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> They are literally the most dangerous thing (to humans) on the planet. Automobiles, sugary foods, an opiods would like a word. But yes, in terms of threats
by jMyles 9y ago
> They are literally the most dangerous thing (to humans) on the planet.
Automobiles, sugary foods, an opiods would like a word.
But yes, in terms of threats from other animals, they're at the top of the list.
edit: Holy heck with the instant downvotes. Look: I'm not trying to downplay the threat of malaria and other mosquito-borne illnesses. Malaria is the #9 cause of death in developing nations today and totally worth the efforts to fight it. But it's also true that, if you get in a car or live around cars, they are more likely to kill you than a mosquito. Heart disease (which I'm representing here with the phrase "sugary foods" obviously) kills more people everywhere on earth than malaria, including developing nations.
So depending on how we define "the most dangerous thing", it's not entirely crazy to say that the mosquito isn't it.
- saagarjha 9y agoUh, no. Mosquitos have killed around 50% of humans that have ever lived through malaria.
- filesystemdude 9y ago[Citation needed]
- saagarjha 9y ago> Plasmodium, in all likelihood has been responsible for the death of about half of all people who ever lived From the abstract of this paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16250876 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16250876
- jMyles 9y agoWell, it's not clear that that's true in the first place[0]. But even if it is, it's certainly not the case today. It's not in the top-10 causes of death at the moment. If we limit the scope to developing nations only, it's #9, which is huge, but still killing less than half the number that heart disease does. Furthermore, most mosquitoes don't carry malaria, but all sugary foods are capable of causing heart disease if consumed in excess. So it's not unfair to say that sugary foods are more dangerous to humans than mosquitoes. 0: http://factmyth.com/factoids/malaria-killed-half-the-people-who-have-ever-lived/ http://factmyth.com/factoids/malaria-killed-half-the-people-...
- zaroth 9y agoIt’s hard to believe, but just malaria—which is transmitted exclusively by mosquitoes—is responsible for on the order of half of all human deaths throughout history. ~50 billion lives.
- vanattab 9y agoYou have a source for that stat I would be interested in learning more about how the calculate such a stat.
- jMyles 9y agoFirst of all, that is probably a myth[0]. And second, if we're talking about present day, malaria is way behind heart disease (largely caused by sugary foods). And in developed nations, its way behind automobiles. And in the USA, it's way behind opioids. So my comment wasn't totally off. 0: http://factmyth.com/factoids/malaria-killed-half-the-people-who-have-ever-lived/ http://factmyth.com/factoids/malaria-killed-half-the-people-...