Comments by "Vary Olla" (@varyolla435) on "Biographics" channel.

  1. Be glad it is gone. I have my scar as well as I also was vaccinated as a child as Smallpox still existed back then and was even then still killing several million people a year worldwide. To give you some perspective. Smallpox was so bad that even the US and USSR at the height of the Cold War = worked together to eradicate it.
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  2. True. I would however point out that mankind has had access to vaccines for more than a century now = and still some have not learned the lesson of their value. For myself the eradication of Smallpox was man's greatest achievement - not because of vaccines per se = but because of what the effort represented. The Smallpox eradication effort was a multi-national endeavor which included support from private corporations who donated resources to the program. Further it took place at the height of the "Cold War" whereby the US and USSR actually worked together towards a common goal against a scourge which had plagued mankind for millennia. Both nations despite representing geopolitical enemies provided resources and personnel to make it happen. So it shows what humanity can accomplish when = we work together.........
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  3. Pyramids were a creation of the Old Kingdom with some later being built during the Middle Kingdom. The Old Kingdom being the first never anticipated the eventual collapse of those dynasties - thus they built above ground tombs which later became magnets for robbers. The later Middle Kingdom seeing the "lost glory" of the Old Kingdom Pharaohs tried to duplicate that. The Valley of the Kings however came during the later New Kingdom. Following the collapse of the Middle Kingdom northern Egypt was conquered by outsiders for a century = the Hyksos. Finally the Egyptians drove the Hyksos out leading to the New Kingdom. So New Kingdom Pharaohs seeing Old and Middle Kingdom tombs long looted + how their capital at Memphis in the north was captured by the Hyksos = moved the capital to Thebes further south and adopted hidden underground tombs as a measure of protection. The New Kingdom period lasted around 500 years and contained a lot of Pharaohs.
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  4. Not terribly bright I see........ Let me guess = you get your supposed "news" from that Never-Never Land known as "conservative news" - an oxymoron coincidentally.... 🤦 Flip on Faux News = 2nd star to the right - and straight on til morning........ 🙄
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  5. Not ironic = science. Both viruses belong to the Viridae family of viruses. Thus they likely originated from a common ancestor virus - hence their antigenic similarity. The Smallpox vaccine actually contains Vaccinia - aka Cowpox - which also belongs to that group of viruses. Monkeypox has been around for millennia. International travel and high risk behaviors is why it broke out of Africa.
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  6. Yes - their irony is stunning. If the anti-vaxxer hysterics would simply vaccinate rather than endlessly bytch then a number of infectious diseases we vaccinate against could be gone within a number of years = and thus we would no longer need to vaccinate against them as with Smallpox. Some folks can not think themselves out of a paper bag it seems. 🤷
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  7. Thank you for an example of "willful imbecility" - as well as poor grammar...... 🤨
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  8. As always conspiracy theory is the swansong of the failed intellect - must as superficial "analysis" invariably leads to superficial conclusions. Such is what becomes of 🦜 So your Cutter incident was a looooooong time ago. Further it involved only one company. So the company in question was held to account - it was heavily fined and forced to pay restitution - while changes were made to regulatory oversight to insure it never happened again = and it hasn't. This is not the 1950's and hence ancient stories from a time when the regulatory system in place today did not exist makes for irrelevant argument. 🤔 p.s. - the vaccine was a success = it was the manufacturing process which broke down at that one company.
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  9. Naturally you failed to provide the information you accuse others of supposedly being in error about......... = so who's the real fraud here then. 🤣
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  10. Might want to turn up the wattage on the old bulb. Just a suggestion. Also the Covid vaccines were not developed "from scratch". Researchers have been studying the family of Coronaviruses since the 1960's. CRISPR technology was developed back in the mid-1980's. The mRNA tech began to be developed by the 2 researchers who made it viable back in the 1990's. The Lipid Nanoparticles used to deliver the mRNA to the cells have been around for 20 years originally being developed for use with anti-cancer therapies. Moral of the story: in other words once the morphology of the virus was mapped out - which did not take long = the antigenic proteins were identified and plugged into existing technology to make viable vaccines. Automobile manufacturers can crank out new model cars sometimes every year. The mechanical engineers do not start from scratch each time. They rather design new models around = existing technology. Do try to think harder in the future and learn the facts here.
