From: Lee Daniel Crocker (lee@piclab.com)
Date: Mon May 12 2003 - 18:40:34 MDT
> (Adrian Tymes <wingcat@pacbell.net>):
>
> I calmly, humbly submit the existing, documented
> infection and fatality rates as evidence. My view is
> simple: what evidence there is supports only the view
> that SARS is a minor disease. It is exceptional
> mainly in the reactions the uninfected have had to it:
> the amount of attention it has been getting, the
> subsequent economic and political impact, the speed
> with which it has been diagnosed and classified, and -
> just to toss in a bright note - an example of the
> speed with which virii (presumably including far more
> fatal virii) can be sequenced these days when people
> think it really matters.
The most interesting aspect of the story to me is the
extent to which the Internet had a huge effect on our
response to the disease: it enabled information the bug
to spread faster and farther than the bug itself, and
even allowed doctors in quarantine to stay in touch and
share data. Not only was it sequenced fast, but the
sequence was posted on the net faster and more usefully
than any paper publication could possibly have done it.
And it's "viruses", dammit. :-)
-- Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com> <http://www.piclab.com/lee/> "All inventions or works of authorship original to me, herein and past, are placed irrevocably in the public domain, and may be used or modified for any purpose, without permission, attribution, or notification."--LDC
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Mon May 12 2003 - 18:51:15 MDT