by jayhawk1 22 Replies latest jw friends
I am beginning to think the medical community is much like our Watchtower foes, I am beginning to think the medical community is wishing for a medical armageddon that hasn't happened. What happened to SARS? Wasn't it supposed to kill hundreds of millions? Where is this bird flu? Isn't it supposed to be worse than the bubonic plague?
Myself, I drink fruit juice almost daily and rarely do I have more than just a nagging cold.
I think the bird flu got killed off by a particularly virulent strain of madcowdisease which was spread through salmonella infected eggs.
But I wouldnt worry because were all gonna get cooked or washed away by global warming before our brains get fried via our mobile phones.
(I may sound sarcastic, but I am shitting myself about at least one of the above)
Jehovah saved the birds because he needs them to eat our sorry butts post Armageddon.
Bird Flu H5N1 is still around. It is more prevalent in birds that gather in large groups, such as migratory wildfowl (ducks and geese). Now that the migration season is here again, there is some interest again. I think that all the reported human cases have been infection from bird to human. Until the virus mutates to a form that is passed human to human, the risk is limited.
There have been odd cases of bird flu (not H5N1) that have led to flocks of domestic birds being slaughtered as a precaution.
In the meantime, malaria, TB, and AIDS have been doing their thing (in the millions) like they always do. But apparently that isn't newsworthy.
Gaa, double post.
Never mind, that is one more towards that "Rachel is a JEDI" congratulatory thread. I can't wait!
Hang on.............
errmm - you might want to ask KW13. !
(hehe - sorry Karl!)
I visited a school in Kenya over summer. My last school has a link with it. 40% of the pupils there are orphans through AIDS. It was shocking. And they are such hard working lovely intelligent students.
I tell all my classes about it now, and I draw a line across the classroom and say "that would be all you guys with no mum or dad".
But your right, AIDS is not sexy or newsworthy.
AIDS/HIV is one of the best funded types of medical research. At least in North America is is the 'trendy' charity.
H5N1 - Number of deaths from bird to human have decreased. Thus not in the news. However governments at all levels are still putting an extraordinary amount of effort in developing Pandemic Plans and mitigation possibilities. Having lived through the whole SARS episode in one of the North American 'ground zeros' I personally hope we never see it again or any other pandemic or health crisis. It would be foolish however not to prepare for it. Unlike the Watchtower's Armeggedon fantasies, future medical outbreaks have historical and scientific merit.
I view emergency planning like this: Your house may never burn down, but it would be stupid not to invest in a smoke detector and give some thought as to how you'd evacuate your home in the event of a fire. Better to have a plan and not need it, than to need one and not have it.
A Personal Emergency Preparedness brochure can be found here http://www.redcross.ca/cmslib/general/epweek72hour_guide_e.pdf :
Good to be prepared, for certain. I have enough of everything to wait out a small disaster, assuming my house is not included in any disaster. Could stand to buy new bottled water though.
My thoughts exactly regarding AIDS, Hepatitis, and other dangerous diseases that seem to go unreported. That is my point, things like these are real, instead we hear about diseases that inspire fear without the numbers to back it up.
My apologies to any who was or are dealing with Bird Flu or the former SARS.
I agree, jayhawk. It was another false, apocalyptic style alarm. The media gave the impression that these were new phenomena. New mutations in bacteria and virii have been the standard for millenia.
S
