[Zardoz]

This is getting ridiculous:

Disease 'migrates' as world warms

It's getting to be almost funny in a sick, morbid way. What will be added to the list next?

[MonteQuest]

The first signs of the overshoot correction is the increase and spread of disease.

[rumspringa]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'F')ears of 'extreme' TB strain

New drug-resistant infection is 'nightmare' say health experts

Robin McKie, science editor
Sunday September 3, 2006
The Observer

Health experts are to hold an emergency meeting in Johannesburg this week, following the discovery of a deadly new strain of tuberculosis.

The strain - known as extreme drug-resistant TB - has horrified World Health Organisation doctors. In one outbreak in South Africa, 52 of 53 patients died within weeks of becoming infected.

[gego]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MonteQuest', 'T')he first signs of the overshoot correction is the increase and spread of disease.

[gg3]

Don't forget, TB is contagious via coughs and sneezes.

Ride the bus, anyone? Subway?

For years, in San Francisco, a bus line that passes through some of the poorer sections of town and ends up at the city's public hospital, has been known as "the TB run."

Just wait and see. One person on an airplane is enough to bring that extreme drug-resistant TB (EDR-TB?) across an ocean, and a few people on a few airplanes are all it takes to spread it to all corners of the globe.

I suspect we are going to see Ma Nature do some serious housecleaning over the next few years, and we are presently seeing the beginning of it.

[miniTAX]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Zardoz', 'I')t's getting to be almost funny in a sick, morbid way. What will be added to the list next?

[ohanian]

Warming temps spread infectious diseases to new regions
=========================================


Malaria is not a woman you can screw though Malaria can certainly screw you!

[JustinFrankl]

About 20 years ago in another life, I was an assistant to a doctor who was researching MDR-TB (multi-drug resistant TB). He knew then that "its only a matter of time before a strain arises for which there is no effective treatment".

I remember one drug that had been studied showed promise: 100% effectiveness in erradicating tuberculosis. But one third of the patients became permanently blind during treatment.

Our first line of defense against disease has become increasingly cheap-energy-based and less personal-hygiene-based. No need to wash your hands, or cover your face when you cough or sneeze, anything nasty can be addressed with some OTC meds or a trip to the doctor. Don't choose your sex partners carefully, just wear a cond--ah, s/he looks clean enough, you probably don't need one. If the Clams Casino you just ordered in the restaurant tastes funky, it's probably fine.

[Ibon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('gego', ' ')the armadillo looks to me to have taken over the lead; twenty years ago it was rare to see one.

[EnergyUnlimited]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('gg3', '
')Just wait and see. One person on an airplane is enough to bring that extreme drug-resistant TB (EDR-TB?) across an ocean, and a few people on a few airplanes are all it takes to spread it to all corners of the globe.

[gg3]

EU, you're not making sense.

..."individuals, whom society does not need."

But society does need individuals, society is made up of individuals. Unless you're a marxist in which case society is made up of classes, or a nazi in which case it's made up of races, or perhaps you're just too horny in which case it's made up of single people (available) and married people (not available). (Oh wait, there I go again, making the usual "square" assumptions about morals...)

Anyway, epidemics & pandemics usually start by going for people whose health is already compromised in some way that makes them weaker prey, and then they spread out and go for people who are more and more healthy. Along the way the mortality rate drops, which is partially due to this factor and partially due to adaptation of disease to host.

Avian flu, XDR-TB, MRSA, the new hemorrhagic (sp?) fever that's going around...

I agree with JustinFrankl about this: sanitation, hygiene, prudence, and precautions. This is not hard. Common sense.

[Gil-Galad]

But people who live in first world countries pick up these diseases in third world countries when they travel. I know of someone locally who contracted TB in a third world country. He was treated by the local hospital but stopped taking the medication because it made him feel unwell. He has not sort further treatment and looks awful and is coughing, probably spreading TB amongst anyone he comes in contact with.

So I think anyone can get it.

[Aaron]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'i')t is likely to affect mainly individuals, whom society does not need.

[Jack]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EnergyUnlimited', '
')This EDR-TB may not be curable (or curable with say 70% fatality rate), but it is likely to affect mainly individuals, whom society does not need.

[Battle_Scarred_Galactico]

Its' not that simple Jack, consumption/population will have to come down in western countries no matter what, people need to get that into their heads.

[Jack]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Battle_Scarred_Galactico', 'I')ts' not that simple Jack, consumption/population will have to come down in western countries no matter what, people need to get that into their heads.

[gg3]

Gil, your friend there needs to be locked up in a hospital ward where he can either take his meds or not but at least he won't be spreading TB all over the place.

He is as much a hazard to others as if he was driving drunk; only the timescale is different.