Zika spreads... and kills

[Renee]

The CDC is estimating that a quarter of Peurto Ricans will be infected with by the end of 2016. I've also read it could cost $4 million in lifetime healthcare costs for every infected child.

I'm thinking DDT is the answer.

Sure, let's replace something that causes health defects with something else that causes health defects. We can finally get rid of those pesky bald eagles.

"Silent Spring", the catalyst for stopping DDT use has been proven to be based on pseudo-science and typical radical environmentalist hysterics.



The only thing the banning of DDT has been proven to have accomplished is huge increases in insect born diseases like malaria and dengue fever. In fact, in 2006 the World Health Organization endorsed it's use in combating malaria.



If we have a chance to contain this situation thru the use of DDT, it should be strongly considered.

[Romero]

In fact, in 2006 the World Health Organization endorsed it's use in combating malaria.

In very limited situations. It's a very fine line between how many people are helped or harmed by the DDT. Mosquitos have becoming resistant to it. The WHO says bed netting is better.



It's not a solution for Zika. You wouldn't have your house sprayed with DDT.

[Renee]

In fact, in 2006 the World Health Organization endorsed it's use in combating malaria.

In very limited situations. It's a very fine line between how many people are helped or harmed by the DDT. Mosquitos have becoming resistant to it. The WHO says bed netting is better.



It's not a solution for Zika. You wouldn't have your house sprayed with DDT.

Okay, what is the solution then, smart guy?



BTW, netting is not better. It's a band aid for a gaping wound. Nets have benefical uses but they are a short term fix for a long term problem. You do realize that you can't live under a mosquito net 24/7/365, don't you? You might as well tell people to stay in a sealed box for the rest of their lives.

[RW]

Sounds like a case for vaccine development - tout de suite.

[Romero]

Okay, what is the solution then, smart guy?



BTW, netting is not better. It's a band aid for a gaping wound. Nets have benefical uses but you do realize that you can't live under a mosquito net 24/7/365, don't you? You might as well tell people to stay in a sealed box for the rest of their lives.

Prevention, work on a vaccine, and access to the kind of women's reproductive healthcare that you despise.



The WHO says bed netting has been the best option. It's saved millions of lives. You can't live under a net 24/7, but the rare and limited applications of DDT can only be used within the house as well. Neither stops people from getting bitten outside.



I almost forgot:

"Silent Spring", the catalyst for stopping DDT use has been proven to be based on pseudo-science and typical radical environmentalist hysterics.

Another right-wing myth. Proven by who? Not scientists.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_Convention_on_Persistent_Organic_Pollutants">//https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_Convention_on_Persistent_Organic_Pollutants



180 countries agree that DDT must be restricted as much as possible. This isn't the 1950s.

[Renee]

Okay, what is the solution then, smart guy?



BTW, netting is not better. It's a band aid for a gaping wound. Nets have benefical uses but you do realize that you can't live under a mosquito net 24/7/365, don't you? You might as well tell people to stay in a sealed box for the rest of their lives.

Prevention, work on a vaccine, and access to the kind of women's reproductive healthcare that you despise.



The WHO says bed netting has been the best option. It's saved millions of lives. You can't live under a net 24/7, but the rare and limited applications of DDT can only be used within the house as well. Neither stops people from getting bitten outside.



I almost forgot:

"Silent Spring", the catalyst for stopping DDT use has been proven to be based on pseudo-science and typical radical environmentalist hysterics.

Another right-wing myth. Proven by who? Not scientists.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_Convention_on_Persistent_Organic_Pollutants">//https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_Convention_on_Persistent_Organic_Pollutants



180 countries agree that DDT must be restricted as much as possible. This isn't the 1950s.