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  11. 🤭 It's amazing what some are willing to believe - especially the Q-Anon crowd. As an aside. The "Q" crowd is apparently not smart enough to recognize a lot of their nonsensical claims have their origin in = the entertainment genre. 🤷
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  12. "Wrong question - wrong questions give wrong answers" - Master Gregory "Efficacy" is based upon multiple things. The old Smallpox vaccine was an attenuated form of Cowpox. Attenuated vaccines as a rule elicit the strongest immunological response by the body. While that may be good as far as generating a strong antibody generation response - it is not always so good for the person. The stronger the immune response = the potentially harsher the side effects can be. So with vaccines you want antibody generation - meaning you want an inflammatory response by the body triggering the immune cells to being to react. At the same time however you want a vaccine which is tolerated by people so that the vaccine does not generate side effects commensurate with the infectious illness you want to prevent - or worse. Newer recombinant vaccines tend to be less "immunogenic" than the old attenuated ones - BUT - they are also better tolerated while still generating antibodies. So it is a trade-off. Final thought. Before Smallpox was eradicated it still existed and hence outbreaks would periodically crop up and people would over time be exposed - even if they were not subsequently infected. That community exposure is akin to "booster shots" as it can re-stimulate your immune cells to produce more antibodies. If however a person vaccinated no longer encounters the virus because vaccine-induced "herd immunity" is such that incidence levels are low or nonexistent where they live then any immunity from vaccination can begin to wane over time. So the Smallpox vaccine had an "effective rate" in the 90% range for most. Its immunity however was known to wane and thus immunity after ~5 years was assumed to become less. That however is still sufficient to break the chain of infection such that outbreaks would end. Also as noted above you must factor in re-exposure via those periodic outbreaks. A person vaccinated 10 years earlier might have less immunity than when they were first inoculated - but upon being exposed again and not getting infected their antibody levels would climb once again. So lots of variables I'm afraid. Immunology is never cut & dry. 🤔
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  13. If this is an example of your logic on display = I hope you do not operate heavy machinery....... 🤦
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  14. Less Fakebook "news" = more science....... - just saying.
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  15. So much hate - so much ignorance. Sad - but not unexpected. Simple things for simple minds after all. 🥱
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  16. Yes/No. Yes - if people would vaccinate we could eliminate a number of infectious diseases. No - in that not all could be eliminated as Smallpox was. Some viruses are "human specific" = meaning they evolved to only infect people. Smallpox was such a virus and when enough were vaccinated the virus being cut off from people to infect was eradicated. Many however are "zoonotic" = meaning they can infect other species besides man. These can not be eradicated as they live on in nature. So we must still vaccinate to keep their presence and thus impact lower than it might otherwise be. Vaccine opponents inhibit humanity on both fronts.
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  17. Perhaps you should stick with the video games and leave the science to the adults in the room........... - just saying. Simple things for simple minds after all. 🤨
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  18. 🤭 Too true. Ironically we have "the Cold War" to thank was well. While the US and USSR were the main supporters - other nations also kicked in as did some corporations via donating equipment. Thus it was "geopolitics" in that the US and USSR were trying to outcompete the other in supporting the eradication program. p.s. - even back there there was resistance in places to being vaccinated much as today. In India as an example where Smallpox had raged since antiquity there was a lot of resistance owing to people believing in their old wives tales therapies - which of course did not work. The government finally related to pass a law mandating vaccination for all and the rest is history. Smallpox got squeezed into fewer and fewer areas as the population related and vaccinated themselves until it was finally gone.
