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The Ebola/Zika/Other [Infectious Diseases] Thread

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    JusticeforPlutoJusticeforPluto Registered User regular
    Yeah I know next to nothing about it and it seemed like an interesting (not quite the right word but can't think of another) topic.

    One of its vectors is mosquitoes, right? And can cause birth defects up to at least 2 years later?

    Combined with the lack of abortion options in South America and this is a nightmare.

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    ShadowhopeShadowhope Baa. Registered User regular

    IMO, update the thread title.

    Civics is not a consumer product that you can ignore because you don’t like the options presented.
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    m!ttensm!ttens he/himRegistered User regular
    Yeah I know next to nothing about it and it seemed like an interesting (not quite the right word but can't think of another) topic.

    One of its vectors is mosquitoes, right? And can cause birth defects up to at least 2 years later?

    Combined with the lack of abortion options in South America and this is a nightmare.

    Yeah, the main disease vector is mosquitoes. We're still not 100% sure if the birth defects are solely due to Zika or perhaps due to an interaction between Zika and Dengue (which is also carried by mosquitoes). The main birth defect it causes is microcephaly, which is an underdeveloped head in the fetus, typically resulting in fairly severe intellectual disability.

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    Captain MarcusCaptain Marcus now arrives the hour of actionRegistered User regular
    edited February 2016
    There's a case today in Texas where the virus was spread via sexual transmission. So not just mosquitoes, and bad news for the folks trying to stop it.

    The good thing about mosquitoes and Zika is that mosquitoes are THE vector for a host of other nasty diseases, so any new efforts at mosquito control will be a big help to a lot of people. There's been some talk bouncing around over the last couple of years about making the biting mosquitoes extinct which I think is a good idea. Some people don't, but the majority of the nay votes are "bioethicists" at universities in non-malarial zones and their opinions can be safely discounted. I can't think of a better example of privilege or First World problems than loudly proclaiming that we should keep the mosquito when you're at no risk of contracting malaria (kills a child every 30 seconds[!]), dengue fever, yellow fever, elephantiasis, or various forms of brain swelling, all of which can be picked up from a mosquito bite.

    Captain Marcus on
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    JusticeforPlutoJusticeforPluto Registered User regular
    I would worry about its effect on the ecosystem. That's something I would want well understood before a decision is made.

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    Gnome-InterruptusGnome-Interruptus Registered User regular
    There's a case today in Texas where the virus was spread via sexual transmission. So not just mosquitoes, and bad news for the folks trying to stop it.

    The good thing about mosquitoes and Zika is that mosquitoes are THE vector for a host of other nasty diseases, so any new efforts at mosquito control will be a big help to a lot of people. There's been some talk bouncing around over the last couple of years about making the biting mosquitoes extinct which I think is a good idea. Some people don't, but the majority of the nay votes are "bioethicists" at universities in non-malarial zones and their opinions can be safely discounted. I can't think of a better example of privilege or First World problems than loudly proclaiming that we should keep the mosquito when you're at no risk of contracting malaria (kills a child every 30 seconds[!]), dengue fever, yellow fever, elephantiasis, or various forms of brain swelling, all of which can be picked up from a mosquito bite.

    Those are almost all limited to the southern mosquitos, West Nile Virus has now spread in mosquitos all across North America.

    Eliminating Mosquitos would have a huge impact on the ecosystems that they live in, so there are some legitimate concerns about unintended consequences *Say hi to Australia*

    I know my hometown has taken to heavily increasing Dragonfly breeding to help reduce the mosquito population in conjunction with spraying drainage ditches etc.

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    MWO: Adamski
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    Captain MarcusCaptain Marcus now arrives the hour of actionRegistered User regular
    IIRC studies have found no big effect on getting rid of the biting mosquitoes. There's over a hundred different species and about only 20 bite and spread disease; the rest are pollinators.

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    So It GoesSo It Goes We keep moving...Registered User regular
    IIRC studies have found no big effect on getting rid of the biting mosquitoes. There's over a hundred different species and about only 20 bite and spread disease; the rest are pollinators.

    Yup I am 100% for eradication of those species that bite

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    JusticeforPlutoJusticeforPluto Registered User regular
    Man, Brazil is deploying soldiers to fight this.

    I mean, good on them for taking action but 200,000 men and women really speaks of the urgency of this.

    Plus with the Olympics coming up this could spread quickly.

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    ArbitraryDescriptorArbitraryDescriptor changed Registered User regular
    Man, Brazil is deploying soldiers to fight this.

    I mean, good on them for taking action but 200,000 men and women really speaks of the urgency of this.

