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[RumblingRosco]

I want some economy experts to study how this will impact scientific/technological advancement and societal wealth/quality of life, with a particular focus on how lowered birthrates (especially in countries advising people to not get pregnant) will impact all of the above.

I forsee something like the US post WWII - a bunch of families waited a few years to have kids and then all popped them out at the same time. I could see the Zika virus being the same way (assuming we ever find a cure/stop the spread) - birth rates drop dramatically for a few years, then ramp up quickly once Zika is declared dead/treated/no longer a threat.

 

[SliceSabre]

This is a really fucking weird frame of mind.

Not really when you think about all the fear mongering that goes on whenever there is an outbreak or something. I mean do you remember how badly people were freaking out over here in the US and over in EU when just a few people with Ebola got over here?

Is this serious? Yes. Do we need constant fear mongering about how many billions of people could possibly become ill and die? No. Presenting worst case scenarios as though we're right around the corner from them doesn't help anyone.

 

[HUELEN10]

We do. Microcephaly isn't a new condition.

Microcephaly can be caused by Zika, but that doesn't mean it is the only effect.

 

[Dr.Guru of Peru]

Microcephaly can be caused by Zika, but that doesn't mean it is the only effect.

Of course not, but the other effects are mild.

 

[Ogodei]

Rumor said that London was preparing for a repeat in case Rio couldn't hack it.

 

[Dark Ninja]

This is what Beetlejuice(Howard Stern) has right

 

[Nikodemos]

Genocide all mosquitoes pls.

 

[Nivash]

Not really when you think about all the fear mongering that goes on whenever there is an outbreak or something. I mean do you remember how badly people were freaking out over here in the US and over in EU when just a few people with Ebola got over here?

Is this serious? Yes, do we need constant fear mongering about how many billions of people could possibly become ill and die? No.

The world (well, mainly the US) managed to overreact to Ebola even as the WHO was underreacting. If don't think the WHO can be held accountable for the fact that fear sells. I do agree that there's a lot of panicking right now, and I shake my head at El Salvador's two year hiatus on all pregnancies, but the WHO is correct: this thing is global and it is an emergency. It's not an apocalyptic emergency or even really a society threatening emergency, but there are other types of emergencies than those.

It's good that the WHO is on top if this. It helps improve readiness and cooperation in countries that are or are about to be hit. It's training for whenever the apocalyptic emergency hits too, for that matter.

Rumor said that London was preparing for a repeat in case Rio couldn't hack it.

Hah, I bet Boris Johnson would love that. The only mayor to ever oversee two Olympics. Not that he'd live to enjoy it, the Londoners would probably have his head mounted on the Tower Bridge within hours of the announcement.

 

[WAR recon zero]

Goddamn it

Wife and myself are planning to have a baby this year and this shit happens

She's 35

We're going for it fuck this

 

[Chococat]

I realize how serious this is but sometimes I feel the WHO and all them freak out too hard and then people freak too hard.

Reminds me of when they were saying everyone was going to be dying of the swine flu and then it was bird flu. I'm honestly not overly concerned. Aware, but not overly concerned.

Just cause a disease isn't happen near you doesn't mean the WHO is fear mongering. They're just reporting a really out break that has the potential to go global if proper precautions are not taken to bring it under control.

Without warnings, swine flu and bird flu absolutely could have been devastating for all humanity. Getting everyone possible on board to tackle a problem while small is smart.

It not the WHO fault some populations are under educated out some of the recent problems out there. USA freak out over Ebola is a comment on American society, not the WHO.

 

[Purkake4]

Glad WHO is responding to this a little more actively than Ebola.

I really hope that the media manages to actually give out some accurate information instead of bullshit fear mongering like last time.

 

[HUELEN10]

Goddamn it

Wife and myself are planning to have a baby this year and this shit happens

She's 35

We're going for it fuck this

You could always adopt a healthy parentless child as well.

 

[pestul]

This is going to devastating to the Caribbean tourism industry.

