12 ms·
A nice post, brought low by the unfortunate fact that it misses the primary reason we were able to eradicate smallpox (and it wasn't data tracking): smallpox h
by rossdavidh 5y ago
A nice post, brought low by the unfortunate fact that it misses the primary reason we were able to eradicate smallpox (and it wasn't data tracking):
smallpox had no animal reservoirs
Most viruses (and other diseases) have animal reservoirs, and that's why few diseases which ever get widespread, are ever eradicated, and it's nothing to do with spreadsheets.
Now if he wanted to make a point about data, it would be good to mention that we have very little data on, say, how many species have which of these diseases, and how that's changing over time. But that wouldn't have much to do with spreadsheets either.
- mulmen 5y agoThe article makes two points. First that data is important but must be curated and maintained. Second that spreadsheets require specific methodologies and expertise to prevent data quality issues from propagating. I don't think that part of the story had anything to do with spreadsheets. It just illustrated the value of (timely) data, especially when fighting a virus and specifically in distributing scarce vaccine doses. A virus with animal reservoirs could similarly be controlled based on monitoring where outbreaks occur and taking some action. That could be distributing vaccines, limiting access to the animals or taking some action to reduce the animal reservoir.