31–40 of 98 posts
I am surprised to see this data, because my impression was that you essentially had to be a physically and mentally flawless human being to go into space.
[1] See https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/28-10-2015-globally-an-...
Reminder that the stigma against herpes is a pharmaceutical marketing creation from the mid 1970s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herpes_simplex#Society_and_cul... >Pedro Cuatrecasas states, "during the R&D of acyclovir, marketing [department of Burroughs Wellcome] insisted that there were 'no markets' for this compound. Most had hardly heard of genital herpes..." Thus, marketing the medical condition—separating the '…
"The stigma against" is exclusively a US bound thing. I consume a lot of media (Plus memes) from the US, and people make a real fuss about it. In my country people give it the same importance as a simple cold.
1. a something widespread does usually have naturally higher societal acceptance
2. [IANAD] kind of "de-facto" vaccination/immunization. For example i (like many many Russians) have occasional cold sores (once in a 1-4 years, in CA seems to be less frequently than back in Russia) since childhood. I've had it on both sides of my lips which probably means that i have both - HSV1 and HSV2. That also means that i never going to get it anywhere else on my body (once any one site in the body gets infected with herpes the rest of the body develops immunity)
From descriptions genital herpes seems to be worse than lip cold sores. In US (at least in CA) i see no people with cold sores, so the majority of the population is most probably susceptible to the infection. Given that sexual contact is a frequent transmission method in adulthood (while not a factor in childhood), i'm not surprised that for US population "herpes" statistically means and happens as "genital herpes" (while i haven't heard about such a thing back in Russia where we get it early in the childhood as cold sores on lips).
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The peak was when Time magazine had 'Herpes: The New Scarlet Letter' on the cover in August 1982 It's was actually "Today's scarlet letter: Herpes." https://goo.gl/images/hVd6um Sad when people can't do a simple Google search to verify most easily verifiable claims.
Did you update the wikipedia article with the correct citation? Its easy to complain on HN, takes a little more effort to correct misinformation for future internet users.
I am surprised to see this data, because my impression was that you essentially had to be a physically and mentally flawless human being to go into space.
Over 60% of humanity has HSV-1 [1], aka "cold sores" virus. When people "get tested", they generally don't even check for it unless you request it, because it would create unjustified concern. [1] See https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/28-10-2015-globally-an-...
Astronaut selection is already severe. You don't get selected if you have tuberculosis, diabetes, amputations, or deafness. Once selected, you won't go on the launch if you are sick with the flu.
It doesn't seem like HSV-1 needs to be a problem in space. Simply add that to the gigantic list of conditions that prevent space travel.
I highly doubt that HSV-1 is anywhere near 60% in the pool of astronaut candidates. Disease presence is correlated: if you have one, you probably have another. Since lots of other diseases would already be disqualifying, adding HSV-1 to the checklist won't strike off very many potential astronauts.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Judging from the content on the linked wikipedia page for Herpes Simplex it strikes me as absurd that one would categorize it with the simple cold.
Although it's not curable, there are a lot of good, cheap treatments available, and many people can go long periods of time with no symptoms. Consider the line from the Wikipedia page: "Worldwide rates of either HSV-1 or HSV-2 are between 60% and 95% in adults." If infection rates are that high, it's probably not that big of a deal for most people.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Judging from the content on the linked wikipedia page for Herpes Simplex it strikes me as absurd that one would categorize it with the simple cold.
Everyone gets it. It just goes away, often for years. There's no cure. Like colds.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Over 60% of humanity has HSV-1 [1], aka "cold sores" virus. When people "get tested", they generally don't even check for it unless you request it, because it would create unjustified concern. [1] See https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/28-10-2015-globally-an-...
So almost 40% of humanity does not have HSV-1. Astronaut selection is already severe. You don't get selected if you have tuberculosis, diabetes, amputations, or deafness. Once selected, you won't go on the launch if you are sick with the flu. It doesn't seem like HSV-1 needs to be a problem in space. Simply add that to the gigantic list of conditions that prevent space travel. I highly doubt that HSV-1 is anywhere ne…
Space is cool, but I didn't see any gravity related controls nor any other space specific controls. Consider that the relationship between stress (HPA axis, etc.) and viral activation is pretty well known. Models of chronic rodent stress include constant loud noise, uncomfortable environmental scale (open spaces versus "comfortable" places with places to hide/nest), weird lighting and temperature, "violent" (freaking…
I would humbly suggest submarine crews as control group. Canned air, tight space, weird sleep cycles, noise and artificial light. Submarine crews are even more isolated because they can't contact families while underway.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Over 60% of humanity has HSV-1 [1], aka "cold sores" virus. When people "get tested", they generally don't even check for it unless you request it, because it would create unjustified concern. [1] See https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/28-10-2015-globally-an-...
So almost 40% of humanity does not have HSV-1. Astronaut selection is already severe. You don't get selected if you have tuberculosis, diabetes, amputations, or deafness. Once selected, you won't go on the launch if you are sick with the flu. It doesn't seem like HSV-1 needs to be a problem in space. Simply add that to the gigantic list of conditions that prevent space travel. I highly doubt that HSV-1 is anywhere ne…