Is Ebola Evolving into a Deadlier Virus?
newyorker.com
Is Ebola Evolving into a Deadlier Virus?
1–10 of 86 posts
Re: Is Ebola Evolving into a Deadlier Virus?
#2This is concerning. It's also concerning when the country you live in contains as many idiotic conspiracy theories shared hundreds of thousands of times just like the DRC.
Re: Is Ebola Evolving into a Deadlier Virus?
#3This is concerning. It's also concerning when the country you live in contains as many idiotic conspiracy theories shared hundreds of thousands of times just like the DRC.
Anti-vaxxers?
Re: Is Ebola Evolving into a Deadlier Virus?
#4I'm tempted to flag this for sensationalist, overly dumbed down presentation of ordinary biology of viruses, but okay evidently some people found it valuable.
As I remember it, the author's novel "The Hot Zone" (1994) was better writing and far better science around Ebola and other filoviruses.
Re: Is Ebola Evolving into a Deadlier Virus?
#5Re: Is Ebola Evolving into a Deadlier Virus?
#6Tangential, but if a virus's contagion is regulated by its virulence (that is, very deadly viruses are less contagious because they kill their hosts) does that mean widespread access to modern medicine could remove the upper bound on virulence by keeping the hosts alive?
I could probably formulate this question better, but the basic question is, "could virus's symptoms be getting worse in general?"
Re: Is Ebola Evolving into a Deadlier Virus?
#7Re: Is Ebola Evolving into a Deadlier Virus?
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
I suspect it has more to do with anti-westerners.
Darwinism in action. Isn't this forum pro-theory of evolution and against imperialism?
Imperialism has both good and bad. The bad comes in the form of top down governance. The good comes in the form of modernization. See Roman and imperial China Empires among others.
Re: Is Ebola Evolving into a Deadlier Virus?
#9Tangential, but if a virus's contagion is regulated by its virulence (that is, very deadly viruses are less contagious because they kill their hosts) does that mean widespread access to modern medicine could remove the upper bound on virulence by keeping the hosts alive? I could probably formulate this question better, but the basic question is, "could virus's symptoms be getting worse in general?"
Not an epidemiologist, but I understand it mostly has to do with the means by which the virus is transmitted. Ebola is very lethal but requires physical contact of bodily fluids for transmission, which contains a lot its spreading. You can probably sit on a plane next to a contaminated person and you will be fine. That contains a lot the contagion vs a virus like the flu.
Re: Is Ebola Evolving into a Deadlier Virus?
#10Wait until it gets into the US in a marginal part of society. Given we have no universal health care, it's likely to spread and evolve faster than we can stop it. The person in Dallas could have infected the homeless person in the same ambulance who subsequently wandered off. Imagine an illegal person catching it and fearing discovery tries to avoid a hospital, only to infect those they are sharing a tiny room with.