Many reputable sources would disagree with your alarmist rhetoric.



http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2428/was-rachel-carson-a-fraud-and-is-ddt-actually-safe-for-humans">http://www.straightdope.com/columns/rea ... for-humans">http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2428/was-rachel-carson-a-fraud-and-is-ddt-actually-safe-for-humans



http://www.21stcenturysciencetech.com/articles/summ02/Carson.html">http://www.21stcenturysciencetech.com/a ... arson.html">http://www.21stcenturysciencetech.com/articles/summ02/Carson.html



http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-truth-about-ddt-and-silent-spring">http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publicati ... ent-spring">http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-truth-about-ddt-and-silent-spring



"The environmental movement used DDT as a means to increase their power. Charles Wurster, chief scientist for the Environmental Defense Fund, commented, "If the environmentalists win on DDT, they will achieve a level of authority they have never had before.. In a sense, much more is at stake than DDT."[Seattle Times, October 5, 1969]"

https://junkscience.com/1999/07/100-things-you-should-know-about-ddt/">https://junkscience.com/1999/07/100-thi ... about-ddt/">https://junkscience.com/1999/07/100-things-you-should-know-about-ddt/



"Politics has long bedevilled malaria. Its first effective cure was quinine, which was discovered by Jesuit missionaries in South America during the 1630s, but for decades Protestants preferred to die rather than swallow "Jesuit's Powder". Today, Third World health is endangered by comfortable Western environmentalists, some of whom, discreetly, view black natives as threats to the local wildlife."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/4264030/DDT-is-safe-just-ask-the-professor-who-ate-it-for-40-years.html">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/4264 ... years.html">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/4264030/DDT-is-safe-just-ask-the-professor-who-ate-it-for-40-years.html



BTW, immunologists at the Mayo Clinic are saying that a vaccine that is safe and effective for use in diverse human populations that span age, gender, and medical history could take years to produce.



Are you sure we can afford to wait that long?

[Romero]

My goodness those sources are lousy.

The Straight Dope



Who is Cecil Adams?



Cecil Adams is the world's most intelligent human being. We know this because: (1) he knows everything, and (2) he is never wrong.

We can find any argument from questionable individuals on the internet, but I prefer to believe the WHO, the UN, 180 national governments, The American Association for the Advancement of Science...

Today, Third World health is endangered by comfortable Western environmentalists, some of whom, discreetly, view black natives as threats to the local wildlife.

Discreetly, eh? As in he has no proof but he "just knows" what they're thinking. Yet we know for a fact that Western environmentalists are always working with and helping the "natives". Millions saved with mosquito net campaigns for just one example.

[Renee]

My goodness those sources are lousy.

The Straight Dope



Who is Cecil Adams?



Cecil Adams is the world's most intelligent human being. We know this because: (1) he knows everything, and (2) he is never wrong.

We can find any argument from questionable individuals on the internet, but I prefer to believe the WHO, the UN, 180 national governments, The American Association for the Advancement of Science...

Today, Third World health is endangered by comfortable Western environmentalists, some of whom, discreetly, view black natives as threats to the local wildlife.

Discreetly, eh? As in he has no proof but he "just knows" what they're thinking. Yet we know for a fact that Western environmentalists are always working with and helping the "natives". Millions saved with mosquito net campaigns for just one example.

Really, well here is another "lousy source" published in Forbes by Henry I. Miller, a physician, at the Robert Wesson Fellow of Scientific Philosophy and Public Policy at Stanford University's Hoover institution.



Miller was also the founding director of the FDA's Office of Biotechnology.



http://www.forbes.com/sites/henrymiller/2012/09/05/rachel-carsons-deadly-fantasies/#6b9d1d1015d1">http://www.forbes.com/sites/henrymiller ... 9d1d1015d1">http://www.forbes.com/sites/henrymiller/2012/09/05/rachel-carsons-deadly-fantasies/#6b9d1d1015d1



You go right ahead and keep believing the government stooges who have been bought and bullied by special interests. I'm sure they are motivated by the need to safeguard populations at risk. :001_rolleyes:

[Anonymous]

Leftist ideologues, professing concern for the integrity of the natural environment, collaborated to ban the use of the pesticide best known by the acronym DDT—the very substance that had made it possible to vanquish malaria from vast portions of the globe. By means of that ban, environmentalists effectively ensured that, over the course of the ensuing 30+ years, more than 50 million people would die needlessly of a disease that was entirely preventable.

