3 ms·

I'm not sure why they put "a Deadly Virus" in the title, not "a Smallpox Epidemic". Is smallpox as a concept becoming an obscure thing?

by Vecr 5y ago

shrx 5y ago
"Deadly virus" gets more clicks.
donohoe 5y ago
It’s not inaccurate so that’s good, and don’t see it being misleading either way
inglor_cz 5y ago
The vast majority of the world's population was born after smallpox was eradicated in the wild. IDK how many people out of 10 would correctly answer the question "what was smallpox and what was its cause"? One in ten?
- Y-Bopinator 5y ago
  I may be a zoomer but im pretty sure smallpox is a punk rock band and not a virus
- gus_massa 5y ago
  Looking at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox#Eradication https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox#Eradication in most parts of the word it spread until 1960-1970, so I expect most people with more than 60 years old to know. From https://ourworldindata.org/age-structure https://ourworldindata.org/age-structure the 65+ group is 10% of the current population. I'm younger, but I remember horror stories from my parents about smallpox and polio (mostly about polio). My children, ... I don't know. I can check later, but I guess my older daughter know, but's perhaps it's like horror stories about her grandparent epoch. Perhaps we should pick a day and make a big annual commemoration worldwide. Somewhat relevant xkcd: https://xkcd.com/2448/ https://xkcd.com/2448/
- chasil 5y ago
  Let me tell you all about that, in a much more coherent article. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1200696/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1200696/
  - AlexCoventry 5y ago
    I don't see anything incoherent about the OP article. It's just more tightly focused on Montague's role.
- mixmastamyk 5y ago
  Anything with "pox" in the name, should give a hint.
IncRnd 5y ago
They obviously did that to increase the click count.
Broken_Hippo 5y ago
Folks kind of know that smallpox was a problem, but a lot of folks don't have any personal reference for it nor have any real reference for how deadly it was. The US stopped routine vaccinations for it in 1972, after all, and they cheered when they declared it eradicated in 1980. Multiple generations have been born since then. A few folks born after it was eradicated are grandparents now. Honestly, syphilis has a similar story and it is still around: Sure, there is some shame around it, much like other STDs, but we can cure it. And wow, it is a horrible disease, eating away at folks.
AlexCoventry 5y ago
"Deadly virus" will attract more attention than "smallpox epidemic" because it highlights the parallels with the coronavirus pandemic.
redis_mlc 5y ago
Fauci is probably funding a smallpox revival too. Shhh!

I'm not sure why they put "a Deadly Virus" in the title, not "a Smallpox Epidemic". Is smallpox as a concept becoming an obscure thing?

by Vecr 5y ago

I'm not sure why they put "a Deadly Virus" in the title, not "a Smallpox Epidemic". Is smallpox as a concept becoming an obscure thing?

shrx 5y ago

"Deadly virus" gets more clicks.

donohoe 5y ago

It’s not inaccurate so that’s good, and don’t see it being misleading either way

inglor_cz 5y ago

The vast majority of the world's population was born after smallpox was eradicated in the wild. IDK how many people out of 10 would correctly answer the question "what was smallpox and what was its cause"? One in ten?

Y-Bopinator 5y ago
I may be a zoomer but im pretty sure smallpox is a punk rock band and not a virus
gus_massa 5y ago
Looking at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox#Eradication https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox#Eradication in most parts of the word it spread until 1960-1970, so I expect most people with more than 60 years old to know. From https://ourworldindata.org/age-structure https://ourworldindata.org/age-structure the 65+ group is 10% of the current population. I'm younger, but I remember horror stories from my parents about smallpox and polio (mostly about polio). My children, ... I don't know. I can check later, but I guess my older daughter know, but's perhaps it's like horror stories about her grandparent epoch. Perhaps we should pick a day and make a big annual commemoration worldwide. Somewhat relevant xkcd: https://xkcd.com/2448/ https://xkcd.com/2448/
chasil 5y ago
Let me tell you all about that, in a much more coherent article. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1200696/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1200696/
- AlexCoventry 5y ago
  I don't see anything incoherent about the OP article. It's just more tightly focused on Montague's role.
mixmastamyk 5y ago
Anything with "pox" in the name, should give a hint.

IncRnd 5y ago

They obviously did that to increase the click count.

Broken_Hippo 5y ago

Folks kind of know that smallpox was a problem, but a lot of folks don't have any personal reference for it nor have any real reference for how deadly it was. The US stopped routine vaccinations for it in 1972, after all, and they cheered when they declared it eradicated in 1980. Multiple generations have been born since then. A few folks born after it was eradicated are grandparents now. Honestly, syphilis has a similar story and it is still around: Sure, there is some shame around it, much like other STDs, but we can cure it. And wow, it is a horrible disease, eating away at folks.

AlexCoventry 5y ago

"Deadly virus" will attract more attention than "smallpox epidemic" because it highlights the parallels with the coronavirus pandemic.

redis_mlc 5y ago

Fauci is probably funding a smallpox revival too. Shhh!