DAK,
What amazes me is that the vast majority of these writers/reporters that are "pooh-poohing" the whole SARS episode are people who have little to no medical training. Many of them have written about other "conspiracies" in other fields, such as finance and politics just to name two. Last week the guy was reporting on the Iraqi war, and this week he's a medical expert on SARS.
Personally, I think SARS is something to be reckoned with. While we in the USA have yet to experience a crisis with the disease, it's certainly only a matter of time before the disease finds its way within our borders. There's no way to know for sure if our medical communities have learned anything from the experiences in China, Hong Kong and/or Toronto. If history is any indicator, probably not, as the mistakes made in China or Hong Kong were likely repeated in Toronto.
Most people might not realize just how difficult it is to get the undivided attention of an organization like WHO or CDC. These guys are the big guns in medicine. They don't drop current research in favor of the disease du jour easily. If the big guns are paying close attention, then I'm paying close attention. I suspect that they strongly suspect that this epidemic has only just started. I suspect that they already know that things are not under control, and that the situation will get much worse. I suspect that no one is sounding the panic alarm simply because to do so would most certainly cause great economic harm around the world, and if mistakes are made in predicting the course of the disease, no one wants to take responsibility for the costs of those errors in trying to predict what will happen next.
But, that's just my opinion. Whatever happens will happen. Ultimately, I don't think that masks and vitamins and whatever will help an individual. If one catches the disease, one catches it, and then one prays that one will be among the fortunate survivors. And one also prays that surviving the disease will grant some sort of future immunity should the virus mutate.
But as I said, only my opinion...
KJC |
