3 ms·

You know how we look back at the state of medical knowledge from a couple hundred years ago, and it all seems so primitive? Contagion was explained by miasma r

by nkurz 7y ago

You know how we look back at the state of medical knowledge from a couple hundred years ago, and it all seems so primitive? Contagion was explained by miasma rather than germs, leeches and trepans were best practices, and even basic surgical sanitation was an uphill battle. From our point of view, they didn't even understand the basics! Easily cured diseases were just left to run their course! Events like this are a reminder that there is still so much that is beyond the abilities of current medicine. As a prominent doctor, he almost certainly got the best care that is currently available, and yet he still died from a simple virus. Our ability to treat viruses today is where our ability to treat bacterial infections was 100 years ago. We knew that germs existed, but penicillin was still a decade away. The standard of care was to keep the patient well hydrated and hope that they don't die. Similarly, we know today that viruses exist, but in most cases the best care we can offer is to keep the patient hydrated and hope that they don't die. With sufficient luck, in a hundred years we'll have progressed to the point that people look at us and marvel: "They didn't even know the basics! When people contracted a virus, there was nothing they could do but let the disease run its course!"

koheripbal 7y ago
...and yet, we are still so much further ahead than we were even only 20 years ago. This virus was caught by the early detection mechanisms setup after SARS, and it was DNA sequenced from samples taken from some of the first victims within a couple of weeks - pointing to a near match with a sample collected in 2014 in a cave from bat poop as part of a "preparatory program" also setup after SARS. New sequencing tech has allowed the global distribution of test kits, allowing us to have thousands of confirmed cases shown to us in real time - globally. Vaccines are already in development and the FDA is prepared to fast-track their testing under procedures, you guessed it, updated after SARS. ...and yet, this turned into a global outbreak that we're desperately trying to stop from becoming a global pandemic. Sadly, Chinese prosperity has meant prolific Chinese tourist industries which helped spread the disease robustly throughout South-east Asia. And so there's a very real possibility that, unlike SARS, this new Coronavirus will become endemic and return each year like the seasonal flu, possibly causing hundreds of thousands of dead per year until a vaccine is deployed. Based on projected numbers, it seems like it has spread far beyond our ability to contain it. So while it certainly could have been worse, had we not been as prepared - I like to think that when this happens again 20 years from now, we'll be far better prepared. I'll have to learn to use those three sea shells.
- nate_meurer 7y ago
  How the hell do you use the three sea shells?
  - sslayer 7y ago
    John Spartan, you have been fined 1 credit...
himinlomax 7y ago
> Events like this are a reminder that there is still so much that is beyond the abilities of current medicine Is it a problem of with current medicine, or a problem with censorious communist dictatorships and cultures obsessed with face-saving?
- beerandt 7y ago
  Yes

by nkurz 7y ago

koheripbal 7y ago

...and yet, we are still so much further ahead than we were even only 20 years ago. This virus was caught by the early detection mechanisms setup after SARS, and it was DNA sequenced from samples taken from some of the first victims within a couple of weeks - pointing to a near match with a sample collected in 2014 in a cave from bat poop as part of a "preparatory program" also setup after SARS. New sequencing tech has allowed the global distribution of test kits, allowing us to have thousands of confirmed cases shown to us in real time - globally. Vaccines are already in development and the FDA is prepared to fast-track their testing under procedures, you guessed it, updated after SARS. ...and yet, this turned into a global outbreak that we're desperately trying to stop from becoming a global pandemic. Sadly, Chinese prosperity has meant prolific Chinese tourist industries which helped spread the disease robustly throughout South-east Asia. And so there's a very real possibility that, unlike SARS, this new Coronavirus will become endemic and return each year like the seasonal flu, possibly causing hundreds of thousands of dead per year until a vaccine is deployed. Based on projected numbers, it seems like it has spread far beyond our ability to contain it. So while it certainly could have been worse, had we not been as prepared - I like to think that when this happens again 20 years from now, we'll be far better prepared. I'll have to learn to use those three sea shells.

nate_meurer 7y ago
How the hell do you use the three sea shells?
- sslayer 7y ago
  John Spartan, you have been fined 1 credit...

himinlomax 7y ago

> Events like this are a reminder that there is still so much that is beyond the abilities of current medicine Is it a problem of with current medicine, or a problem with censorious communist dictatorships and cultures obsessed with face-saving?

beerandt 7y ago
Yes