4 ms·
New Strain of HIV
- asdlfj2sd33 17y agoThe patient allegedly had no contact with bush meat, but got it from someone who did. Am I the only one concerned that sooner or later an entirely different virus will come out of bush meat and that one will be airborne? It's pure luck HIV is not easily transmissible and Ebola kills too quickly.
- cwan 17y agoI'm sure you're not the only one but what is there that we can really do about it? Worrying about it seems somewhat counterproductive - though with nasty bugs like H1N1 (and its future mutations), SARS and some form of avian flu, I have bought a few boxes of N95 face masks and hand sanitizers just in case. Some days I figure it's excessively paranoid, on others, I figure that an insurance policy for something catastrophic that costs under 50 bucks is a pretty good deal.
- sfphotoarts 17y agoN95 masks are made to protect others, as in surgeons wearing them to protect those they operate on. Not the other way round.
- cwan 17y agoApparently, according to the CDC, it works both ways. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/respirators.htm http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/respirators.htm - N95 respirators were the only masks recommended by the CDC to mitigate the risk from SARS
- mahmud 17y agoYes, and in the 50s, school desks where "recommended" as safety bunkers for kids in case of a soviet nuclear attack. Government safety prescriptions are often panaceas, but they serve the purpose of making the masses feel like everything is under control be calm.
- HalcyonMuse 17y agoDo you have a better recommendation?
- mahmud 17y agoCertainly no better recommendation, but I know for certain that governments tend to manipulate instances of mass-spread fear, either to gain advantage over the public, or to cover up their incompetence. Ductape wont save me from a suicide bomber, just as a piece of napkin with a rubber strap wont stand between me and a mass epidemic.
- khafra 17y agoI thought that we were meant to lie down or put a paper bag over our head or something.
- mahmud 17y agoHHGTG references go ungotten around here it seems.
- cwan 17y agoUgh. I don't see how this is even that controversial a point. Would you believe NPR instead? http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103789700 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1037897... - I don't take it to be a foolproof method by any means, but I suspect it's more effective than hiding under a desk in a nuclear attack as per your analogy. Besides, with the outbreaks of SARS, H1N1, scares over avian flu, the cost/risk ratio isn't exactly high given the options (which are few for most airborne viruses other than hide out until the risk has passed).
- DannoHung 17y agoYou realize that it was more for the ostensible situation that the school was in the blast zone but not in the immediate kill zone? And that by hiding under a desk, children might prevent themselves from being struck by falling debris? They knew perfectly well what they were saying. There's no point in making a kid hysterical about getting killed by the intense heat and pressure of an atomic bomb every time there's an air raid drill.
- biohacker42 17y agoWell we could stop interfering with biotech and let loose the dogs of war so to speak. Because I would rather have more cures with a slightly higher risk of accidents, then no cures and the same risk of natural borne killers.
- yannis 17y agoAlas, it is becoming safer to make war than love! (Slogan for the new millennium?)
- joubert 17y agoCondoms don't protect you from missiles or even a (prehistoric) knife.