Anti Vaccine Hysteria

[Hydra009]

WHY isn't there a cure for the common cold?

Actually, there may be some progress on that front.  Draco (no relation to House Slytherin) seems promising.

One of these days, the common cold really will be history.

[The Skeletal Atheist]

WHY isn't there a cure for the common cold?

Actually, there may be some progress on that front.  Draco (no relation to House Slytherin) seems promising.

One of these days, the common cold really will be history.

I heard about this about a month earlier, and honestly I was amazed when I looked into it. So far, iirc, it's been extremely effective against every virus they tested it on. I can't wait until human trials start on it.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

To eradicate the common cold nearly every.man, woman and child on earth would need vaccinated so as long as there's a profit motive it's not happening. It'll always be to costly for most of the earths population not to mention the antivacs crowd would fuck it up.. :roll:

[mykcob4]

This hysteria is borne out of the religious right and conservaturds. Their defacto spokesperson is Jenny McCarthy for crying out loud. As if she has a brain that functions.
"Oh I am going to listen to a pot smoking methhead Playboy centerfold failed adult actress when it comes to child care, instead of scientist and healthcare professionals."

[the_antithesis]

[youtube:29r3khto]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhk7-5eBCrs[/youtube:29r3khto]

[AllPurposeAtheist]

But Jenny found Jesus.. She's forgiven for being a slut, failed actress, doper, no talent..  That gives her automatic credibility..  

[Hydra009]

To eradicate the common cold nearly every.man, woman and child on earth would need vaccinated so as long as there's a profit motive it's not happening. It'll always be to costly for most of the earths population not to mention the antivacs crowd would fuck it up.. :roll:

Cure as clearing it up in an infected person, not inoculation.

Right now, all we can do is manage the symptoms, which is better than nothing, but only just.  And a lack of an effective treatment leads people right into the waiting arms of alternative "medicine" or that magical cure-all, antibiotics, which is really not helping the whole antibiotic resistance situation.  The common cold is a relatively minor problem, but being able to slow its spread (and eventually wipe it out) would be a big win for the medical community.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

I guess.. Still as long as the profit motive is in it most people are going to just put up with a cold unless it become cheaply available OTC. I guess profit motive works both ways, but big pharma will keep it expensive if they can.

[Hydra009]

This hysteria is borne out of the religious right and conservaturds.

As much as I wish I could blame them for this, vaccines have been controversial ever since their inception (probably mostly to the sinister appearance of the injection process and the post hoc reasoning involving something bad happening to the vaccinated), the anti-vaxxers hail from pretty diverse backgrounds (the vaccine-eschewing groups listed in the OP include Hare Krishnas and Orthodox Jews as well as your garden-variety Christian fundies) and the main driving force for this latest anti-vaxx campaign is celebrity/quack-fueled denialism and the ever-present paranoia that Big Government/Pharma is out to get you, all topped off with general public ignorance about how vaccines/diseases actually work.  All these factors combine to make for an untrusting, easily misled populace.  Religion didn't create the situation, but it has made it a hell of a lot worse by giving this nonsense a pulpit.