#318 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Wednesday April 6)
musingsbeyondthebunker.substack.com
Good morning, The pandemic we are living through is not unique. Disease has been a major player throughout human history. For a great survey of that phenomenon and the effects on civilization, try reading the seminal Guns, Germs and Steel, by Jared Diamond (yes, a UCLA professor). What differentiates more modern plagues from earlier scourges of disease, beginning with smallpox, is that mere palliative care was replaced by the ability to inoculate against the pathogens and fight them after the onset of infection. The current vaccine is a further advance from earlier vaccines, in that is not based upon “infecting” the patient with a virus (alive or dead), instead employing mRNA technology that can be modified to respond to this and, potentially, other diseases. What it is unique about “plagues” today is the availability of vaccines and therapies that would have been unheard of during past plagues.
#318 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Wednesday April 6)
…
#318 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Wednesday April 6)
Good morning, The pandemic we are living through is not unique. Disease has been a major player throughout human history. For a great survey of that phenomenon and the effects on civilization, try reading the seminal Guns, Germs and Steel, by Jared Diamond (yes, a UCLA professor). What differentiates more modern plagues from earlier scourges of disease, beginning with smallpox, is that mere palliative care was replaced by the ability to inoculate against the pathogens and fight them after the onset of infection. The current vaccine is a further advance from earlier vaccines, in that is not based upon “infecting” the patient with a virus (alive or dead), instead employing mRNA technology that can be modified to respond to this and, potentially, other diseases. What it is unique about “plagues” today is the availability of vaccines and therapies that would have been unheard of during past plagues.