When venturing to the bottom of the chemistry building to the Visualization Center, Dr. Eric Frost knows visitors have arrived before they even step into the office.
Frost is the director of the Visualization Center and director of the Central Asia Research and Remediation Exchange. He is also co-director of the Homeland Security Program at San Diego State.
On one of the many huge screens found on the lab’s walls, a live video feed displays a view of both the Visualization Center’s door and hallway.
Lately, Frost has been working to distribute information regarding the H1N1 virus. He’s worked on various Web sites that offer public health information faster than federal institutions such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where certain procedures and laws can slow the spread of information.
“San Diego has really become an example that is used now widely in Washington for, ‘this is how a community can help itself rather than waiting for the federal government to do things,’” Frost said.
The effort started when the first recognized H1N1 case appeared in Mexico and workers at the Visualization Center wanted to connect data from Mexico with people who were trying to get involved.
The Visualization Center took into consideration the way Mexico handled the situation and according to Frost, the virus didn’t spread as quickly as it could have because of the actions taken.
“The entire world owes Mexico a debt of gratitude because they took such aggressive action against it to keep people from getting together, to isolating the people who have it,” Frost said. “That slowed it down from spreading around the rest of the world.”
The Visualization Center has recently collaborated with Google.org, which is Google’s humanitarian-based Web site, to help spread awareness regarding levels of H1N1 activity. The “Flu Trends” section of the Web site features a color-coded map of the world showing the varying levels of H1N1 activity in different countries.
Google can also detect where people are searching terms such as “swine flu symptoms,” by Internet service providers and correlate it to areas where there are cases of the H1N1 virus.
According to Frost, the main concern regarding the H1N1 virus is not the health issues or number of people who will die, but rather the economic impact.
“The economic impact could be absolutely enormous,” Frost said. “The impact in other parts of the world is also going to be enormous.”
Another Web site, www.racetoresilience.org, was created in the Visualization Center where they build data and share it nationally to spread health awareness.
The Visualization Center has been influential in linking people to share information and find ways to get it out to the public, according to Frost.
“They’re getting a community of people at San Diego (State) to work together, to exchange information, to actually know each other … that fits the university really well,” Frost said.
“Because we’re a neutral party and so we can connect up people and do a bunch of things.”