[Romero]

No, it's been 500 million people. Rachel Carson has killed more than Hitler, Stalin and Game of Thrones combined. Don't you people realize that humans are a cancer to Dear Mother Earth? We must depopulate now!



Yeah, I'm seeing a typical trend. Mainstream scientists and media are having a reasonable discussion while right-wing crackpots are spouting the usual conspiracy theories. DDT is so safe you can eat it! nom nom nom

The use of DDT for public health emergencies is an option in the U.S., said Lynn Goldman, an epidemiologist and pediatrician who is dean of Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University.



But Goldman said spraying DDT to control Zika would be "misguided and reckless."



"There are many pest control measures that potentially can be used, many of which are far more effective, now and in the long term, than DDT," she said via email.



Goldman said the pesticide is effective against the Anopheles mosquito, a night-biter that spreads malaria indoors while people are sleeping.



In many developing countries, DDT has proven effective when sprayed on the indoor walls of buildings.



"Basically the anopheles likes to rest on a wall surface between feedings and thus is poisoned by the DDT that is on the walls," Goldman said.



But the mosquito that transmits Zika is not the anopheles but another genus known as the Aedes, which also transmits dengue and chikungunya viruses, according to Goldman.



Aedes mosquitos bite outdoors, during the day, she said. Spraying walls with DDT won't help.



The best way to deal with aedes is by controlling its breeding and using products such as the popular insect repellent DEET, Goldman said.



Aedes mosquitos are difficult to control. They breed in the tiniest amount of water -- the cup formed by a large leaf, water in used tires or plant saucers, said Goldman.



Aedes also like urban, not rural areas, Goldman said. Successful control efforts have involved door-to-door campaigns to eliminate breeding areas.



The use of pesticides, especially DDT, to combat Zika must be considered with extreme care, Chevrier said.



"Using DDT now would result in exposure to local populations for decades," he said.



"In fact, DDE, a breakdown product from DDT, is still detected in the blood of a majority of Americans even though DDT was banned in the U.S. about 40 years ago."



http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/04/health/zika-virus-ddt-what-you-need-to-know/">//http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/04/health/zika-virus-ddt-what-you-need-to-know/

[Gay Boy Roberto]

Miami's South Beach has been identified as a second site of Zika transmission by mosquitoes on the U.S. mainland, and containing it there will be difficult because high-rise buildings and strong winds make it impractical to spray the neighbourhood from the air, officials said today.



Five cases of Zika have been connected to mosquitoes in this area of Miami Beach, bringing the state's caseload to 36 infections unrelated to travel outside the U.S., Florida's governor and health department announced today.



The discovery prompted the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to announce that it was expanding its travel warning for pregnant women to include the Miami Beach area - best known for nightclubs, pedestrian thoroughfares and beaches.

[Thiel]

Leftist ideologues, professing concern for the integrity of the natural environment, collaborated to ban the use of the pesticide best known by the acronym DDT—the very substance that had made it possible to vanquish malaria from vast portions of the globe. By means of that ban, environmentalists effectively ensured that, over the course of the ensuing 30+ years, more than 50 million people would die needlessly of a disease that was entirely preventable.

Use the DDT and get it over with. Why are we even having this discussion while the virus spreads.

[Gay Boy Roberto]

The news keeps getting worse:



Florida's governor just announced five new cases of Zika, including one in the Tampa Bay area, 265 miles (425 km) north of Miami.



Four other cases of the virus, which is often spread by mosquitoes, were found in Wynwood in Miami.

[Romero]

They just need to spray the entire state with DDT. There's no time to think about how stupid and useless it would be!

[Gay Boy Roberto]

They just need to spray the entire state with DDT. There's no time to think about how stupid and useless it would be!

 :001_tongue: