Re: (Tears) Fads and Fallacies by Martin Gardner

On Fri, 17 May 2024 16:22:48 -0000 (UTC), jdnicoll@panix.com (James
Nicoll) wrote:

In article <oqse4jds7ibad4prv0kbcv6bbt7hpqo0lg@4ax.com>,
Paul S Person  <psperson@old.netcom.invalid> wrote:

>
The diseases will adapt (Natural Selection) and the Medical Industry
will make money, not just with the current vaccine, but with the next
and the next and the next ...
>

>
It is possible to wipe out specific diseases. It appears the C19 counter-
measures may have inadvertently eliminated two previously common flu
strains. As well, humans have eliminated smallpox in the wild.

There are, I suspect, plenty of flu strains left and mutations still
happen, I presume.

Smallpox has been officially declared eradicated in the wild and,
since the last such case was in 1977, that may well be; however, two
labs have live smallpox virus under restrictions (ie, vulnerable to
terrorist liberation) and the genome has been published (ie, made
available to terrorists with advanced medical tech), so it's demise
may be a bit exaggerated.

We had considerable success with measles until a terrible outbreak of
stupid people brought it back. 

IOW, measles wasn't eradicated at all.

There are, AFAIK, a lot of diseases that decades if not centuries
(well, one or two) of effort have not eradicated, although in many
cases vaccines exist so that, if you are explosed to one, the damage
is minimized.

No system or plan that deals with people and does not take the
possibility of really stupid people getting the hands on the Levers of
Change can be considered adequate. IMHO, of course.

And the MRSA that my brother was given as if it was a "welcome to the
hospital" fruit basket is a testimony to the ability of organisms to
survive, adapt, and resurge when confronted with modern medical care.
--
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"