[HN Gopher] Mystery 'Disease X' outbreak widens as WHO sends rap...
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       Mystery 'Disease X' outbreak widens as WHO sends rapid response
       team to DR Congo
        
       Author : throwup238
       Score  : 23 points
       Date   : 2024-12-09 21:40 UTC (1 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.scmp.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.scmp.com)
        
       | timr wrote:
       | > All severe cases involve individuals suffering from severe
       | malnutrition
       | 
       | > Malaria is common in the area, and it may be causing or
       | contributing to the cases, the United Nations health agency said.
       | 
       | > Acute pneumonia, influenza, Covid-19, measles and malaria are
       | considered as potential causal factors based on the signs and
       | symptoms of those afflicted
        
       | qzw wrote:
       | Great, are we going to get a pandemic every time Trump is in the
       | White House or what? Kidding aside, I just started reading Neal
       | Stephenson's _Termination Shock (2021)_ , which is set in the
       | 2030-2040s, and in it he mentions not only COVID-19, but COVID-23
       | and COVID-27 as well. I wonder if there's an actual upper bound
       | in the frequency of global pandemics. Is it possible that we
       | could even have simultaneous pandemics? Or is there some kind of
       | natural limiting action like how isolation from COVID caused cold
       | and flu to basically disappear for a while.
        
         | timr wrote:
         | > I wonder if there's an actual upper bound in the frequency of
         | global pandemics. Is it possible that we could even have
         | simultaneous pandemics?
         | 
         | There's literally _always_ a  "mystery disease" happening
         | somewhere in the world. Particularly in the third world, where
         | malnutrition and deaths from preventable illnesses are rampant.
         | 
         | Unfortunately, since 2020 it's trivial clickbait for reporters
         | to just repeat this stuff without providing context. At least
         | in this case, if one bothers to read article you see that this
         | is indeed an example of bad health outcomes linked to severe
         | poverty.
        
         | rvba wrote:
         | We have influenza all the time - just some strains are worse
         | than others.
         | 
         | When you get a vaccine the scientists try to defend you vs the
         | strain they consider the worst (or most expected to spread),
         | not all strains.
        
         | philjohn wrote:
         | Read Spillover[1] - as we encroach further into previously
         | undisturbed habitats we're going to see more fun diseases of
         | zoonotic origin.
         | 
         | [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spillover_(book)
        
       | jsnell wrote:
       | > The outbreak is centred in a remote rural area of Kwango
       | province, where poor road conditions and heavy rains mean it
       | takes nearly 48 hours to reach from Kinshasa.
       | 
       | > While more than half of the cases involve children under 5, a
       | 50-year-old man hospitalised in Lucca, Italy, is suspected to
       | have recovered from the disease after a business trip to Congo,
       | Il Tempo reported.
       | 
       | These statements don't feel very compatible. Either it would mean
       | that the business trip was to a really hard to reach rural area
       | at a insane time for traveling there, or the disease is already
       | widespread in other areas as well.
        
       | dmvdoug wrote:
       | More directly, from the WHO:
       | https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2...
        
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       (page generated 2024-12-09 23:01 UTC)