Beware Victorian Diseases Among Us

With the Omicron and other variants of Covid-19 in what appears to be a steady decline and more than 75% of US adults vaccinated it's great to see the masks and isolation disappear and daily routines restored - with some adaptation - to pre-pandemic norms. At the same time we have to remember that this disease and its variants join a pantheon of respiratory infections we can expect to see every year. We'll learn to live with this risk as humans always have.

H.G. Wells probably got it right when nature's biological weapons took care of the Martians in his book, War of the Worlds. I watched George Pal's 1953 film adaptation of that book with a group of older cousins. We were lying on blankets at a drive-in theater under a canopy of stars. That night any one of those twinkling lights overhead could have been a Martian spacecraft on its way to Earth. I was seven that year, perhaps a bit young to be watching such an impressionable film, especially the scene of a slowly dying hand creeping out of the war machine. I survived and went on to enjoy all the decades of sci-fi and horror films Hollywood and England could produce.

Interestingly, the same year that War of the Worlds hit the screen for the first time, Dr. Jonas Salk announced a vaccine to prevent poliomyelitis. The disease had become the most terrifying public health issue in the post-war U.S. Attacking mostly children, there were tens of thousands of cases each year and, up to 1952, the numbers were increasing. Today polio is on the threshold of eradication. That could have been said for other diseases a decade ago, but now they are a growing threat, especially among what the London Daily Mail in 2009 called the "Victorian" diseases. The reason: unwarranted fear of the DTP and MMR vaccines.

Granted, any medical procedure or application of medical science involves some risk to health. Where there is too much risk or flawed research or outright crime, appropriate actions must be taken. But risk to life safety is inevitable. Weighing those risks is a personal decision that should be based on reasonable evidence. Too often, we do not hear the good news verifying low risk to health and safety. Instead, we hear the opposite, and it can be news based on the persuasive performances of trial lawyers out to win a living, not earn the truth. In this climate, exacerbated by mistrust, emotion and fear, we can lose site of that reasonable evidence and place ourselves and those we love at serious risk.

Diphtheria, tetanus. pertussis (whooping cough) - DTP - and measles, mumps, and rubella - MMR - the diseases that ravaged our ancestors, are now ascending in many parts of the developed world. All of these diseases could be prevented easily with injections of vaccines that have very, very low risks. Virtually all medical professionals recommend the vaccinations rather than risking damage or death from the diseases. Given the much higher risks we take for granted everyday, the risks from a vaccination seem more than acceptable. Why give these biological weapons the advantage? If we ignore them, they could win the war of this world.

They're Microbes But At Least They're Our Microbes

 

With the Omicron variant of Covid-19 in what appears to be a decline in severity and numbers and 75% of US adults vaccinated it's great to see the masks and isolation disappear and daily routines restored - with some adaptation - to pre-pandemic norms. At the same time we have to remember that this disease and its variants join a pantheon of respiratory infections we can expect to see every year. We'll learn to live with this risk as humans always have. 

H.G. Wells probably got it right when nature's biological weapons took care of the Martians in his book, War of the Worlds. I watched George Pal's 1953 film adaptation of that book with a group of older cousins. We were lying on blankets at a drive-in theater under a canopy of stars. That night any one of those twinkling lights overhead could have been a Martian spacecraft on its way to Earth. I was seven that year, perhaps a bit young to be watching such an impressionable film, especially the scene of a slowly dying hand creeping out of the war machine. But I survived and went on to enjoy all the decades of horror Hollywood and England could produce.

Interestingly, the same year that War of the Worlds hit the screen for the first time, Dr. Jonas Salk announced a vaccine to prevent poliomyelitis. The disease had become the most terrifying public health issue in the post-war U.S. Attacking mostly children, there were tens of thousands of cases each year and, up to 1952, the numbers were increasing. Today polio is on the threshold of eradication. That could have been said for other diseases a decade ago, but now they are a growing threat, especially among what the London Daily Mail in 2009 called the "Victorian" diseases. The reason: unwarranted fear of the DTP and MMR vaccines.

Granted, any medical procedure or application of medical science involves some risk to health. Where there is too much risk or flawed research or outright crime, appropriate actions must be taken. But risk to life safety is inevitable. Weighing those risks is a personal decision that should be based on reasonable evidence. Too often, we do not hear the good news verifying low risk to health and safety. Instead, we hear the opposite, and it can be news based on the persuasive performances of trial lawyers out to win a living, not earn the truth. In this climate, exacerbated by mistrust, emotion and fear, we can lose site of that reasonable evidence and place ourselves and those we love at serious risk.

Diphtheria, tetanus. pertussis (whooping cough) - DTP - and measles, mumps, and rubella - MMR - the diseases that ravaged our ancestors, are now ascending in many parts of the developed world. All of these diseases could be prevented easily with injections of vaccines that have very, very low risks. Virtually all medical professionals recommend the vaccinations rather than risking damage or death from the diseases. Given the much higher risks we take for granted everyday, the risks from a vaccination seem more than acceptable. Why give these biological weapons the advantage? If we ignore them, they could win the war of this world.

Who, Who, Who Will Survive?

Is it good policy to kill this owl

in order to save this owl?

Federal policy may be in place later this year that will permit the killing of Barred Owls in order to save the endangered Northern Spotted Owl. A similar policy over the last generation has effectively killed the logging industry in the Northwest. Now current research shows that human modification of the landscape is encouraging the westward migration of the Barred Owl. Given its large size, it has no problem overtaking the habitat of the native species. Interbreeding is underway as well. The new hybrid is referred to as the "Botted" or "Sparred" Owl. 

Some folks say that wildlife management in just about any form is playing God. OTR believes, as with most of life's doings, it is a matter of scale where degrees of success are inversely proportional to the size of the project. That said, the Spotted Owl  project comes into focus as a huge task that raises many questions. We know Mother Nature is a cruel mother. Would she condemn an invasive species? Would she think it folly to stop a natural process? And though our religion may give us dominion over the planet, here we must choose between two beautiful species. What to do? As with all good intentions, these policy decisions will be painful.

Interestingly, OTR had a close encounter with a Barred Owl at sunset yesterday. Huge, silent, almost regal, the visitor spent several minutes perched about forty feet from the patio. This splendid but rather common resident of his woods brought him wonder usually reserved for childhood. Some may say OTR doesn't get out much. Some may laugh. They do so only because they dwell in the Great Illusion.


N.B. OTR may soon start an Adopt-An-Owl program.

Vatican Conference Addresses Extraterrestrial Life And Its Implications For The Church

I'd call this the Galileo Effect. Have to give them credit for long-range planning. It's only a matter of time before we find life - or it finds us - elsewhere in this universe.