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  19. Covid is primarily spread via airborne inhalation. Ebola can only be spread via contact with infected fluids when the person is actively ill. So while Ebola is far more deadly to man = it is far less infectious than other diseases. The "net impact" of Covid or Influenza is vastly greater than other more "dangerous" infectious diseases given the ease by which they spread. A million cases of Measles - even if "only" 5K end up dying = is still a million cases. That million cases causes considerable disruption to society as well as an enormous economic burden.
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  20. No........ Chickenpox is not Smallpox - and doctors can distinguish between the 2. If Smallpox was still out there we would know it as it would spread like wildfire killing as it went given its high mortality rate compared to other viral diseases.
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  21. Except in this case we are speaking about zoonotic organisms. So Ebola does not "just happen". It is a result of consumption of poorly prepared wild animals/interaction with the same. So things like deforestation of previously wild areas + interaction with and consumption of wild animals under poor conditions + wet markets which put multiple species in close proximity to each other + and finally cultural practices of tribes in Africa = which sets the stage for viruses like Ebola to "jump" into human populations and spread from there. It is entirely preventable. 🤔
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  22. I could explain it scientifically to you = but I see no indication that you would understand. Clearly some things are "beyond you"........ 🥱
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  23. Ebola = is contact spread.......... Unless you have evidence to the contrary it appears you wasted your time working at your laboratory as clearly the academics here failed you...... 🤨 p.s. - Ebola is only infectious when you are actively symptomatic. By then however you are usually incapacitated making spread difficult as the infected lack the capacity to move about with ease. That is why it requires people to be in contact with infected fluids when the person is actively sick.
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  24. Paranoia is a personal problem and not a societal one. It also coincidentally is almost always a result of ignorance about a thing. Perhaps you should educate yourself more and cling to paranoia a bit less. Just a suggestion.
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  25.  @stevefromyellowstone7911  Imagine that = more subjective discourse. You seem to erroneously believe there are "sides" here - there isn't. There is "evidence" - and there is "assumption". You represent the latter I'm afraid. Just because "you" believe a thing to be true or not means little frankly. Only credible evidence provides proof of concept and hence validity. Stop thinking in terms of "me" and instead follow the evidence. Anyways immunological reaction to vaccination only lasts ~a few weeks. After that your immune system has reacted and moved on. Ergo we know what to expect from the Covid vaccines while literally billions worldwide have received them. Those are "facts" - read evidence - and not "what if......." assumption. Follow the facts.
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  26. @Kc Armstrong 🤣 Still not saying anything. Just lots of banal ad hominem. Look at my post. If I did not understand the subject I would be unable to write a cogent statement relating to it. Thus far nothing you have posted reflects any understanding here - nada. Enjoy your day.
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  27. Before Smallpox as an example was eradicated it used to account for worldwide around 15-20,000,000 cases annually of which on average 3-4,000,000 subsequently died. Before the MMR it was not unusual to see epidemics occur in communities and schools closed etc.. So yes people have forgotten for the older ones while the younger ones grew up in a world where these once commonplace things have now become rare = thanks to mass vaccination. Having no "living memory" of the bad old days the mostly younger vaccine opponents are rationalizing upon abstract concepts with no real ties to the past.
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  28. Ebola does not make the person infectious until = they are actively symptomatic - and which point they quickly become incapacitated. So no - Ebola is not easily spread like airborne viral pathogens like Covid which makes you infectious before you have any symptoms so as to know you were infected. Ebola requires physical contact with infected fluids. As such a person can avoid infection simply by not handling sick people or things they have been in contact with.
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  29. "Imagine" is correct........ Come visit us again when you actually learn the science.