    Plus with the Olympics coming up this could spread quickly.

    Good thing they already discovered the sexual transmission vector!

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    JusticeforPlutoJusticeforPluto Registered User regular
    Well, it's a good thing a bunch of young, fit individuals living in close proximity to each other would never do anything like that.

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    tbloxhamtbloxham Registered User regular
    So here's a question I've seen no discussion of. Zika is carried primarily by mosquitos. It's pretty infectious, so if you get a few bites from infected mosquitoes you'll probably get it.

    For most people that will be that, they'll get a rash perhaps, and a fever but there you go. But if you are pregnant there is a chance it will affect the fetus and cause mycrocephaly. What is that chance? 0.1%? 50%? Because anything higher than 10% we should be deploying all the resources of the world to fight this disease.

    Also, are you only at risk of fetal transmission the first time you get it? Can you even get it more than once?

    "That is cool" - Abraham Lincoln
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    Emissary42Emissary42 Registered User regular
    IIRC studies have found no big effect on getting rid of the biting mosquitoes. There's over a hundred different species and about only 20 bite and spread disease; the rest are pollinators.

    If I'm remembering it right, the first species targeted with gene drives is the African variety of mosquito, so every single one beyond Africa is an invasive species.

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    jothkijothki Registered User regular
    There's a case today in Texas where the virus was spread via sexual transmission. So not just mosquitoes, and bad news for the folks trying to stop it.

    Isn't pretty much everything spread through sexual transmission? There might be some strictly localized stuff that isn't, but in general it's direct blood contact so anything in the bloodstream gets transmitted.

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    ArbitraryDescriptorArbitraryDescriptor changed Registered User regular
    edited February 2016
    jothki wrote: »
    There's a case today in Texas where the virus was spread via sexual transmission. So not just mosquitoes, and bad news for the folks trying to stop it.

    Isn't pretty much everything spread through sexual transmission? There might be some strictly localized stuff that isn't, but in general it's direct blood contact so anything in the bloodstream gets transmitted.

    I can't speak to that, but that articles I read made it seem noteworthy that the virus remained active in sperm weeks after it was clear from the blood stream.

    So you (those of 'you' who produce and expell sperm) would be over it, but still a carrier for a while after. Which is interesting as that means it's strictly a male vector, and a vasectomy would apparently prevent it.

    Nature: Quirks all the way down!

    Edit 4: Sleep: Demonstrably necessary!

    ArbitraryDescriptor on
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    davidsdurionsdavidsdurions Your Trusty Meatshield Panhandle NebraskaRegistered User regular
    I heard earlier that the mosquito that is carrying Zika is diurnal, so bed nets aren't helping with slowing it down like it would be with the nocturnal mosquitos that people are used to combatting.

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    ShivahnShivahn Unaware of her barrel shifter privilege Western coastal temptressRegistered User, Moderator mod
    tbloxham wrote: »
    So here's a question I've seen no discussion of. Zika is carried primarily by mosquitos. It's pretty infectious, so if you get a few bites from infected mosquitoes you'll probably get it.

    For most people that will be that, they'll get a rash perhaps, and a fever but there you go. But if you are pregnant there is a chance it will affect the fetus and cause mycrocephaly. What is that chance? 0.1%? 50%? Because anything higher than 10% we should be deploying all the resources of the world to fight this disease.

    Also, are you only at risk of fetal transmission the first time you get it? Can you even get it more than once?

    There have been no causative studies, even, so I doubt this is known. Iirc current evidence that it causes birth defects is "we have had an increase in birth defects in areas with increases on Zika"

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    TofystedethTofystedeth Registered User regular
    Well, it's a good thing a bunch of young, fit individuals living in close proximity to each other would never do anything like that.

    Fortunately, if I recall correctly, most times the Olympic village is well stocked with condoms.

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    dlinfinitidlinfiniti Registered User regular
    Well, it's a good thing a bunch of young, fit individuals living in close proximity to each other would never do anything like that.

    Fortunately, if I recall correctly, most times the Olympic village is well stocked with condoms.

    its the sailors who have to compete in that gross bay i worry about

    AAAAA!!! PLAAAYGUUU!!!!
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    Disco11Disco11 Registered User regular
    dlinfiniti wrote: »
    Well, it's a good thing a bunch of young, fit individuals living in close proximity to each other would never do anything like that.

    Fortunately, if I recall correctly, most times the Olympic village is well stocked with condoms.

    its the sailors who have to compete in that gross bay i worry about

    Young, fit and high on adrenaline. The Olympic village should be sponsored by Trojan.

