Posted on 04/11/2016 10:10:21 PM PDT by Smokin' Joe
Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.
The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.
So far the false positive rate is 100%.
At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.
*sigh* Such is life, and death... Collect all three pings...
Too true.
Thanks Joe
So when the Zika virus shows up in mosquito's here in the U.S., do we prohibit them from flying across state lines?
Do we prevent those who have the virus from leaving their homes?
I was speaking to someone from on of our local health departments. He had been in Atlanta for a conference. His comment was:
“They are taking this real serious. They spent all that time downplaying Ebola, and they are not doing that this time. The percentage of blood infected in PR is off the charts. This is going to be a big, big deal.”
The issue, as he explained it, was that once infected it remains in men’s semen for a long time. So the danger of the “small headed” babies is growing. And those babies are going to cost a fortune over their lifetimes. I know it sounds cold to refer to the cost of babies with disabilities, but that is the sad fact here. So the long term health care costs are going to grow exponentially if this gets out of control.
I suggested we bring back DDT. He did not disagree.
The cat is already out of the bag. The Pandora’s box is already opened. The horses are out of the barn.
I guess that is enough cliches.
The issue is that it is already in Florida and across some of the southern States. It will move northward.
The affects of the virus on the average healthy person are cold or flu like. In fact, most folks would shake it off without missing a day from work. But the danger lies not in the man or woman that gets it. The danger is that they may have it for a while and not even know it.
I am not joining in the chorus that we ALL have to be vaccinated. But, I am also not dismissing the potential for the long term costs associated with this virus to cost us a ton of money.
No doubt it will. I thought I'd read the other day that it's been "detected" in some 12 states already and there's nothing that'll stop it from moving north rapidly, especially after such a mild (temperature wise) winter.
The point of my post was to point out the obvious stupidity of a travel ban at this point.....
“You would think from all the hype that Zika is worse than the bubonic plague.”
Swine Flu....Bird Flu....Here a flu...there a flu...pick a flu
Been there done that. Crying wolf for cash and public attention will backfire when a real epidemic appears.
Duh. I know doctor(s) in the field that were told to shut up about the dangers of Zika early on.
Remind me how much do we pay these idiots in .gov?
Sorry but it is not relatively harmless. The money trail I agree with you. Never let a good crisis go to waste.
You may be onto the cause of DC fever!
A travel ban would not work in the US. There is too much land to cover.
Yes, I agree. Any type of travel ban within the US is not practical at this time.
References?
The fetus connection is tenious at best but the other effects in adults are of great concern and have a solid historical reference.
If infection with Zika virus is usually mild, why all the fuss? Unfortunately, the virus has two uncommon but severe complications that make it a menace to public health. The Zika outbreak in French Polynesia was associated with a twenty-fold increased risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome. This is an autoimmune disease, often triggered by infections, in which the immune system attacks the myelin lining of nerve cells, resulting in widespread weakness and paralysis. Weakness and paralysis spread from the legs upward. Two-thirds of patients lose the ability to walk, and 25% need to be put on a mechanical ventilator because of weakness of the respiratory muscles. Although most people make a partial or full recovery, 20% are still unable to walk at 6 months after diagnosis.
http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/what-you-need-to-know-about-zika-virus-201602019114
Associated - ADEM:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/10/now-scientists-find-zika-linked-brain-disorder-in-adults/
Wonder what it would take for Ryan and McConnell to say no more money, although I doubt if they ever would.
Thanks. I appreciate your links and comments.
I am asking for published articles, though.
Oh, I usually don’t use “scholarly articles” on FR too many complain because most can be difficult to access. Here is one off the top that addresses the subject that concerns me RE Zika:
http://www.esciencecentral.org/journals/emergence-of-zika-virus-2327-5073-1000222.php?aid=61298
I am told by a good friend that there is a few papers in the works with pretty good foundation and data collection techniques.
“I am told by a good friend that there is a few papers in the works with pretty good foundation and data collection techniques.”
The explosion of papers just thus year, 300 or more in just 2016, when over 50+ years there were maybe a hundred is remarkable.
Thanks for the link, I will take a look.
Here is info from an earlier article, before it became political and sexy.
A study of Zika virus infections was carried out in four communities in Oyo State, Nigeria. Virus isolation studies between 1971 and 1975 yielded two virus isolations from human cases of mild febrile illness. Haemagglutination-inhibition tests revealed a high prevalence of antibodies to Zika and three other flaviviruses used. The percentages of positive sera were as follows: Zika (31%), Yellow fever (50%), West Nile (46%), and Wesselsbron (59%). Neutralization tests showed that 40% of Nigerians had Zika virus neutralizing antibody. Fifty per cent of zika virus immune persons had neutralizing antibody to Zika alone or to Zika and one other flavivirus. A total of 121 sera had antibody to Zika virus; of these 48 (40%) also showed antibody to two other flaviviruses, and 12 (10%) had antibodies to three or more other viruses. The percentage of neutralizing antibodies to other flaviviruses in Zika virus immune sera was 81% to Dengue type 1, 58% to Yellow fever, 7% to Wesselsbron, 6% to West Nile and 3% to Uganda S.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2129900/
You’re Welcome, GOPJ!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.