Emergency any doctor in the house?

This is a finely balanced argument and everyone will have a different take so there is no one position on this. For me, there are truths I want to know and some I don't: Do I want to be told, if I am ill, that I will die in n days time? No. Let me die in ignorance. But some will want to know so they can do the most with their remaining time (e.g. visit every bar in the city at least once more). Do I want to know that a person within my area has an illness that might be dangerous to me? Sure (it may temporarily avoid my first dilemma above!) - at least it gives me a chance to find preventative measures. Should I be told the death rate from a vaccine? Definitely - I am the one should be able to decide if I wish to take the risk. But, an issue touched on here by others, should people be allowed to refuse vaccination, if they feel it has a risk? Well, they should be told the truth about the risk but the common good prevails - if there is a need for a well-vaccinated population to stop the spread of a deadly disease then perhaps it is no different to conscripting people to defend a country against an enemy attack. But, as usual, everyone has their own take on everything - and so they should.

 

well i will say i agree with everything including compulsory vaccination under the right circumstances. there is also an issue of denying vaccination, i e, smallpox. smallpox might have been the most serious disease of mankind killing about one third of all who contracted it, and scarring many of the rest for life. we stopped that vaccination because we have irradicated the disease, or have we. it still exists in part of the world as does polio for which we have also stopped vaccinating. terriorist use of smallpox is a real threat that should be considered for our childrens future. George "dubya" was going to make it available to all who wanted it but not sure if that happend.

anyway, your comments were well written and spot on, for me anyway. i enjoy a civilized give and take on such issues as these. they really are hard to reconcile with your picture tho

 

Does smallpox exist anywhere, other than in laboratories? I am not sure it does. But the fact it exists in labs is a danger, although as long as the vaccine is available it is unlikely to be used as mass biological weapon (which it has been in the past, e.g British forces used it in their war against the French and Native Americans). Note: Stalin had smallpox as a child - unfortunately he survived.

As for polio - there are still cases in some parts of the World and, in fact, one in the Philippines last year. I have read they are considering polio vaccinations here.

My picture here is notmyrealpic - I used one of an ex-gf.

 

well i suppose it is obvious i have an issue with authority, and it is particularly noticable in the medical field where i feel i have quite a bit of on the ground experience. i agree with you that smallpox may only exist in laboratories and perhaps not even there.

i am enough of a cynic to believe however that the potential for military applications might result in someone somewhere hoarding a few of the little buggers in a petri dish in a dark closet. i read several years ago about the ease with which laboratories could order and transfer viable and potentially dangerous cultures of things like antrax between labs for research purposes with little or no oversight. and yeah, polio is still out there.

doing something because your doctor says so leaves me cold

btw, re your ex gf. you got a phone number for her??

 

Sorry, but we cut off communication. Last I saw her was in Berlin Zoo.

Btw, a virus (such as smallpox) cannot be stored in a petri dish (that would be bacteria and fungi). Viruses would be stored mostly in liquid nitrogen. Most people don't really know the VAST difference between bacteria and viruses - it is quite fascinating and I could explain it if anyone is interested. Viruses are, in fact, not living things in the way we generally think of what being a living thing is - but scientists are to this day still arguing the point.