You solely reside as soon as: Epidemiologists analyze well being dangers in all of the James Bond movies

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Enlarge / Epidemiologists analyzed all 25 James Bond movies to evaluate 007’s well being dangers whereas touring around the globe.Aurich Lawson | Getty Pictures

A graduate pupil in epidemiology working within the area leads a dangerous life, as Wouter Graumans found when he got here down with a critical case of meals poisoning whereas visiting Burkina Faso to review infectious illness. He might have additionally had a contact of delirium, as his expertise prompted him to marvel how James Bond, Britain’s most well-known undercover agent, managed to journey all around the globe with out selecting up a lot as a case of the sniffles.
Graumans, who’s engaged on his PhD at Radboud College Medical Heart within the Netherlands, determined to undertake an epidemiological evaluation of all 25 Bond movies between 1962 and 2021. He discovered keen accomplices in Teun Bousema, an epidemiologist, and Will Stone, who research malaria, each affiliated with the London College of Hygiene and Tropical Medication in England.
The result’s a extremely entertaining, tongue-in-cheek quick paper within the journal Journey Medication and Infectious Illness. The paper particulars 007’s publicity threat to infectious brokers throughout his international travels, masking all the things from foodborne pathogens to ticks and mites, hangovers and dehydration from all these martinis, parasites, and unsafe intercourse. (The authors’ emails requesting funding from EON Productions sadly went unanswered.)
Enlarge / The CDC does not present journey tips for Bond’s journey to house in Moonraker.EON Productions
Conducting the research meant rewatching all 25 James Bond movies, representing a time funding of about 3,113 minutes per writer—hours “that weren’t spent on extra urgent societal points or types of leisure which are extra acceptable in educational circles,” the researchers wrote. In all, they counted 86 worldwide journeys to 46 completely different nations and based mostly their evaluation on the Heart for Illness Management’s journey suggestions for every of these nations. They excluded Bond’s journey to house to assault Hugo Drax’s house station in Moonraker on the grounds that “journey recommendation for this area is at the moment unavailable.”
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Foodborne pathogens are an apparent threat issue for international vacationers (as Graumans can attest). As an illustration, in Reside and Let Die, Bond faces a horde of hungry crocodiles on an island however manages to distract them by tossing items of uncooked hen at them. However did 007 wash his fingers afterward? He most actually didn’t, being preoccupied with blowing up a drug lab and interesting in a daring speedboat pursuit. The authors be aware that uncooked hen is understood to typically carry micro organism like Campylobacter, Salmonella, and Clostridium, all of which might trigger extreme diarrhea.
Enlarge / Hungry, hungry crocodiles in Reside and Let Die: Bond distracts them by tossing bits of uncooked hen, however he neglects to scrub his fingers after reaching security.EON Productions
What about 007’s well-known penchant for martinis which are shaken, not stirred? We hardly see Bond drink something non-alcoholic, in accordance with the authors, but he by no means appears to expertise a hangover. He drinks orange juice in From Russia With Love, (poisoned) espresso in Dr. No, and saltwater in On line casino Royale—the latter solely to induce vomiting after his drink (a Vesper) is poisoned mid-poker-tournament. Other than the fixed threat of poisoning, Bond additionally dangers dehydration, heatstroke, or sunstroke, since he engages in very strenuous bodily exercise, typically in extremely popular environments, whereas eschewing sunscreen. He will increase his dehydration threat even additional in The Spy Who Liked Me by doing all of this in a black, three-piece swimsuit—hardly health-appropriate apparel below the circumstances.
Then there’s the matter of intercourse. James Bond has all the time been fairly the women’ man—Graumans et al. counted 59 “amorous actions” throughout 25 movies for a median of two.4 per movie—and he is not notably diligent about protected intercourse practices. He beds a lady in Thunderball inside 20 minutes of assembly her, which leaves little time to trade info on previous sexual histories or preferences for contraception.