"Public Health"

On Aug 22, 2010, at 10:06 AM, Anthony wrote:

The Chinese were vaccinating with powdered scabs from people infected with smallpox as far back as 200 BC. 

***First recorded, who knows how long before that.  And think of all the medicine know how we lost in western archives, destroyed in wars and disaster.***

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu saw the Turks vaccinating people in a similar way back in 1718, had her own children vaccinated, and tried to push the idea on the medical community at the time, but she was a women and the practice was "oriental" so it wasn't accepted by the medical establishment.  

***right, we were depending on "science" at that point... our science, not theirs.***

Edward Jenner found cowpox worked well as a vaccine back in 1760.

***You mean, rediscovered, since you started out talking about China 200BC.***

So, the world had known about vaccination for centuries, yet it was not until 1979 that smallpox was eradicated, only after mass vaccination efforts by the quasi government UN sponsered World Health Organization (WHO).  Now, no one has to be vaccinated, which is a risk in itself.

So why didn't the free market erradicate smallpox?   Why did it take efforts by WHO?

*** You keep throwing softballs!  The reasons the Turks and Chinese had these cure and we did not is because in previous times of Oriental glory, when free markets reigned, such cures where brought forth from the capacity offered by division of labor.  It has not been eradicated of course, google small pox returns and you see it is pushing back.  

You work in a top ten hospital, so this info is easy for you to gather:  Ask an epidemiologist how many diseases we have lurking in us... and the answer will be countless, all held in check by our immune systems.  It is when immune systems breakdown that diseases move up and take over.  A disease is generally limited to the the individual because the group immune systems are not compromised.  

In times of war, when mass swathes of humanity are suffering, there is mass swathes of immune deficiency, and then diseases really spread... bizarre and nasty things.  After war, it is quite a task to stamp out the polio, flus, beri beri and nasty things war was able to spread.  One theory of AIDS is lifestyle brought on war-like immune deficiencies, which allowed the disease to spread.

If we were to eradicated mumps measles small pox leprosy, and we should let the free market do it, next war we would have an emergence of some other nasty killer we did not know about.  In Flu alone we never know what its next version will be, and since we do not have a free market in medicine, we do not have corner apothecaries whipping up vaccinations like hamburgers.

Mass vaccination is bogus social engineering, and likely bogus science.  First of all, absent war, vaccination is not necessary.  Second, given war, if Biafran kids do not die of a disease for which WHO happened to vaccinate them, then they will die of a disease no one saw coming. 

WHO offers vaccine (of doubtful quality) as a political act, where free markets have been suppressed by political action.  WHO charity is not necessary in places of free market, peace and prosperity such as Hong Kong, Switzerland etc.  Free markets keep disease in check.  War, the state in its ultimate form, destroys markets and immune systems.  If you care about eradicating disease, necessarily you must be pro-peace, and thus cannot vote for Obama or Bush or ... hmm...I guess anyone.

This isn't pipe dreams, there are pockets of peace and prosperity and health all over the world.  We need to emulate them, not promote WHO.

It is extremely important to avoid any vaccination program, according to the various doctors I have consulted. People are realizing this, but the problem is we do not have enough doctors left who can provide proper medical care aside from state-mandated paint-by-numbers voodoocare.   Sure let an emergency room set a bone, if you don't mind risking a little MRSA, but otherwise have an oldtimer on call for internal medicine.

John

Anthony

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