 

[FairyD]

can't we just get rid of mosquitoes? are they so important to the ecosystem? I genuinely don't know

I don't think anyone would truly know what eliminating the entire species would do to the ecosystem. A quick google search tells me there are 3,500 different mosquitoes in the world with an estimated number of 70,000,000,000,000,000 little buggers flying around.

If 70,000,000,000,000,000 just disappeared tomorrow, imagine what the butterfly effect would be.

 

[jmdajr]

Where are all reading about the 1st Trimester being the only susceptible time period? All the articles in the OP don't mention that at all.

If I find it I'll post. But I did see it.

Can Zika virus cause congenital malformations, such as microcephaly?

In some Brazilian states where Zika virus has been circulating in recent months, there has been a marked increase in cases of newborns with microcephaly. According to a preliminary analysis of research carried out by Brazilian authorities, the greatest risk of microcephaly and malformations is associated with infection during the first trimester of pregnancy. Health authorities, with support from PAHO and other agencies, are conducting research to clarify the cause, risk factors, and consequences of microcephaly.

PAHO/WHO recommends that countries continue to provide access to prenatal care for pregnant women. Women who are pregnant or of childbearing age should avoid exposure to mosquito bites.

http://www.paho.org/hq/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11552%3Aquestion-and-answers-zika-and-pregnancy&catid=3986%3Azika-virus-infection&Itemid=41672&lang=en

 

[Dai101]

Zika is migrating, it isn't down to just local mosquitos.

We had our first confirmed case last week (Jalisco) from a male in his mid 30's native of Guadalajara.

 

[A Fish Aficionado]

I don't think anyone would truly know what eliminating the entire species would do to the ecosystem. A quick google search tells me there are 3,500 different mosquitoes in the world with an estimated number of 70,000,000,000,000,000 little buggers flying around.

If 70,000,000,000,000,000 just disappeared tomorrow, imagine what the butterfly effect would be.

Well, scientists are targeting the species that are vector agents. Which is much better than insecticides, which are broadly targeting.

 

[xxracerxx]

We had our first confirmed case last week (Jalisco) from a male in his mid 30's native of Guadalajara.

Yikes. My wife and I had to cancel our trip to Puerto Vallarta this year because of other things going on, but maybe it is a small blessing.

 

[Queen of Hunting]

I hate to be thr person but isnt there some deadly virus nearlly every year now especially recent years n mostly at start of year too.

Like last year with ebola it was a huge problem in the less up to scratch places but when few people came with it to usa etc it got isolated quickly.


Not trying to be a dick or anything just feels like alot of scare mongering

 

[Dr Campino]

I'd love to see mosquitoes eradicated.

I'm from Buenos Aires and I say kill 'em all!

 

[A Fish Aficionado]

Healthcare Triage did a video on zika. Aaron Carroll is a trusted source and a physician himself. Does a much better job than most media outlets.
https://youtu.be/vslsF_7uFuo

 

[Purkake4]

I hate to be thr person but isnt there some deadly virus nearlly every year now especially recent years n mostly at start of year too.

Like last year with ebola it was a huge problem in the less up to scratch places but when few people came with it to usa etc it got isolated quickly.

Not trying to be a dick or anything just feels like alot of scare mongering

Well, the only connection here is that both have been declared Public Health Emergencies of International Concern by WHO. Ebola was deadly, yes. Zika is harmless (mild fever, rash, headaches) unless you're a pregnant woman. As Zika is vector-borne it is much harder to contain until there is an effective vaccine.

 

[Raxus]

I hate to be thr person but isnt there some deadly virus nearlly every year now especially recent years n mostly at start of year too.

Like last year with ebola it was a huge problem in the less up to scratch places but when few people came with it to usa etc it got isolated quickly.


Not trying to be a dick or anything just feels like alot of scare mongering

Scare mongering? It is a serious health emergency and WHO and the CDC are taking the proper steps to contain it? Why get mad at them for doing their jobs?

This is a really scary virus due to the fact it is so mild to adults that pregnant women won't notice they were infected. Add to the fact Brazil has a terrible teen pregnancy rate and lots of South American countries outlaw abortion means there may be a generation of mentally challenged children due to the virus (Worst case scenario).