    And who can blame them?

    PSN: Canadian_llama
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    dlinfinitidlinfiniti Registered User regular
    Disco11 wrote: »
    dlinfiniti wrote: »
    Well, it's a good thing a bunch of young, fit individuals living in close proximity to each other would never do anything like that.

    Fortunately, if I recall correctly, most times the Olympic village is well stocked with condoms.

    its the sailors who have to compete in that gross bay i worry about

    Young, fit and high on adrenaline. The Olympic village should be sponsored by Trojan.

    And who can blame them?

    No no, Brazil's shoreline is a serious health hazard
    http://gawker.com/brazil-even-more-full-of-shit-than-previously-believed-1745677044

    AAAAA!!! PLAAAYGUUU!!!!
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    ShadowhopeShadowhope Baa. Registered User regular


    dlinfiniti wrote: »
    Disco11 wrote: »
    dlinfiniti wrote: »
    Well, it's a good thing a bunch of young, fit individuals living in close proximity to each other would never do anything like that.

    Fortunately, if I recall correctly, most times the Olympic village is well stocked with condoms.

    its the sailors who have to compete in that gross bay i worry about

    Young, fit and high on adrenaline. The Olympic village should be sponsored by Trojan.

    And who can blame them?

    No no, Brazil's shoreline is a serious health hazard
    http://gawker.com/brazil-even-more-full-of-shit-than-previously-believed-1745677044

    "The good news is: you came back clean on a standard battery of STD tests. The bad news is: you came back positive for three diseases that have previously only been observed in dolphins."

    Civics is not a consumer product that you can ignore because you don’t like the options presented.
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    ElvenshaeElvenshae Registered User regular
    Shadowhope wrote: »

    dlinfiniti wrote: »
    Disco11 wrote: »
    dlinfiniti wrote: »
    Well, it's a good thing a bunch of young, fit individuals living in close proximity to each other would never do anything like that.

    Fortunately, if I recall correctly, most times the Olympic village is well stocked with condoms.

    its the sailors who have to compete in that gross bay i worry about

    Young, fit and high on adrenaline. The Olympic village should be sponsored by Trojan.

    And who can blame them?

    No no, Brazil's shoreline is a serious health hazard
    http://gawker.com/brazil-even-more-full-of-shit-than-previously-believed-1745677044

    "The good news is: you came back clean on a standard battery of STD tests. The bad news is: you came back positive for three diseases that have previously only been observed in dolphins."

    "The bad bad news is: they're dolphin STDs."

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    CarpyCarpy Registered User regular
    There was a similiar clustering of microcephaly and zika in French Polynesia a couple of years ago. They've also found the virus in amniotic fluid of a pair of pregnant women whose fetuses were diagnosed with microcephaly by prenatal ultrasound and in the brains of 2 babies who died shortly after birth and had microcephaly. The numbers on the last 2 points are small but I really have no idea whats a significant amount in this type of research.

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    HappylilElfHappylilElf Registered User regular
    dlinfiniti wrote: »
    Disco11 wrote: »
    dlinfiniti wrote: »
    Well, it's a good thing a bunch of young, fit individuals living in close proximity to each other would never do anything like that.

    Fortunately, if I recall correctly, most times the Olympic village is well stocked with condoms.

    its the sailors who have to compete in that gross bay i worry about

    Young, fit and high on adrenaline. The Olympic village should be sponsored by Trojan.

    And who can blame them?

    No no, Brazil's shoreline is a serious health hazard
    http://gawker.com/brazil-even-more-full-of-shit-than-previously-believed-1745677044

    holy fucking

    god damnit Brazil you aren't supposed to plan waste management the same way I do in Cities: Skylines

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    MulysaSemproniusMulysaSempronius but also susie nyRegistered User regular
    Given how Catholic the Americas are, I wonder if the Pope will have anything to say about Zika and/or both control in the area.

    If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
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    JusticeforPlutoJusticeforPluto Registered User regular
    Probably not, and if he does it won't break tradition.

    See the Catholic Church and AIDS.

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    MayabirdMayabird Pecking at the keyboardRegistered User regular
    Shadowhope wrote: »
    IMO, update the thread title.

    I finally have a working computer again so this is done.

    Emissary42 wrote: »
    IIRC studies have found no big effect on getting rid of the biting mosquitoes. There's over a hundred different species and about only 20 bite and spread disease; the rest are pollinators.

    If I'm remembering it right, the first species targeted with gene drives is the African variety of mosquito, so every single one beyond Africa is an invasive species.

    This is true and I support controlling if not eliminating invasive species whenever possible.

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