From CNN: Case of bubonic plague confirmed in L.A. “Bubonic plague is not contagious, but if left untreated it can morph into pneumonic plague, which is.”
So, if this individual couldn’t afford to seek medical care and wasn’t given the antibiotics needed to knock down the bubonic plague, we could have had a break out of the “Black Death” in Los Angeles.
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8 comments
Oh, good point. I was thinking of the bird flu, too. Yup, time for Universal Healthcare!
With either one, if people don’t have access to medical care, the epidemic just spreads.
It is past time for universal health care. Our health care system is a disgrace. We spend so much for war, why not spend it on health?
It’s not just the lack of healthcare, it’s the lack of adequate living conditions. Just imagine all the Katrina homeless and the poor conditions they are living in at the moment. Combined with lack of healthcare, it’s got the potential for a major outbreak of the plague.
Well, there is also a huge epidemic of Mumps too. I wounder if they could care less about the risks of sterility for the poor males who could contract this during their adult years.
Bleh!
Lark, a single-payer system would be cheaper than the current system. It costs a lot of money to file claims with multiple insurers, everyone with their codes, forms, and procedures. The cost of medical billing is obscene.
Rook, bubonic plague is a sign of poor living conditions. It comes from fleas that have acquired the disease from rats. You have to eliminate the rats to stop the spread of the disease. Most diseases are incubated by poor living conditions, and a lack of public health measures.
Karen, this outbreak is causing a lot of concern about the efficacy of our current vaccines. They were assumed to provide protection for life, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. It looks like college students may have to get booster shots.
I wounder if they could care less about the risks of sterility for the poor males who could contract this during their adult years.
Maybe the anti-abortion folks should hop onto the band wagon – “Save a Sperm! Defeat Mumps!”
(/snark)
Thanks, Andante, that will probably become the gazillionth special license plate in Florida.