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> It's easy to forget how much modern practices cut down on disease: wash hands, don't drink water people (or animals) poop in, sterilize (or dispose of) medica
by brazzy 14y ago
> It's easy to forget how much modern practices cut down on disease: wash hands, don't drink water people (or animals) poop in, sterilize (or dispose of) medical devices, store your food properly, don't live in a house also occupied by rodents, etc... That is all a great start, and we haven't even talked about antibiotics and other modern medical tech.
With the exception of washing hands (which we don't do nearly enough) and the vague "modern medical tech", none of this would help against a flu pandemic at all...
- JunkDNA 14y agoI disagree. If your immune system is already run down by low grade infection and you've got a persistent case of diaorreah from poorly sourced drinking water, it's pretty easy for a flu virus to knock you out. No anibiotics means there's no way to keep you from getting pneumonia or other secondary lung infections. The healthier you are to start, the more likely you are to make it. The one exception to this is the paradoxical case where people's immune response goes crazy from battling all the virus particles. This can happen in really healthy young people. My reference to medical tech is the whole system of diagnostic testing and patient monitoring. It allows for early identification, quarantine, etc... We also know a heck of a lot about proper bio safety procedures in medical centers to lessen the spread of disease through health care workers. Again, not arguing that a pandemic like 1918 can't happen at all. I'm just saying that we're not showing up completely clueless and unarmed to a gun fight. We're bringing a knife this time :)