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My "unpopular opinion" is that in 100 years, people will consider it very strange that most of the population was permanently infected with a bunch of viruses l
by kens 2y ago
My "unpopular opinion" is that in 100 years, people will consider it very strange that most of the population was permanently infected with a bunch of viruses like EBV/HSV/CMV/HPV and nobody cared or did anything about it.
- whythre 2y agoProbably an accurate prediction. Kind of like how large populations in the American south were once infected with hookworm.
- from-nibly 2y agoAlso now we don't have enough hookworm. Cause apparently that has caused a lot of auto immune disorders.
- darby_nine 2y agoNo governments cared or did anything about it, you mean.
- Terretta 2y agoGovernments were doing something about it until all the fifth dentists* got amplified by “journalists” in the “media” we now recognize are mostly just wannabe influencers playing pundit drumming up clicks. * "4 out of 5 dentists agree" except it's more like the 50th dentist, given research consensus
- stephen_g 2y agoWith HPV, the Government here (Australia) partially funded the research that led to an HPV vaccine (Gardisil) that helps prevent a bunch of cancers and now all school children here get it for free... So it does happen, just slowly...
- glitchcrab 2y agoAlmost certainly, but you're forgetting one thing - hindsight. We can look back a hundred years from today and say that treatments back then were very misguided (and possibly even barbaric). Knowledge and science advance with time.
- Nasrudith 2y agoAccurate, especially with a hindsight bias. I suspect in the hundred years they would have largely forgotten that they couldn't really do much about it beyond say, shingles vaccinations. Sort of like how we'd facepalm at pre-germ theory medicine and all of the things "obviously" done wrong.
- Terr_ 2y agoA modern example that is easy to visualize (unlike internal parasites) might be head-lice: There's a reason powdered wigs were very popular a few hundred years ago.
- idunnoman1222 2y agoOnce a (DNA) virus incorporates itself inside your DNA and that cell divides you are never getting rid of the virus
- aqfamnzc 2y agoWait, is that how viruses work? Is a parent guaranteed to pass on viral illness to their children (genetically) then?
- code_biologist 2y agoOnly some viruses work this way, HIV is an example. This is a good article on endogenous retroviruses [1], that is viruses that work by integrating themselves into host DNA (a retrovirus) and made it into germline cells (eggs and sperm, the endogenous part). [1] https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230519-the-viruses-that-helped-to-make-you-human https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230519-the-viruses-that...
- dillydogg 2y agoAnd to clarify for those reading this, HIV is not passed from mom to baby via inhereted genome, but as a blood borne illness in pregnancy, during birth, or in breastmilk.
- dillydogg 2y agoThe cells infected by these viruses don't form the sperm and eggs, so no. But a great portion of our genomes is thought to come from old viruses (which actually may be used immunologically!) https://www.science.org/content/article/viral-fossils-our-dna-may-help-us-fight-infection https://www.science.org/content/article/viral-fossils-our-dn...
- idunnoman1222 2y agoOnly if it’s in your balls
- stephen_g 2y agoThere have been attempts to make vaccines for some of those, and a lot haven't worked yet (apart from HPV for which it has been done very successfully). I hope with mRNA vaccines perhaps we will eventually get effective EBV and HSV vaccines, which will be big given (for example) EBV's links to multiple sclerosis.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- taeric 2y agoThis is only "unpopular" because you are giving no actionable thing for people to do. People do care. But there is virtually nothing that can be done about a lot of these. We can take efforts to stop the spread, and indeed we do. But at large, it is there and there is little you can do. So it isn't strange. In the same way that we don't consider it strange that 100 years ago, virtually every human had parasites. It is only the last 40 or so years that most of the meat you can buy at a grocery store doesn't. And if you are still buying "wild caught" fish, it is almost certainly with parasites. What is strange is thinking that people didn't care about parasites. People care. But there is shockingly little most can do to change it.
- inglor_cz 2y ago" you are giving no actionable thing for people to do" As far as an actionable thing goes, my N == 1 experience says that regular nasal rinsing reduces both frequency and severity of various common colds a lot. I used to be down with sore throat, running nose and light to moderate cough some 5-6 times a year, since I was a kid until my early 40s. Once I started with the flushing, it all went away. Nowadays, about twice a year I "catch" something, which means a single night of chills and sweating, and in the morning I am fine again. The mucous membranes seem to be no longer susceptible. No sore throat ever etc.
- taeric 2y agoI'm not clear that that is in the same vein as what the parent post meant? That said, this is an interesting suggestion to follow my post. It literally only works if you have access to clean, probably distilled, water supply. If you don't, you are also introducing a path for some serious problems into your sinuses in the form of parasites.
- inglor_cz 2y ago"access to clean, probably distilled, water supply" A good antibacterial filter + boiling that filtered water just to be sure goes a long way. That equipment is nontrivial, but for someone in a developed economy, usually affordable. Probably cheaper than being sick often, because even European welfare states often won't give you anything for first days of sickness.