[HN Gopher] Plague Ships (2020)
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Plague Ships (2020)
        
       Author : bryanrasmussen
       Score  : 32 points
       Date   : 2026-04-04 17:33 UTC (5 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.afloat.com.au)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.afloat.com.au)
        
       | ETH_start wrote:
       | Regarding the Spanish (or Kansas) flu, there is some evidence
       | suggesting that the second wave was much deadlier than the first
       | because of an unusual practice connected to World War I:
       | 
       | Soldiers infected with more virulent strains were more likely to
       | be shipped to military hospitals, while those infected with less
       | virulent strains were more likely to remain in the trenches.
       | 
       | The military hospitals were much more active vectors of
       | transmission than the bays of the trenches, so the normal pattern
       | of transmission was inverted, with the more virulent strains
       | spreading faster than the less virulent ones.
       | 
       | Under normal conditions, the very sick would stay home while the
       | less sick would go to work, which would tend to push highly
       | virulent viruses toward becoming less virulent over time.
        
       | fwipsy wrote:
       | I don't see a publication date, but first archive.org snapshot is
       | April 2021.
        
         | ChrisArchitect wrote:
         | 2020 content according to their newsletter/CMS upload date
        
       | theendisney wrote:
       | It was facinating to see airlines continue to fly into ebola
       | zones eventho they barely had passengers.
       | 
       | Even if all seats are full they dont make earth shaking profit
       | that cant be avoided. The economy doesnt require doing it. The
       | risk benefit ratio is off the chart.
       | 
       | People making such decisions should really be behind bars? I cant
       | think of a better way to kill. Just send some plague ships and it
       | will make short work.
        
         | decimalenough wrote:
         | Slots at airports like London Heathrow are hotly contested
         | commodities with price tags in the millions and come with "use
         | it or lose it" rules attached. If you stop flying a route
         | temporarily, you may lose it permanently.
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2026-04-04 23:00 UTC)