Monday, June 27, 2005
Death and Destruction!
How broken is our healthcare system? Well, it's certainly not up to handling a flu outbreak. Though most people think of the flu as an annoyance, something you get and are miserable with for at most a week, it is really one of the most dangerous pathogens on Earth. Periodic flu epidemics - 1918 being the last really major one - have killed huge numbers of people. It mutates fast, spreads faster, and kills.
While the young, old, and immunocompromised are most at risk, a nasty strain (like the Avian Flu) can take out many healthy people too. We've known for some time that our epidemic response capabilities in the US are sorely lacking, but even under the alleged spectre of bioterrorism, BushCo hasn't demonstrated any interest in improving things. Oh yeah, most of the people who die in epidemics are poor. Not the GOP's bag.
While the young, old, and immunocompromised are most at risk, a nasty strain (like the Avian Flu) can take out many healthy people too. We've known for some time that our epidemic response capabilities in the US are sorely lacking, but even under the alleged spectre of bioterrorism, BushCo hasn't demonstrated any interest in improving things. Oh yeah, most of the people who die in epidemics are poor. Not the GOP's bag.
