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vetguy1991 · 51-55, M
Haha
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Quizzical · 46-50, M
@strongbow You claimed that diseases/viruses that had been eradicated can come back...
"diseases that were once totally erradicated are now creeping back in the US", your words.
From your facepalm I am assuming you now wish to point out that viruses CAN be totally killed.
So which do you think it is? Your message seems to be a little mixed. 🤔
True, the Smallpox virus (for example) was eventually wiped out, but that took 200 years, and the vaccination itself proved deadly to some.
So, let's engage in a mental exercise for the sake of argument.
In the event we can completely destroy all strains of a virus from our environment, then that's all to the good, though this does take time, and viruses can mutate quickly. For example there are at least one or two different and 'brand new' influenza strains each year.
If we cannot eliminate a virus within a short space of time, we would need to continually vaccinate for decades, but, each time those viruses 'return' they have mutated. The strongest strains having survived. Each vaccination would have to be adapted.
Unfortunately, because of over-use of vaccinations and our now largely sterile environment each generation of humans has a weaker immune system than the previous because we're relying on those vaccinations to bolster our immune systems rather letting the immune system strengthen itself.
So, time passes... The viruses by their nature get stronger and stronger, the human natural defences get weaker and weaker, more reliant on outside help... And one day, we reach a limit on what our medical technology can achieve, we come up against a SUPER VIRUS! Our vaccines just can't be adapted to it, and our white blood cells haven't been able to adequately evolve alongside the virus and it walks all over them. So, we end up with an epidemic that we cannot treat, and have no innate immunity or defence against.
We are swapping a largely uncomfortable short term problem for a much more serious long term problem.
This isn't outlandish science fiction, we are already seeing this today with penicillin and antibiotics, and we've only been using penicillin to treat illness since 1942. In just 77 years we are witnessing antibiotic resistant infections and illnesses purely because of their over-prescription by doctors. We've weakened ourselves, and helped those diseases become stronger. Hell, MRSA, which seems to almost exclusively exist (or have developed) within hospitals was first discovered in 1968, and that was only 26 years after the use of penicillin became widespread. In just one human generation a strain of bacteria started to shrug penicillin off as if it were nothing, and now the damn thing kills people.
We're just setting ourselves up for a fall.
"diseases that were once totally erradicated are now creeping back in the US", your words.
From your facepalm I am assuming you now wish to point out that viruses CAN be totally killed.
So which do you think it is? Your message seems to be a little mixed. 🤔
True, the Smallpox virus (for example) was eventually wiped out, but that took 200 years, and the vaccination itself proved deadly to some.
So, let's engage in a mental exercise for the sake of argument.
In the event we can completely destroy all strains of a virus from our environment, then that's all to the good, though this does take time, and viruses can mutate quickly. For example there are at least one or two different and 'brand new' influenza strains each year.
If we cannot eliminate a virus within a short space of time, we would need to continually vaccinate for decades, but, each time those viruses 'return' they have mutated. The strongest strains having survived. Each vaccination would have to be adapted.
Unfortunately, because of over-use of vaccinations and our now largely sterile environment each generation of humans has a weaker immune system than the previous because we're relying on those vaccinations to bolster our immune systems rather letting the immune system strengthen itself.
So, time passes... The viruses by their nature get stronger and stronger, the human natural defences get weaker and weaker, more reliant on outside help... And one day, we reach a limit on what our medical technology can achieve, we come up against a SUPER VIRUS! Our vaccines just can't be adapted to it, and our white blood cells haven't been able to adequately evolve alongside the virus and it walks all over them. So, we end up with an epidemic that we cannot treat, and have no innate immunity or defence against.
We are swapping a largely uncomfortable short term problem for a much more serious long term problem.
This isn't outlandish science fiction, we are already seeing this today with penicillin and antibiotics, and we've only been using penicillin to treat illness since 1942. In just 77 years we are witnessing antibiotic resistant infections and illnesses purely because of their over-prescription by doctors. We've weakened ourselves, and helped those diseases become stronger. Hell, MRSA, which seems to almost exclusively exist (or have developed) within hospitals was first discovered in 1968, and that was only 26 years after the use of penicillin became widespread. In just one human generation a strain of bacteria started to shrug penicillin off as if it were nothing, and now the damn thing kills people.
We're just setting ourselves up for a fall.