 

[Duane Cunningham]

This is what Beetlejuice(Howard Stern) has right

Yes, this is correct.

 

[Dai101]

Not trying to be a dick or anything just feels like alot of scare mongering

Nah, is ok to be kind of that, but at least to us in here (Mexico) aside from the usual precautions like the common ones we get with dengue, chinkungunya and others that are passad by the same vector is no fearmongering. Just a mild annoyance, like every other year.

Now, in the US i guess they're are going to call an state of emergency and everyone to go to their underground bunker and trump will call for an inmediate erradication of the countries were this mosquito lives.

Half kidding.

 

[n00bsauce87]

Goddamn it

Wife and myself are planning to have a baby this year and this shit happens

She's 35

We're going for it fuck this

Me and my wife saw the report on the news yesterday. We just had our mouths open in shock/awe. She's expecting in June. It scared the shit out of me. I feel bad for those babies.

Any word on vaccinations or something similar?

 

[Sniffynose]

There has been a few cases of Zika being transmitted sexually since it seems the virus can be active in seminal fluids even weeks beyond lack of other symptoms (same issue with ebola).

Stay safe mom's and dad's to be!

 

[Emperor_Uriel]

Mosquitoes have got to go, all of them.

Then we can eliminate all of the spiders and wasps too, because their only saving grace is eating mosquitoes.

 

[ZackieChan]

I planned to live in various parts of South America this fall. Sadly, I'm going to change my plans. Hopefully this gets resolved soon! Really awful

 

[Nikodemos]

Mosquitoes have got to go, all of them.

Then we can eliminate all of the spiders and wasps too, because their only saving grace is eating mosquitoes.

And then you'd get swarmed by flies, moths and all manner of other shitty flying insects.
Oh, and wasps don't eat mosquitoes. They eat rotten fruit and the odd bit of meat left outside. Not even hornets eat mosquitoes. Too small.

 

[99hertz]

I planned to live in various parts of South America this fall. Sadly, I'm going to change my plans. Hopefully this gets resolved soon! Really awful

Why? Symptoms sound mild from what people are saying here, unless you're a pregnant woman. Where are you going to stay instead (if you don't mind me asking)? I always like reading about your digital nomad adventures.

 

[Raxus]

Me and my wife saw the report on the news yesterday. We just had our mouths open in shock/awe. She's expecting in June. It scared the shit out of me. I feel bad for those babies.

Any word on vaccinations or something similar?

They are working hard on one but don't expect one for a few years.

 

[CrunchyFrog]

The symptoms don't seem bad unless you're a baby

The virus resolves after a week?

That's part of the problem, symptoms usually aren't severe enough to keep people at home and easily confused with lesser illnesses. Much easier to spread when it's less visible than something like ebola. Children of Men is a terrifyingly prescient example of how a much more nefarious version of this kind of virus could play out. You're talking significant danger to the species and genetic diversity.

This is different from the ebola outbreak in that ebola was always going to be a devastating but self limiting infection, that's just basic human psychology, the infection vector being pretty specific and immediate, and the deadliness of the virus itself limiting its own exposure. This one is much more subtle, it spreads via local ecology which is much harder to control, and its effects aren't as immediately apparent, though significant in their ability to essentially halt reproduction both in the course of the disease itself and in the course of stemming its effects. This could definitely spiral into a much more serious and globally reaching issue if not taken seriously.

 

[Ahasverus]

About time, this sucks, it's so unfair to those children. I for one advocate for stronger medical checks at frontiers, this shouldn't have gone outside its inception land.

Are mosquitoes really killable? cool! Can we?

 

[RedShift]

Terrifying.

I don't care what butterfly effect environment stuff killing off mosquitos does, I refuse to believe it would be worse than this and Malaria.

 

[StickSoldier]

Are mosquitoes mans worst enemy? Are they the species that will eventually kill us all?

