Quite interesting to see. I suppose there is a notion of generational memory. Two generations out, people forget what the world was like. Forgetting like this on a civilizational level is probably adaptive unless it’s catastrophic and a measles epidemic is eminently survivable as a civilization if incredibly tragic for the families affected.<p>I had measles as a child, too. Fortunately, my parents are doctors and I was well cared for and nature was good to me as well. So here I am, pretty much fine. I’d rather have not had the disease, all things told. Incredibly contagious disease. I was in the room with the other sick child for only a few moments.
It erases immune memory, taking away antibodies to recently exposed diseases. It's best not to get it.
What is the evolutionary advantage of this? I mean, if the host dies subsequently that's pretty bad for both parties, or?
Evolution is just a race to "good enough to consistently reproduce" and everything after the sufficient reproduction is irrelevant. Like the goats whose horns have to be cut or they'll eventually pierce their own brain.<p>Generally it's more advantageous for your own anatomy not to kill you without intervention, but they reproduce and that checks off the "good enough" box.
Viruses don't care if the host dies. Evolution doesn't explain all things in nature.
If it can spread before killing the host, it has done its job (evolutionarily speaking).
Sometimes, even usually, evolution finds a “local maximum” of effectiveness. Where the solution an organism finds is not optimal but it’s good enough for the organism to survive, even win.<p>So yeah I’m sure evolution didn’t create something perfect in the disease here but it survives long enough, and kills few-enough people slowly enough in the wild to survive
Wait, measles erases antibody memory?<p>First of all, this is scary. Secondly, I wonder if it hase the same effect on autoimmune disease?
It destroys memory B-cells.<p>"Once the measles virus contacts the mucosa lining the respiratory tract, it binds to SLAM (signaling lymphocyte activation molecule, also known as CD150) on the surface of macrophages and dendritic cells. These cells then take up the virus... These immune cells pass the virus on to other groups of immune cells, including B cells, T cells, thymocytes, and hematopoietic stem cells, which disseminate the virus to other organs during the incubation period.<p>"Immune amnesia<p>"The measles virus can deplete previously acquired immune memory by killing cells that make antibodies, and thus weakens the immune system, which can cause deaths from other diseases. Suppression of the immune system by measles lasts about two years and has been epidemiologically implicated in an increase in childhood mortality from other infectious diseases during this period. The measles vaccine contains an attenuated strain of the virus which does not deplete immune memory."<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measles" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measles</a>
It can. It’s not common, from what I understand, but there are cases where it has put various autoimmune disorders into remission, either temporary, or permanent.<p>That said, you become far more likely to end up sick with a whole bunch of other stuff, which can then eliminate any benefits for the autoimmune disorders.<p>Oh, and there’s also a chance it will <i>give</i> you an autoimmune disorder.<p>Absolute bastard, if you ask me.
Measles infections can trigger the following autoimmune diseases:<p>* Type 1 diabetes<p>* Multiple sclerosis<p>* Rheumatoid arthritis
And there’s a non-zero chance that it lives dormant in your brain and you die several years later. Absolutely bonkers.
It seems like there’s a pretty strong parallel with the failure of the screw worm eradication programme. It just became a thing we did, rather than the absolute miracle it was - like vaccination - and then from complacency grows suspicion, for again, as you say, few people alive remember how it was.
According this administration forever chemicals are good but vaccines for deadly diseases are bad.
