5 ms·

The place where the CDC left us on Zika is kind of strange. It seems like they basically stopped surveillance and left up a snapshot ( https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/tr

The place where the CDC left us on Zika is kind of strange. It seems like they basically stopped surveillance and left up a snapshot ( https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/zika-travel-information https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/zika-travel-information ). As far as I can tell, the current travel recommendation is that if you visit the Caribbean you should avoid conceiving a child for 2-3 mo (the guidance would also apply to Puerto Rico except I don't think that counts as "abroad"). But surely no one is actually doing that...? And there now is evidence for widespread teratogenic effects ( https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2101195 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2101195 ) and we just... Gave up? Kind of wild.

tiahura 5y ago
Zika made it to the Americas via a Rugby tournament in Tahiti. Virtually everyone in Tahiti got it, and there were no brainless babies born. Zika was largely a press inspired mass panic.
nomel 5y ago
There are several Zika vaccines going through trials. The CDC doesn't, and should probably never, develop vaccines.
- snapetom 5y ago
  From a libertarian philosophical standpoint I like this, but I'd like to know more practical reasons. Is it just the fact that it's a massive amount of R&D that's only recouped from sales and marketing?
  - nomel 5y ago
    For me, beyond recouping the costs, I think the CDC has demonstrated that it is too tightly coupled with politics [1][2]. I believe that any government body will eventually become constrained by the politics that it exists in and is funded by. I would, naively, claim that funding more neutral researchers/companies would provide better resistance to the politics of it all. As a counter argument, it would be easy to claim that the pharmaceutical companies are too tightly coupled to politicians. Perhaps this still results in greater efficiency, for now? 1. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/we-cant-allow-the-cdc-to-be-tainted-by-politics/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/we-cant-allow-the... 2. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/16/us/politics/cdc-trump.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/16/us/politics/cdc-trump.htm...
amluto 5y ago
Also the government-developed vaccine appears to have died due to arguments over who should have what rights to it.
deleted 5y ago
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tiahura 5y ago

Zika made it to the Americas via a Rugby tournament in Tahiti. Virtually everyone in Tahiti got it, and there were no brainless babies born. Zika was largely a press inspired mass panic.

nomel 5y ago

There are several Zika vaccines going through trials. The CDC doesn't, and should probably never, develop vaccines.

snapetom 5y ago
From a libertarian philosophical standpoint I like this, but I'd like to know more practical reasons. Is it just the fact that it's a massive amount of R&D that's only recouped from sales and marketing?
- nomel 5y ago
  For me, beyond recouping the costs, I think the CDC has demonstrated that it is too tightly coupled with politics [1][2]. I believe that any government body will eventually become constrained by the politics that it exists in and is funded by. I would, naively, claim that funding more neutral researchers/companies would provide better resistance to the politics of it all. As a counter argument, it would be easy to claim that the pharmaceutical companies are too tightly coupled to politicians. Perhaps this still results in greater efficiency, for now? 1. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/we-cant-allow-the-cdc-to-be-tainted-by-politics/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/we-cant-allow-the... 2. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/16/us/politics/cdc-trump.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/16/us/politics/cdc-trump.htm...

amluto 5y ago

Also the government-developed vaccine appears to have died due to arguments over who should have what rights to it.

deleted 5y ago

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