Gun Violence as an Infectious Disease

Guns have been described as a “social toxin.” Like other infectious diseases, incidents of gun violence tend to cluster and can spread throughout populations by means of social contagion. While this is most often thought of in the context of homicide, adolescent gun-related suicide can also cluster. Gun violence is a major public health issue affecting adolescents in the United States. As such, evidence-based, multidisciplinary public heath solutions are needed for the prevention of firearm-related homicides and suicides. The public health approach has been employed in the creation of violence interruption programs using community health workers to address gun violence, modeled after other community programs to interrupt the spread of infectious diseases. Further research is needed to identify and target additional elements of the pathogenicity and spread of adolescent gun violence.