Why do problems caused by anti scientific behavior occur in a country like the United States, which has so many outstanding scientists? From a third party perspective, I wonder if it's because, as stratification has progressed in the US, distrust of the social class that scientists belong to has led people to deny even their achievements.<p>Why does distrust arise toward the institutions and hierarchies that speak for science? There is distrust of the universities, government agencies, media, pharmaceutical companies, and big tech that those scientists belong to. And that distrust turns science from a matter of conclusion into a matter of identity, based on 'who said it' rather than what the evidence shows.<p>In fact, 42% of US graduate degree holders trust scientists, but only 21% of high school graduates do [1] But when you think about it, governments, state agencies, and even universities themselves are not actively trying to improve this. Maybe humans are beings who create hierarchies and live within identities regardless of the truth. Some people think humans built civilization because farming created a need for labor, but I sometimes wonder if instead, people gathered around a certain identity (whether religious or otherwise), and then farming began in order to feed that labor force. That ideal I always heard as a child, a world where all people become one, without class, race, or discrimination, might just be something that the human species can never truly possess.<p>[1]<a href="https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsb20244/public-perceptions-of-science-and-technology" rel="nofollow">https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsb20244/public-perceptions-of-sc...</a>
My parents have been religiously listening to the likes of Rush Limbaugh since the early 90's on a daily basis. I recall listening to it on our drive into work together.<p>30+ years of hearing whatever the tv/radio host du jour says, without critical thinking, taking it at face value, 8+ hours every day.<p>Then take a drive through rural America and see that education isn't an important pillar.
> But when you think about it, governments, state agencies, and even universities themselves are not actively trying to improve this<p>They are, all the time, doing outreach. It's just as Isaac Asimov said:<p>Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'<p>The origin story the government brainwashes everyone through public schools is partly to blame. There are people challenging it, but mostly they end up pushing for a different form of anti-intellectualism :(.
I disagree with Isaac Asimov on that point. The reason is that professors and universities have failed to communicate that knowledge persuasively to the public. In other words, it's establishment science. They ignore opinions that oppose corporations, and they give grants to research that suits corporate tastes. This pattern keeps appearing in the United States. So it seems that public experience and word of mouth have created opposition to scientists. I know a few examples of this. The 'lead' crisis is one such case.<p>In fact, some academic societies are deeply tied to corporations and operate in alignment with their direct interests. I think the accumulation of such cases has led to public distrust. I don't think it's any single party's fault. Both sides are just doing what feels right within their own identities. Scientists resist corporations to fulfill their own self actualization and curiosity, and the public simply hates those corrupt corporations. I'm not saying that all scientists are on the side of corporations. It's just that when the achievements of certain scientists are publicized, the ones with the megaphone are the corporate scientists. It's a complicated issue
I would put some blame on medical billing, and the opiods pandemic also made some fertile ground for trolls (a work injury turning family member to an addict, followed by minimal fines and zero jail time for the conspirators that grew the pandemic). Basically a perfect setup to grow mistrust.<p>Just a couple of decades ago both sides of the US political aisles laughed at antivax style rhetoric, and didn't see forcing the issue further than it was as worth it (us religious grounds and similar).
“What did children do before vaccines!?”<p>They died, Kayleigh. There were just 9 others siblings to see who survived
“marking the latest and longest-lasting series of measles outbreaks in the US since last year as health officials panic.“<p>Having trouble parsing this one.
Pro tip for my fellow graybeards: get a measles booster if you were born before 1976! Even then, it might not hurt if you are in an area where the risk is high.<p>Disclaimer: I am an internet rando -- talk to your doctor.
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Everything is a tradeoff. If big pharma had their way, we would get shot every second week (bi yearly shots for flu and covid, some tropical malaria, ebola, mad cow disease...)<p>Preventable disseases can be prevented by enforcing basic hygiene, but most people do not like that.
Big pharma would rather sell you medicine as an ongoing thing vs a one-off vaccine.<p>> Preventable disseases can be prevented by enforcing basic hygiene, but most people do not like that.<p>We're talking about measles here: you're completely wrong in your assumption in regards to measles.
With the World Cup starting in the coming days, this can spiral out of control very fast.<p>Football fans can get infected and spread the virus in their home countries if they get exposed.
The World Cup already started. But there are no games played in Utah
The World Cup aspect is still incredibly important to point out. The World Cup appeals to a very large demographic and so many traveling around could spell disaster.