Posted on 11/03/2001 4:27:01 PM PST by ChemistCat
There is a sizeable, cautious, but not hysterical contingent on FR that believes we may have been exposed to smallpox at some time in the last week. It's not something we know is happening. It's something we think is a reasonable scenario in light of other events. I'm starting this thread as a place to discuss what preparations our nation and communities do NOT seem to be making, and what our personal plans of action are if this CONTAGIOUS bioattack vector eclipses anthrax.
Yeah, well...the CDC told those 2 dead postal workers that it was safe to work at the Brentwood station. The Postal Service and the union thought not, they contacted the FBI and the FBI had doubts, they contacted the CDC and guess what the experts said? I don't blame the CDC...I just do not trust them.
I can think of one very common reason to take antibiotics: strep throat. Untreated, it can resolve itself, but strep has a nasty affinity for your heart valves. Ever heard of rhuematic fever? That's the stuff, gets into your heart valves and causes scarring, etc. even after all overt symptoms of the disease are gone. Not good if you plan on living a normal lifespan.
My advice...take the antibiotics the doctor prescribes, ALL OF THEM as directed. Resistance occurs when people quit taking their antibiotics as soon as they feel better.
I started one. To search for smallpox articles, click here: Smallpox List. Also, please ping any articles relating to smallpox that you come across to the list.
"Pentagon officials argued that a public ceremony announcing the elimination of the smallpox virus would be a charade. First, WHO had had no means to determine whether all countries had carried out their pledges to destroy existing stocks or transfer the virus to WHO repositories. It had simply accepted national declarations. Second, Pentagon officials believed that several nations, including American allies, had also secretely decided to maintain clandestine stocks. Even if every country was smallpox free, the deadly virus might be recreated from related microbes if a country wanted to make new stocks. Smallpox, they argued, was simply too tempting a weapon to abandon.
"Finally, they argued, destroying the Russian and American stocks would complicate efforts to develop a new vaccine and antiviral drugs against the disease. America's population, which had not been vaccinated against smallpox since 1972, was particularly vulnerable. If the contagious virus was used in a terrorist attack, one expert said, 'we are all Indians,' a reference to the devastating effects smallpox had on the Native American population after European settlers had arrived."
It was dangerous, in my opinion, to declare victory over smallpox regardless of the bioweapon factor. There was always the chance that it had smiply gone dormant or endemic, waiting for living standards to fall low enough for it to surface. However, by the time the WHO declared smallpox "dead," the CDC had been neutralized by the Carter administration as I attempted to document as a lay person here Where was the CDC. You are correct, the old vaccines had problems. The CDC should have been on point demanding and backing refinements of the vaccines. Instead they refocused their priorities away from infectious diseases and towards political issues. The Carter administration had sent a clear message that vaccine development was a bad career move!
female or male?
those who consume anti-biotics still need to restore their immune system & the herbals do it best by far.
Ok, I agree with this statement. Antibiotics are poisons, which is why they work...but absolutely yes, take herbal supplements that do not interfere with or aggravate the action of antibiotics, to help your body overcome potentially harmful effects.
So I gather you're going to the mall at the first sign of SP?
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