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  30. Being a spud muncher had nothing to do with it. She was offered a solution = which she rejected. She spent her remaining days in a quarantine facility as a protection against her infecting others. So if being a bogtrotter was held against her = she would have simply been shipped to back to Ireland to let them deal with her......... 🤨
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  31. Monkeypox is not new. It has been around for a long time and there have been cases in Africa forever. What "changed" if you will is mass transportation which allowed it to break out of Africa to spread to other continents. Though the media largely downplayed the reason it was apparent nonetheless = sexual promiscuity in the Gay community which routinely engages in high-risk multi-partner encounters. Monkeypox like other Orthopoxviruses as you alluded to generates prodromal infectibility. That is what made Smallpox so infectious - along with airborne virion particle transmission as opposed to Monkeypox which is primarily contact spread. So infected are viral shedding before any rash appear to know they've been infected + and their engagement with others - many others in some cases - led to its eventual spread. Mitigation measures were complicated as that subset population often had underlying immunological issues which the ACAM2000 attenuated vaccine unusable. The newer recombinant vaccine is a single-source one - and being in high demand that led to shortages for a time = thus hampering vaccination efforts. Mutation as always is a risk - though the case levels were not excessively high such that the risk remained low. Covid infected millions before new variants arose. The quicker a viral pathogen is tamped down the better. Enjoy your day.
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  32.  @copperkalanchoe9672  it's spread typifies the risks associated with air travel today - which we have been aware of for some time now. What it really highlights is how "political correctness" is impinging upon public health. Authorities downplayed the Gay sexual practices spread until the epidemic was well established when they should have stated that first thing. If Monkeypox was as infectious as its "cousin" Smallpox was - meaning airborne transmission rather than contact = it would still be spreading today. We were lucky. 🤔 p.s. - you are seeing the same thing by the way with Polio. Its recent reemergence in certain areas of Europe and the US is directly due to refusal to vaccinate on the part of certain communities for religious reasons = Hassidim. That is not to criticize them per se. Merely to show that when entire communities refuse to vaccinate for whatever reason it allows these infectious pathogens to get a foothold once introduced - much as Gay "club life" did for Monkeypox. Science is science and should be viewed as such. We should not tiptoe around certain subjects worrying about offending people.
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  33. No = it has not........ If Smallpox was out there it would spread like a forest fire killing people in its' wake.
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  34. Considering vitamins will do absolutely nothing for you vis a vis a defense against Ebola = what matter....... Take a whole bottle of whatever floats your boat - it won't matter. 🤨
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  35. No. There are only 2 repositories of the virus in the world today with one being the CDC and the other in Russia. So the Smallpox virus is not being used as a purported cure for HIV. Rather just as you saw with the recent Monkeypox epidemic in the US and Europe = new Smallpox vaccines for use with immunocompromised populations is ongoing. The old Smallpox vaccine is actually attenuated Vaccinia - Cowpox. Immunocompromised people - such as HIV infected populations = are unable to receive attenuated vaccines. So years ago a new recombinant Smallpox vaccine was developed in Holland for use in this population which not being attenuated does not carry the risks when used with individuals whose immune system is somehow compromised. Because the Smallpox and Monkeypox viruses are similar morphologically - the same as the Cowpox virus in the vaccine = the vaccine works against all 3 via "cross reactivity". 🤔
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  36. It can't be that unique considering all the sub-variants of Influenza in circulation and the number of species that virus can infect. It is simply another run of the mill zoonotic viral pathogen which has been around for a long time now - allowing its infectibility capacity across many species. p.s. - "Spanish Flu" (H1N1) represents "the beginning" of tracking the Influenza virus because that was the one in the 1930's researchers first were able to really identify and associated it with the 1918 outbreak. Influenza certainly existed prior to this point and thus it is doubtful H1N1 was the original "Flu virus". It was simply the first one we isolated and subsequently classified.
