Posted on 12/07/2001 1:46:46 PM PST by Patriot
Developing......
This seems remiss. There should be AB's available for this by now.
Or, easier, a PCR analysis on blood or saliva sample can be done quickly and is the most accurate.
It seems if such kits have not been prepared we have been forgetful.
Does that mean, if you have been vaccinated, you are in more danger of dying?
Forgive me for asking. I am old and stupid. I am trying to learn.
If we automatically assign credibility to an anonymous caller who indicates there is a threat against a specific threat, why would we not assign the same credibility to such a caller indicating that "some plane", "somewhere" presents the same threat?
And if that's the case, under those circumstances wouldn't we ground *ALL* commercial aircraft, and quananteen *ALL* passengers for 7-17 days?
It's so easy to be a coward, all one has to do is cease to think.
The tipster called a New York Port Authority detective at JFK Airport about 30 minutes before the flight touched down in Seattle, said Cherise Miles, a spokeswoman for Customs in Chicago.
The tipster identified a passenger by name and said the individual had smallpox, Miles said.
The crew did an initial evaluation and determined the individual "did not have any symptoms of active contagious smallpox," said airport spokesman Bob Parker.
********
What if the caller meant "the individual had smallpox" (in his luggage)?
So can we guess, that this story will disappear in the the black hole of news stories that we never find out what happened. And we will have to wait 7-17 day to determine if we are on the verge of a worldwide plague?
Not the case. Such a comment comes very close to being over the line.
See the reference cited, post 139 and address this:
Virus titers in saliva are highest the first week of infection, but infectivity can last up to 3 weeks (until the scabs fall off). Live virus can be cultured from scabs.
That brings up the moral question of this century. If these Islamic Terrorists do successfully get live small pox into the USA and we have a mass epidemic. We only have a small amount of the vaccine available. Besides taking care of the health care workers, who else should get a shot!
I'm 63, and if that happened, I could not justify me being one of the "lucky ones" getting a shot. I have two sons in their 30s, a daughter in law and two grand babies. These should be the ones with the high priorities, our health care people and our military people!
Hopefully, we will never have to ask this question. How gets the shots that are available? How do we triage the situation!
No.
It does indicate that if you are vaccinated and do get it, the form you will get is likely the more virulent form.
That makes sense given the protection afforded by being vaccinated that it would take a stronger form to overcome the immune system's defenses that were initiated by the vaccination.
Ya we ignore information that someone carrying small pox is on a particular flight, it turns out to be true and millions die.
You'd be first in line screaming how the government failed us and what fools they are...
Very, Very easy and I'm not saying but it's so obvious it's sickening.
There is a small window of time during the 7 to 17-day incubation period in which the person becomes infectious before he has the easy-to-recognize, tell-tale smallpox lesions on his skin. That does not mean that he's totally asymptomatic, however.
During this 2-4 day prodromal period, he develops fever, body aches (especially backache), headache, and maybe severe abdominal pain and delirium. In other words, he wouldn't be walking around acting like a healthy and happy camper.
About this time, the lesions first appear inside the mouth and nose (this is still before they appear on the body), and it's at this point that the person becomes highly infectious. The lesions in the mouth have very high concentrations of the virus, and anyone standing downwind from or in the vicinity of a cough is likely to get sprayed with sputum droplets that contains the smallpox. Yum, yum. One or two days later, the rash is present on the skin for all to see.
I won't even get into the fomites. ;-)
As far as letting the passengers go, they've probably determined that the suspect passenger is not displaying any of the above symptoms, so therefore he's not contagious.
The real question now will be what they do with him. Under what grounds would they be able to hold him for 17 days? Is he a US citizen with constitutional rights? Will he be allowed to run loose among the population, possibly developing symptoms later, just because they can't legally hold him? Do we really want to start forcing people to be quarantined just because someone called in a phone prank?
From Johns Hopkins:
The disease can spread from person to person. Transmission usually occurs only after the patient develops a fever and rash.
From the NYC Dept of Public Health:
Smallpox is transmitted by respiratory secretions, most efficiently during the early stages of the rash illness; it is generally believed that close person-to-person proximity is required for reliable transmission to occur. Patients are considered infectious from the time of development of the eruptive exanthem (usually 2-3 days after fever begins) until all scabs separate.
Ah, am I to take it that you're saying that flight 93 was shot down? Please elaborate.
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