3 ms·

I agree. Without demeaning medicine, clean water and hospital sanitation have had the biggest impact on health by far in the course of human history. Almost an

I agree. Without demeaning medicine, clean water and hospital sanitation have had the biggest impact on health by far in the course of human history. Almost any job you can think of is as critical or pointless as you make it.

ttflee 14y ago
Oh, I thought it would be antibiotics and immunology.
- Domenic_S 14y ago
  Check out these stats: http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/global/wash_statistics.html http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/global/wash_statistics.html Water, sanitation and hygiene has the potential to prevent at least 9.1% of the global disease burden and 6.3% of all deaths. And that's today. I can't even figure what that number would be when poo-tainted sludge was the default drinking water worldwide. I assume you mean vaccinations when you say immunology. Vaccines make life better, but the impact is pretty small -- look at the outcomes for the diseases we vaccinate against. Take polio for example. Even if you do manage to contract polio, 90-95% of cases are asymptomatic and a further 4-8% are minor. What's the biggest way people got polio? Fecal transmission in water/food, which brings us back full circle to clean water.
  - ttflee 14y ago
    According to Wikipedia, smallpox 'killed an estimated 400,000 Europeans annually during the closing years of the 18th century (including five reigning monarchs), and was responsible for a third of all blindness. Of all those infected, 20–60%—and over 80% of infected children—died from the disease. Smallpox was responsible for an estimated 300–500 million deaths during the 20th century.' Of course, this disease was contained by vaccines. And immunology is definitely more broad than mere vaccines. In fact the modern immunology plays a quite central role in today's research of physiology, virology, microbiology and pathology. Back in 2003, when SARS broke out in Beijing, the streets were emptied. Nobody wanted to meet each other, nobody dared. If immunology had not existed, such scenario might not be just one incidence, but incidence after incidence.

ttflee 14y ago

Oh, I thought it would be antibiotics and immunology.

Domenic_S 14y ago
Check out these stats: http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/global/wash_statistics.html http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/global/wash_statistics.html Water, sanitation and hygiene has the potential to prevent at least 9.1% of the global disease burden and 6.3% of all deaths. And that's today. I can't even figure what that number would be when poo-tainted sludge was the default drinking water worldwide. I assume you mean vaccinations when you say immunology. Vaccines make life better, but the impact is pretty small -- look at the outcomes for the diseases we vaccinate against. Take polio for example. Even if you do manage to contract polio, 90-95% of cases are asymptomatic and a further 4-8% are minor. What's the biggest way people got polio? Fecal transmission in water/food, which brings us back full circle to clean water.
- ttflee 14y ago
  According to Wikipedia, smallpox 'killed an estimated 400,000 Europeans annually during the closing years of the 18th century (including five reigning monarchs), and was responsible for a third of all blindness. Of all those infected, 20–60%—and over 80% of infected children—died from the disease. Smallpox was responsible for an estimated 300–500 million deaths during the 20th century.' Of course, this disease was contained by vaccines. And immunology is definitely more broad than mere vaccines. In fact the modern immunology plays a quite central role in today's research of physiology, virology, microbiology and pathology. Back in 2003, when SARS broke out in Beijing, the streets were emptied. Nobody wanted to meet each other, nobody dared. If immunology had not existed, such scenario might not be just one incidence, but incidence after incidence.