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  37.  @gregjames9875  The Measles vaccine in the MMR is the "gold standard" for vaccines with an "efficacy rate" of ~97%. What does this mean?? It means that under normal circumstances 97% will develop some level of immunity with the other 3% = not. So even the "ideal" vaccine as we see is not "100% effective" - as no vaccine can be because we are all individuals and hence our bodies react based upon numerous idiopathic variables unique to the person. Since you referenced Covid - let's look at that. The original variant of SARS-CoV-2 had an R0 of ~2-3. It then however began to mutate since it being a novel pathogen had no natural or vaccine-derived reservoir of immunity to slow it down. Today the variants in circulation having mutated several times now having an R0 on par with Measles = ~12-18. So what does this mean?? It means the original variant upon which vaccines were based could replicate at a certain level = whereas the newer ones generate exponentially higher viral loads. More viruses generated requires = more and more accurate antibodies to inhibit said replication. That is why booster shots as those stimulate higher levels of antibody production. Moral of the story: so are the Covid vaccines "100%" = nope - but so what as no vaccine actually is. Are their efficacy rates >50% = yup - and that is all that matters. It means that most will not catch Covid and those who do require higher levels of exposure and tend to get less ill because they already have antibodies inside of them to reduce their viral loads. If you have 10 "at risk" people and you vaccinate them. Subsequently 4 go on to still catch the illness = 6 did not - thus what began as 10 at risk was reduced to 4 actual cases. So you reduced your potential morbidity rate. By the way. Because vaccinated who go on to catch Covid tend to have lower viral loads = they then will usually shed less viruses as a result - meaning they are less likely to infect others compared to unvaccinated infected who have the highest viral loads and thus shed the most viruses into their environment. Methinks you should assume less = and learn the science more.... p.s. - SARS-CoV-2 = zoonotic viral pathogen. Zoonotic viruses which can jump between species are the most mutagenic. The MeV Measles virus and Poliovirus = "human-specific" - meaning they evolved to only infect people. As such they do not mutate as readily making vaccines more effective over time. The MMR is attenuated making it highly "immunogenetic" compared to recombinant vaccines like the mRNA Covid ones. Yet higher immunogenicity also comes with potentially harsher side effects. So recombinant vaccines sometimes have less efficacy compared to the older attenuated ones = but they are better tolerated - so it is a tradeoff.
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  38.  @nolesy34  A lie is a lie is a lie = irrespective of how some try to rationalize it. Ergo vaccine opposition built upon lies and misinformation results in = unnecessary death - no more, no less. It was demonstrated long ago that vaccines reduce incidence of infectious diseases and that by extension reduces their net impact upon society across the socioeconomic spectrum. This means less illness and less death and lifelong adverse health outcomes associated with vaccine-preventable illnesses. You do not exist in "a vacuum" after all. We all share the public space and hence in matters of infectious diseases = the actions of one impact others. Once upon a time lepers were driven from their communities owing to their infectibility and forced to live apart until antibiotics eliminated that need. Ergo in matters of public health new rules apply. We may be "individuals" = but we have no supposed "right" to adversely impact another owing to our sometimes choices. We "want" to be a part of the group to enjoy the benefits that carries. Ergo to belong = comes responsibilities to others. Vaccine opponents tend to think only of themselves. 🤔
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  39. Not quite the same. Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by a single organism which had evolved to only infect humans. Thus when it was cut off from its "food source" via mass vaccination = it died out having no one left to readily infect. "Cancer" however is simply an appellation for what is a idiopathic disease process which has multiple etiologies. Thus cancers can arise for no other reason than the cellular mitosis which drives our bodies which inherently leads to the rise of replicative errors. It can have a genetic predisposition whereby flawed genes are passed onto offspring from the parents which again leads to replicative errors and subsequent cancers arising. It can arise from cellular damage from environmental factors such as the inhalation or ingestion of carcinogenic substances. Finally it can arise sometimes from damage caused by infectious organisms who infect the person to cause irreparable damage to their cells which down the road promotes the rise of cancers. Moral of the story: cancers as we see = have no single source. The reason for their development varies from person to person which makes treatment of them difficult since their cause is unique to the individual. So we get better at treating cancers. It will be a while - if ever - however before we can actually defeat cancers once and for all.
