The Nipah virus.
Sound unfamiliar? That's because it is. In 1999, the virus was officially recognized during an outbreak among Malayian pig farmers. Although rare elsewhere, in Bangladesh the fatality rate is approximately 75%. The survivors aren't much better; 20% suffer neurological damage in return for their lives. A fair trade?
The survivors can suffer from convulsions and personality changes as well as recurrent brain swelling.
So. The real question here. Would you rather live a damaged life or die?
It's not a certainty that you'll suffer seizures. It's not a certainty that you'll suffer personality changes. It's not a certainty that you'll be affected. But this isn't all about you. Unless you’re living in India near pigs or bats, you’re pretty safe, unlike the people of Bangladesh. They have to live with this everyday.
And now we’ve gotten to the best part. So you know how I said India’s not the place to be?
I lied.
Well, not exactly. Viruses change extremely fast; take HIV for example. It changes from person to person (so if person A gives it to person B, person A and B do not have the exact same virus. Similar enough to be classified as the same, yes, but not the same). Nipah virus presumably has a fairly low transmission rate (Otherwise, a LOT more people would be dead), but that is subject to change at any time. In other words, this virus could spread across the globe.
The Spanish flu did the same. In 25 weeks, it’d killed 25 million people. Nipah virus would be much, much worse. The mortality rate for the Spanish flu was, at worst, 25%. The mortality rate for Nipah virus is 40-75%, easily twice that of the Spanish flu.
As of yet, there is no vaccine. We’ll just have to watch and wait...and hope our immune systems learn fast.
Read More
Click on the image for the World Health Organization factsheet and here for Wikipedia's henipavirus page (The link'll take you to the Nipah virus section).
Anyway, that was this week's episode of How It Gets To You. Stay tuned throughout the year to (maybe) hear about more!
(Unless, of course, this is offensive. In that case I apologize and sincerely hope that you spell your criticizing comments right)
-[Asian X]
And now we’ve gotten to the best part. So you know how I said India’s not the place to be?
I lied.
Well, not exactly. Viruses change extremely fast; take HIV for example. It changes from person to person (so if person A gives it to person B, person A and B do not have the exact same virus. Similar enough to be classified as the same, yes, but not the same). Nipah virus presumably has a fairly low transmission rate (Otherwise, a LOT more people would be dead), but that is subject to change at any time. In other words, this virus could spread across the globe.
The Spanish flu did the same. In 25 weeks, it’d killed 25 million people. Nipah virus would be much, much worse. The mortality rate for the Spanish flu was, at worst, 25%. The mortality rate for Nipah virus is 40-75%, easily twice that of the Spanish flu.
As of yet, there is no vaccine. We’ll just have to watch and wait...and hope our immune systems learn fast.
Read More
Click on the image for the World Health Organization factsheet and here for Wikipedia's henipavirus page (The link'll take you to the Nipah virus section).
Anyway, that was this week's episode of How It Gets To You. Stay tuned throughout the year to (maybe) hear about more!
(Unless, of course, this is offensive. In that case I apologize and sincerely hope that you spell your criticizing comments right)
-[Asian X]
I just learned something today. Thanks!
ReplyDelete-Q
That's what I'm here for. Knowledge distribution XD
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, thanks for reading!