days.
From the outset, as soon as the show begins, we are warned: experts predict many pandemic deaths within 15 years. Thomas Sabourin, emergency physician at Honoré-Mercier Hospital in Saint-Hyacinthe and brother of Gabriel, says he is convinced that there is “always a risk of a global pandemic”, this kind of event having so far occurred once all 30 or 40 years, three or four times a century, we say in “Pandemic …”. Researcher microbiologist Gary Kobinger is clear: the question with pandemics is not whether they will happen, but rather when. We also discuss the importance of vaccines, and explain how contagion develops.
“This is a threat that is very much of our time, especially because of travel,” said Patricia Beaulieu. The pace goes fast; we can go to the Amazon and, 24 hours later, be back in Montreal. If we have a virus or bacteria, the virus or bacteria travel with us. This is what gives specialists a hard time, who must see invisible threats coming. ”
“Also, because of climate change, because the climate is warming, the insects are increasing. They resist our temperatures, and it becomes dangerous. “There will be more and more cases of Lyme disease, in Quebec, for example, because we cannot control the insects that go up.”
Accustomed to making documentaries (she worked on “Second Chance” in particular), Patricia Beaulieu had access to the research of the creators of “Epidemic” to orient her work for the documentary. She was able to consult the same resource people and go to visit their laboratories.
From his point of view, after having been immersed in this universe for several weeks, Quebec is “very well organized” to face the phenomenon of a pandemic, but vigilance will always be required.
“What is worrisome is when an unknown virus or bacteria hatches,” she said. When that happens, we don’t recognize the symptoms, we don’t have vaccines ready, we can’t intervene instantly. This is what scares all specialists. “
The documentary “Pandemic: are we ready?” Will be available on Club illico as of this Thursday, January 30.
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