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  40.  @fueledbycoffee7391  You are missing the forest for the trees here I'm afraid. Follow the white rabbit: 1 - in infectious diseases an external pathogenic organism attacks the body. Yet ultimately = the IMMUNE SYSTEM remedies the situation to restore balance. 2 - in cancers however the immune system = FAILS in its job - for various reasons as noted. Moral of the story: cancer is a failure of the immune system itself. Your body regularly produces cancerous cells you know. Normally they are identified and destroyed to be replaced by healthy ones. When that system breaks down for some reason = cancers arise. So yes a virus can in some cases yield cancers down the road. Yet the virus per se did not cause the cancer as much as your immune system failed to defeat the virus and repair the resulting damage. That makes the virus "a trigger" with the real failure laying with the immune system = get it. Infectious illnesses routinely cause damage to your body but your immune system helps repair the damage. Cancers are your immune system broken. It would be great if we could defeat cancers. That however necessitates identify "why" the cells go bad so as to repair the damage or target the specific cells. Drugs can help with the process - but like with say antibiotics they do not actually cure as = help the immune system cure you. Give antibiotics to someone with a weakened immune system and they can still die as ultimately their immune system must carry the fight. The immune system is the key to everything. Have a nice day.
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  41. Eat some raw meat left out on the counter too long and get back to us. lol!
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  42. Pity then you failed to elucidate any evidence to support what you claimed.......... So once again a anti-vaccine troll had an opportunity to "strut their stuff" and show others their knowledge of the science here = and they flubbed it......... 🥱
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  43. China = Asia = largest landmass in the world = area of low technological development = area of high international commerce = point of spread for many zoonotic pathogens. 🤔
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  44.  @ronc7743  So as expected you parrot more inanity indicating no understanding = to then declare you have no interest in what others note. That of course was obvious from the onset. Still it always serves to illustrate for others that fact. Vaccine opposition is all = assumption/innuendo/anecdotal claims - but no real understanding. C'est La Vie
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  45. Blame the anti-vaccine hysterics. Had they not messed up the plumbing here then Measles say might be far less prevalent that it currently is. It was well on its way out until a resurgence happened owing to vaccine resistance from 2000 onward. Also Polio is almost gone as well. There are 3 strains of Poliovirus with 2 being eradicated and the third now only found in the rural areas of 2 countries = Afghanistan and Pakistan - where conflict and religious resistance inhibit vaccination programs. So we have the means to eliminate more infectious diseases = we simply lack the insight and will to do so. 🤨
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  46. No - you didn't. Chickenpox is not Smallpox. Smallpox was eradicated from the world almost 50 years ago.
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  47. 🤣 There's always one...... Does no one learn science anymore........
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  48.  @pj_ytmt-123  🤦‍♂ If you think I have the power to delete your comments = you are far more of a paranoiac then I originally assumed......
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  49. All airborne viral pathogens require the same basic measures of mitigation: social distancing/hand washing/masks. Unlike then however we today have the benefit of antiviral medications and vastly improved medical treatments - as well as a vaccine. Thus the former can help reduce your chances of being exposed so as to be infected to a degree. The latter are what help you once you are infected. In the end however the goal as always is to prevent exposure and subsequent infection. For that to happen the virus must be cut off from its host to reduce local morbidity. Vaccination is the most effective way to achieve this as you can via mass vaccination trigger an immunological response in large numbers of people very quickly. In the case of Influenza - and now Covid - there is a limit to such mitigation because these viral pathogens are = "zoonotic" - hence they exist in other species. We can not therefore eradicate them. All we can do is to wage an ongoing campaign to limit their spread and hence the adverse impact of their presence in communities. They are a part of the environment now. 🤔
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  50. Time to turn in your license - assuming you even have one - as clearly you are an example of "grade inflation". lol! I hear that McD's is hiring as individuals such as yourself should rightly be "weeded out" of the medical field. Better for hospitals to work short handed with qualified staff than to keep such as yourself employed.
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