Posted on 04/20/2002 10:17:35 AM PDT by ex-Texan
Please accept my apology then. Its difficult to seperate sarcasm and rhetoric from the uninformed without the /sarcasm and /rhetoric flags.
Not a naturally-occuring one, I think, but I agree.
Bacteria also (not often, but sometimes) transmit genetic material via being infected with viruses that lay dormant until activated by retranscription of the RNA and subsequent viral takeover, which infects new bacteria. Very versatile little buggers.
I agree with you. I would never release the doctor or the patient from responsibility. That would be too close to victim thinking. I just wish the government as a whole would act less as nanny activist and act more as a support function for citizens. Imagine what it would be like if you could surf to the FDA official site to verify any information you had. Likewise, the sites like WebMD would have a place to corroborate the info they had.
82...Not a naturally-occuring one, I think, but I agree...Bacteria also (not often, but sometimes) transmit genetic material via being infected with viruses that lay dormant until activated by retranscription of the RNA and subsequent viral takeover, which infects new bacteria. Very versatile little buggers...
I hope I'm wrong, but I strongly disagree. As we immunize, the race as a whole weakens. Instead of dying, the weak immune systems survive and reproduce, passing on weak traits. At the same time, the virus and bacteria strains are just as strong and a small mutation in the right gene will allow them to spread just as they did in years past. Plus we now have odd creatures like Prions. And the population is more mobile and interconnected.
Thanks for that. At one point I thought we were on the same page and the next I wasn't sure what you were saying.
My father, 56 years old and healthy as a horse, in June of last year came down with a fever. He ended up in the hospital, diagnosed with endocarditis - an infection of the heart - due to a birth defect that he never knew he had called a "bicuspid aortic valve." His aortic valve inside of his heart only had two cusps, instead of the normal three. He never had any symptoms of this, until it became infected. He had open heart surgery to replace the valve and seemed to recover. He was doing very well at first, and the doctors were amazed that he was up and walking very soon after the surgery. He went home, but his fever never subsided, and he ended up dying about a week later from the infection, which had spread to his brain. (The hospital had no idea until we took him to the ER and on a CAT scan they saw an abscess.) It was a bacterial infection that killed him.. the bacteria was resistant to the strongest antibiotics they could pump into him. My dad was very rarely sick and hadn't been on any antiobiotics for years, probably decades, before this happened. You'd think in this day and age that dying of an infection would be unheard of.
I don't think the drug companies stopped making childhood vaccines. They only stopped making small pox vaccine but children still get vaccinated against measles, mumps, and others
My heart goes out to him. I have never experienced Shingles but I have read about how painful it is.
Don't want to be a pedantic pain in the butt here, but many people don't realize that 'shingles' are a latent complication of 'chicken pox.' While we will probably never get chicken pox again, the virus goes dormant in our nervous system. At some later time it can recur as Shingles which breaks out along nerve plexes and causes the pain you have described.
Hope our hubby doesn't have to deal with this very often.
They stopped administering small pox vaccine back in the '60's. It is currently felt that the virus has been eradicated from the face of the earth. I am not comfortable with that, but that is my opinion. If you have been reading anything about bio-terrorism however you may be aware that there is a concern about this virus again being turned loose.
Where we moved from, we had 'friends' whose kids were rushed to the doctor for the most stupidest crap. They were ALWAYS given antibiotics. And MY kids always ended up with 'terrible', long-lasting illnesses. (to the point where I'd have to take MINE to the doctor) As soon as I 'listened' and followed the leading, I limited the friendliness and daily visiting. My kids were no longer fighting one sickness after another. We've been here for 3 1/2 years and THIS year is the FIRST time sickness has hit. I'm convinced that it's because they're trying out regular school this year, and are in contact with OTHER kids like those mentioned above.
Assumption: The resistance is caused by neurotic parents demanding their kids be pumped full of antibiotics for every minor illness. I've had a doc refuse antibiotics for that reason, thus turning a 10 day cold into a three week sinus infection. Please explain how a successful treatment of infection incubates any thing. The point of therapy is to kill the pathogen. How do dead pathogens develop resistant strains? Also, has anyone ever tried to get a kid to the doctor lately. The only thing worse than hauling them to "the house of shots" is seeing them ill.
Assumption: There are no other sources of this resistence, like simple mutation, or development due to increased population concentrations, or the tendency to herd kids into day care centers rather than keep them at home, the fact that we now have people from every corner of the world living about a block apart in most thriving communities, a general decline in personal hygiene, and finally, the fact that over the last decade we have been baraged with talking heads decrying the "toxicity" of the most common and effective antiseptic agents: amonia and chlorine for two examples. One thing about bacteria: it is "organic."
Assumption: Rationing, which never seems to have worked satisfactorily anywhere before, is the answer. "No antibiotics for you, you're not sick enough."
Here's an idea: just sell the damn stuff over the counter; cut out the middle man. Tell you what, we could put a nurse practitioner, or even a doctor behind the counter of most drug stores to advise consumers, and still pay them enough for them to have their country club memberships. Then the drug companies wouldn't be burdened with an army of salesmen needed to get the docs to prescribe the stuff. Then the pharmaceuticals could invest their capital in research, not sales training. And, people needing a real doc because the pills aren't working, could get one.
Novel idea: a free market solution.
Very interesting--the last I remember hearing after 9/11 was the gov was going to start developing enough small pox vaccine for 3 mill people. I hope they are on it.
A substantial number of our population has never been vaccinated against small pox. If this virus could be successfully deciminated throughout our country, we are in seriously deep doo-doo.
My youngest rarely had ear infections, and I had read that most ear infections don't need antibiotics. So when he got an ear infection, I asked the Dr if we could have ear drops for the pain. I said that I'd take a prescription, but would wait 3 days to see if he was feeling better or not before filling it.
The Dr looked at me like I was nuts! But he was famous for handing me an antibiotic and insisting that it was necessary because he's seen kids coming in all week with the same thing. :)
My son rarely has trouble with his asthma until he has a cold. He's caught pneumonia once each winter for the last 3 years. What kind of natural remedies do you use?
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