41–50 of 71 posts
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Gotta rotate the supplies. This is why even though I've _reduced_ my use of bottled water, I keep an active supply of bottles on hand at a level sufficient for an emergency and consume through the stock to keep it fresh.
What for use?
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The current smallpox vaccines stockpiled in the US use a live virus¹ and have a fairly high rate of serious side effects (1–2%) for a disease that doesn't currently exist. The vaccines are also still effective a few days after exposure to smallpox. ¹ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccinia
Also, the way the smallpox vaccine is administered is mildly gruesome: > A droplet of ACAM2000 is administered by the percutaneous route (scarification) using 15 jabs of a bifurcated needle . ACAM2000 should not be injected by the intradermal, subcutaneous, intramuscular, or intravenous route. (emphasis mine) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox_vaccine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bifurcated_needle
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The current smallpox vaccines stockpiled in the US use a live virus¹ and have a fairly high rate of serious side effects (1–2%) for a disease that doesn't currently exist. The vaccines are also still effective a few days after exposure to smallpox. ¹ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccinia
Also, the way the smallpox vaccine is administered is mildly gruesome: > A droplet of ACAM2000 is administered by the percutaneous route (scarification) using 15 jabs of a bifurcated needle . ACAM2000 should not be injected by the intradermal, subcutaneous, intramuscular, or intravenous route. (emphasis mine) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox_vaccine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bifurcated_needle
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There are a lot more people who will soon have access to genome fabrication technology (there are already companies that do this as a service) than can break into a BSL4+ laboratory and steal one of the few remaining smallpox samples.
Would smallpox survive in a microscope slide? I remember my late grandpa had a microscope slide labeled smallpox in his basement. He was an old time doctor and had all sorts of neat things down there after he died. I don’t remember what happened but think the slide is still sitting in a storage shed or something. Always been curious about the risk of having such a slide.
How can you test the effectiveness of this drug against smallpox?
From the article: > Because smallpox is eradicated, the effectiveness of Tembexa was studied in animals infected with viruses that are closely related to the variola virus. Effectiveness was determined by measuring animals’ survival at the end of the studies. More animals treated with Tembexa survived compared to the animals treated with placebo. FDA approved Tembexa under the agency’s Animal Rule, which allows findi…
Some poxes are awful for the primary host. Camelpox apparently kills about a quarter of camels that contract it. Just like smallpox (humanpox?) kills about 25% of humans, actually. But camelpox rarely even infects humans, and is self-limiting when it does.
Monkeypox is bad in humans. Almost as bad as smallpox, but not as contagious.
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From the article: > Because smallpox is eradicated, the effectiveness of Tembexa was studied in animals infected with viruses that are closely related to the variola virus. Effectiveness was determined by measuring animals’ survival at the end of the studies. More animals treated with Tembexa survived compared to the animals treated with placebo. FDA approved Tembexa under the agency’s Animal Rule, which allows findi…
There’s a variant of pox for most animals, they aren’t dangerous to us. There’s even 2 variants of kangeroopox. Not even joking.
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Would smallpox survive in a microscope slide? I remember my late grandpa had a microscope slide labeled smallpox in his basement. He was an old time doctor and had all sorts of neat things down there after he died. I don’t remember what happened but think the slide is still sitting in a storage shed or something. Always been curious about the risk of having such a slide.
No, if the slide was prepared for storage the sample would have been embedded in a preservative with the cover glass glued down around the perimeter. The sample would likely be mixed with a mixture of alcohol, glycerin, and acetic acid known as AGA to prevent decomposition, this would kill any bacteria or viruses in the sample. I have a microscope from my uncle, also a doctor, which came with a ton of slides he prepa…
But somehow, they kept all vaccines banned for another 6 months killing hundreds of thousands. Nothing.
But in the last week they approved an Alzheimer's drug that basically doesn't work (they have 9 years to prove it) and a smallpox drug with no human studies.
Why couldn't we have unbanned the vaccines long before we did? Those that said we can't possibly approve something without following an exact process this week we're just totally proven wrong.
I think the bar for "not banning" should be lower. The bar for "medicare must pay infinity dollars for it" should be higher.