I take echinacea to boost my immune system. It doesn't stop you getting bugs but it does seem to lessen the severity of a cold etc. I'd rather not subject my body to the chemicals etc in a vaccine.
The trouble with viruses is that they are constantly mutating. You get ones that are deadly, and you get ones that spread fast. If a deadly one picks up some fast spreading abilities, then we're in trouble.
There are a lot of things that have always lurked in rainforests & jungles and as these are cut back we come into contact with them - ebola is a classic example. If ebola ever mutates into something that spreads fast, we're pretty much screwed.
I think that's why everyone is so jittery when a new virus harmful to humans is identified. Depending on how it transmits itself, it could be beyond containment very rapidly.
If you wanted to be really cynical, you could view viruses as the planet's antibodies ridding it of troublesome humans.
Poverty, pollution, the high altitude would all be contributing factors to the Mexico deaths, although it's interesting that the Mexican fatalities are seemingly all young people (which were also the main demographic of the Spanish Flu but many of those were soldiers returning from WW1) whereas in North America and elsewhere it's the more traditional demographic (the very young and very old and chronically ill).
And if one doesn't get vaccinated, one helps act as a reservoir and can spread the disease even if one is asymptomatic.
I have very few kind words for anti-vaccine people (especially given that the paper everyone claims shows links between MMR and Aspbergers goes beyond shoddy science and into the actively malicious - not only did the main author take money from anti-vaccination groups to write it, he LIED about his results).
And if one doesn't get vaccinated, one helps act as a reservoir and can spread the disease even if one is asymptomatic.
That is true in the case of some vaccines, but not with vaccines for viruses like flu.
The problem is due to the high mutation rate of viruses - if you vaccinate everyone to make them immune to the initial strain, you just create a selection pressure for mutated viral strains not covered by the vaccine. So actually vaccinating everybody is a bad thing.
Oops, there I go listening to people again! I was reading from lortd knows where (I must've read several news reports and blos instead of working today!) that the majority of folks out there reckon it's man made. I'm sorry for my post not being factual! Should have worded it better. I'm no biologist. I suspect that the different strains making up the virus is what has people thinking it's likely, swine flu strains from two continets, human and avian. The two different continents thing along with testimony from people claiming to work in the medical profession and biotechnology saying they were first warned about it a year ago and have been and given guidelines to deal with it throughout the past year; These seem to be the main reasons for the suspicion it was probably man made.
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There are a lot of things that have always lurked in rainforests & jungles and as these are cut back we come into contact with them - ebola is a classic example. If ebola ever mutates into something that spreads fast, we're pretty much screwed.
I think that's why everyone is so jittery when a new virus harmful to humans is identified. Depending on how it transmits itself, it could be beyond containment very rapidly.
If you wanted to be really cynical, you could view viruses as the planet's antibodies ridding it of troublesome humans.
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Aye, this is something that has crossed my mind. Cynical? Moi?
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As for conspiracy theories, I am sceptical.
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I have very few kind words for anti-vaccine people (especially given that the paper everyone claims shows links between MMR and Aspbergers goes beyond shoddy science and into the actively malicious - not only did the main author take money from anti-vaccination groups to write it, he LIED about his results).
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That is true in the case of some vaccines, but not with vaccines for viruses like flu.
The problem is due to the high mutation rate of viruses - if you vaccinate everyone to make them immune to the initial strain, you just create a selection pressure for mutated viral strains not covered by the vaccine. So actually vaccinating everybody is a bad thing.
Reply
(The comment has been removed)
I'm no biologist. I suspect that the different strains making up the virus is what has people thinking it's likely, swine flu strains from two continets, human and avian. The two different continents thing along with testimony from people claiming to work in the medical profession and biotechnology saying they were first warned about it a year ago and have been and given guidelines to deal with it throughout the past year; These seem to be the main reasons for the suspicion it was probably man made.
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