 

[ZackieChan]

Why? Symptoms sound mild from what people are saying here, unless you're a pregnant woman. Where are you going to stay instead (if you don't mind me asking)? I always like reading about your digital nomad adventures.

What kind of American would I be if I didn't make rash decisions without knowing any info besides a headline?

I'm going to Europe instead. That'll allow me to go to the Essenspiel convention in Essen, Germany in October. Probably a better career move than Argentina.

 

[SaganIsGOAT]

You could always adopt a healthy parentless child as well.

Yeppppp! 🙌

 

[CrunchyFrog]

You could always adopt a healthy parentless child as well.

Perhaps a nice positive side effect of this whole business.

 

[Emperor_Uriel]

And then you'd get swarmed by flies, moths and all manner of other shitty flying insects.
Oh, and wasps don't eat mosquitoes. They eat rotten fruit and the odd bit of meat left outside. Not even hornets eat mosquitoes. Too small.

That are objectively less shitty than mosquitoes, wasps/hornets and spiders.

Seriously, the only good flying insects (not counting ones things like mantises or beetles that are primarily land-based) are bees and butterflies. Everything else can go.

 

[Trojita]

I realize how serious this is but sometimes I feel the WHO and all them freak out too hard and then people freak too hard.

Reminds me of when they were saying everyone was going to be dying of the swine flu and then it was bird flu. I'm honestly not overly concerned. Aware, but not overly concerned.

You see the results that happen because they were working hard on preventing spread of the disease and warning citizens about the disease. You don't know what the future would be like if they had been lax. The Swine Flu was REALLY fucking bad if you got it.

 

[Any Questions]

I feel so sorry for folks there. A vaccine needs to be developed. But this will take years. This is the problem. Genuinely terrible

 

[mentallyinept]

If I find it I'll post. But I did see it.



http://www.paho.org/hq/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11552%3Aquestion-and-answers-zika-and-pregnancy&catid=3986%3Azika-virus-infection&Itemid=41672&lang=en

Thank you very much!

 

[Ol No Bones]

Mosquitos are the worst thing that has ever happened to humanity.

 

[Nipo]

Ugh sister in law just got back from Mexico a few a weeks ago in first trimester. I'm sure she is freaking out.

 

[brian577]

A serious disease but not the end of the world. We already know how to manage mosquito born pathogens and the only other method of transmission is bodily fluids which is less likely. Furthermore, Zika is in the same family as West Nile meaning we already have vaccines to start from and that research has already begun. It'll take a few years but we'll soon have a vaccine to give pregnant women. For now though, I think existing measures we'll be more than adequate. I'm sure mosquito repellent manufacturers already rubbing their hands together at the potential panic.

 

[ugaboga232]

If we threw like 10 billion and fast track CDC status we could probably get a vaccine somewhat quickly or some antivirals. Ebola would have had a vaccine fully developed (multiple were in trials but didnt have funding) before the latest epidemic if we didn't cut funding.

But >10 billion is too much to spend on a disease that probably won't affect america too much when it could be spent on missiles

 

[Nivash]

If we threw like 10 billion and fast track CDC status we could probably get a vaccine somewhat quickly or some antivirals. Ebola would have had a vaccine fully developed (multiple were in trials but didnt have funding) before the latest epidemic if we didn't cut funding.

But >10 billion is too much to spend on a disease that probably won't affect america too much when it could be spent on missiles

The guy behind ZMapp is actually part of a team that already aims to get a vaccine be ready by the end of the year. Even if we put aside government efforts there is the fact that there are millions of desperate customers for the pharma corps to supply in South America. Lots of money to be made if the governments leave them hanging. If the demand keeps up, there will be a vaccine sooner than people think.

http://www.popsci.com/when-will-we-have-zika-vaccine

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-zika-interview-idUSKCN0V704J

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

The sooner we can make mosquitoes extinct, the better. Fuckers cause nothing but trouble.

Such an understatement. Mosquitos literally have no benefit to the ecosystem.

 

[nasax]

Man, both of my sisters are pregnant, both are at about three or four months and both live in the deep South. This shit has me worried. It's also been a warm winter.