Philosophy
Is it me or has this been a really bad year for infectious diseases, colds, flus, and the like? Just getting over a round myself and my classrooms at Gettysburg and at the middle school have been decimated by it this year. It's always bad this time of year, but this year has seemed worse.
Of course, there will always be fluctuations. some years the strains of flu become more easily spread, some years harder to fight off, some years more potent in the body. But when I had Lyme the other year, went to see an expert in infectious diseases down near DC. Smart guy, former head of the really smart doctors studying infectious diseases group (I forget the official name), and after the consult we started chatting. He said that at their last meeting, Al Gore came they had a session on the effects of global warming and the spread of infectious diseases.
We can't, of course, draw any inference from a single data point, but how's it in your neck of the woods?
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The Lachuguilla cave system, where scientists discovered antibiotic-resistant bacteria, is part of Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico. Above, an explorer admires the the Selenite Chandelier display in Carlsbad Caverns."Drug-Resistant Bacteria...
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International Year Of Biodiversity Maybe there is a relationship. "Wildlife: Protecting Biodiversity Might Just Protect Us From Disease" by Bryan Walsh December 1st, 2010 Time Biodiversity—what's it good for? Of course anyone lucky enough to...
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Should "orphan or designer" drugs be manufactured and made available to those who suffer rare diseases? Yes...3 No...0 I think it is an ethical imperative for the megadollar drug companies to perform research and development and distribution of "orphan...
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Has the media over emphasized the threat of the H1N1 virus? Yes...4 No...0 "Dead pigs in China, evil factory farms in Mexico and an Al Qaeda plot involving Mexican drug cartels are a few wild theories seeking to explain a deadly swine flu outbreak that...
Philosophy
Infectious Disease: Anecdotal Evidence Anyone?
Is it me or has this been a really bad year for infectious diseases, colds, flus, and the like? Just getting over a round myself and my classrooms at Gettysburg and at the middle school have been decimated by it this year. It's always bad this time of year, but this year has seemed worse.
Of course, there will always be fluctuations. some years the strains of flu become more easily spread, some years harder to fight off, some years more potent in the body. But when I had Lyme the other year, went to see an expert in infectious diseases down near DC. Smart guy, former head of the really smart doctors studying infectious diseases group (I forget the official name), and after the consult we started chatting. He said that at their last meeting, Al Gore came they had a session on the effects of global warming and the spread of infectious diseases.
We can't, of course, draw any inference from a single data point, but how's it in your neck of the woods?
- Generation Sex
Been thinking of an off-hand joke Kerry made yesterday that implied that his generation, the Baby Boomers, had more sex in college than my generation, Generation X. The cultural narrative is that the Boomers were the generation of free love, while we...
- Drug-resistant Bacteria...pathway To Man's Demise?
The Lachuguilla cave system, where scientists discovered antibiotic-resistant bacteria, is part of Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico. Above, an explorer admires the the Selenite Chandelier display in Carlsbad Caverns."Drug-Resistant Bacteria...
- Mankind And Wildlife
International Year Of Biodiversity Maybe there is a relationship. "Wildlife: Protecting Biodiversity Might Just Protect Us From Disease" by Bryan Walsh December 1st, 2010 Time Biodiversity—what's it good for? Of course anyone lucky enough to...
- "orphan Or Designer" Drug Poll
Should "orphan or designer" drugs be manufactured and made available to those who suffer rare diseases? Yes...3 No...0 I think it is an ethical imperative for the megadollar drug companies to perform research and development and distribution of "orphan...
- "h1n1 Virus" Poll
Has the media over emphasized the threat of the H1N1 virus? Yes...4 No...0 "Dead pigs in China, evil factory farms in Mexico and an Al Qaeda plot involving Mexican drug cartels are a few wild theories seeking to explain a deadly swine flu outbreak that...