WASHINGTON — Laurie Garrett, author, journalist and authority on global health issues, closed out SLAS2015 by discussing critical issues in global healthcare — particularly mass hysteria over diseases in the U.S.

"Every single disease outbreak has social and political ramifications that go far beyond anything that should reasonably ensue from the interaction of our species with a particular set of microbes or even a single microbe," Garrett said. "We humans always overreact, we humans always misbehave in the presence of microbes."

Garrett, who has written several best-selling books on disease and outbreak, started her discussion by stating that her familiarity and knowledge of diseases goes back through many years. As she went through the history of epidemic diseases throughout the world, she showcased how hospitals were always in chaos.

Most countries with disease outbreaks — such as Liberia in the recent Ebola epidemic — don't have hospitals or running water, so they have to change human behavior by telling individuals to wash their hands, locating the diseases, informing authorities, having their president take over, etc.

Mass hysteria among panicky doctors and the residents of these countries made it even harder for medical services both within and outside the country to respond efficiently. And with the mass hysteria from the medical society within, the mass media pushes it onto the world.

As soon as we heard about Ebola occurring in Liberia, the mass hysteria through the media revved up fear. Mass media is a substantial power in modern culture, especially in America.

We live in a mediated culture — where news both reflects and creates the culture. Our society is continuously bombarded with messages from a multitude of sources promoting not only products, but also moods, attitudes and a sense of what is and isn't important in the world.

Society feared that the U.S. would have an outbreak of Ebola — this "Ebola ISIS" as Garrett mentioned — and it wasn't changing anything. Garrett mentioned that from a PEW survey, the fear of Ebola was the same amount as when the swine flu came into the U.S., yet Ebola had two cases, whereas swine flu had 250,000.

If any of these issues received the media coverage and public concern that Ebola was receiving, thousands of annual deaths could have been prevented.

"The panic was causing way more trouble than the virus, for sure," Garrett said.

The root of the fear is dealing with the unknown. The best way to stamp out panic is through preparation — something the medical world is severely lacking when it comes to infectious disease.

Even though we know diseases are increasing, we still hit every outbreak without a diagnostic, without surveillance capacity, without a vaccine and without a viable treatment "over and over and over." The outbreaks have continued throughout the years, and Garrett has questioned what we have been doing to better prepare.

"Apparently nothing," she said.