Bachmann Can't Pony Up

[Shell B]

Since only one of those two involved human beings directly, I'll link you the wiki on smallpox. Vaccination and isolation is exactly how it was done. On a global scale. (it took 187 years)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox#Eradication

I know, but my question was, do you think every single man, woman and child was vaccinated during the smallpox eradication?

HIV was easily preventable by not consuming, or having intercourse with the non-human carriers.

We're not really sure of that. Because HIV took so long to spot, we really don't know how it was first contracted, though most people scoff at the sex with a monkey idea. Today, it is as easily preventable as it was then. Don't have sex with human carriers. I will say, though, it is awfully hard to prevent transmission from non-human carriers when you don't even know the disease exists.

All you had to do to stay away from Influenza was to avoid domestic animals.

That's easy?!?!

These two were not actually human diseases for 180 some odd thousand years of human history. How about that for easily avoided by other means?

Actually, that is awfully difficult to say for certain. Besides, just because a disease has a non-human vector for much of its existence, does not mean that it becomes more deadly to humans upon entering the human population. No one ever heard of Marburg or outbreaks of it until a few decades ago. It was extremely deadly the moment it met with the human population, though virologists tend to think it and other such viruses have had dalliances with humankind in the past.

It's nice to see survival rates go up, but wouldn't infection rates of exactly 0% be preferable?

Of course.

Matter of fact, HIV is "easily preventable by other means" in the same way that HPV is, so should we not consider making any (theoretical) vaccination against it mandatory?

Absolutely. Even more so because there are tests for HIV.

Now, it may be counterproductive for a virus to kill the host, but they aren't exactly thinking machines are they? Honestly the only credible prophecies of doom floating around right now are the ones involving epidemics.

Pandemic doomsdayers at least have the decency to admit that only most of the human population is likely to go in a pandemic. Even the deadliest of viruses are not capable of destroying the entire human population. The scariest virus so far is the flu, backed by Ebola. Now, if Ebola became as communicable as the flu, we would have a serious fucking problem, but 10% of us, at the very least, would make it.

HPV is obviously highly communicable, and cancer is obviously deadly. I'm not arguing that the current strain of HPV is going to nix us all, I'm arguing that any measures we can take to improve human health overall are good measures.

I'm not arguing against that. I simply think diseases like HPV are better fought through educating the public, as well as vaccinating those who are willing. I would not be averse to making people carry vaccination cards like licenses.

I'm arguing that it is almost a given that any virus that is already preying upon us will get nasty as shit given time.

Smallpox did not grow from a cancer or wart producing virus. Hemorrhagic fevers don't all of a sudden become the common cold, etc. Viruses do have limits, as far as we can tell.

The window for immunization exists exactly as long as HPV remains in it's current form. If it does not, the vaccinations you decide to give your child will be useless.

Rhythm, there are currently several forms of HPV, the vaccine prevents four of them, if my memory serves me. Most types are pretty fucking harmless.

This vaccine may brush up against some of our ideas of sexual morality or responsibility, or discussions of rights etc, but honestly I don't feel that those things have any place at all in a discussion about vaccination. As Moros has said, I don't think any of this would be an issue were we contemplating a vaccine for the common cold (as implausible as that is).

Because the common cold spreads like fucking wildfire. If the common cold had a high mortality rate, it would be like the flu on crack. Of course I wouldn't object to vaccinations for something that spreads through the air. I do realize that other viruses can become airborne, but unless the effect the respiratory system, they are unlikely to be spread in aerosol form.

(I couldn't resist the obit..lol)

I figured as much. Don't feel bad. Though I try very hard to suppress it, I have a tendency toward the dramatic myself.











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