Infrastructure Megaprojects: Mosquito Eradication

Mosquito-borne diseases kill a million people every year. Admittedly, most of those aren't in the United States, which is what this post series is focused on, but some are. And even ignoring the disease aspect, the buggers are just hugely irritating.

We have a safe and simple way to wipe out the entire species. No chemicals, no engineered diseases, no possibility of spreading mutations into the gene pool. And mosquitoes have few known environmental niches.

I suggest the United States implement sterile insect technique in a significant but controlled area, and look very closely for environmental damage. If the species actually does turn out to be necessary, they can be (shudder) reintroduced. (Or preferably, some substitute species found.) And if there are no problems, we've just made the world a slightly better place.

There are two benefits. One, our own comfort and safety. And two, to demonstrate the ecological effects if such a policy is implemented worldwide.

Oh, and three: screw mosquitoes.

Now if we could just get rid of the bagworms...

Polio eradication

Humans change the world. Sometimes on purpose, sometimes not. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. One change is extinction of a species, a change that cannot be undone.

Think about what it means for an animal to go extinct. Say, elephants. If elephants went extinct today, your children or grandchildren will grow up in a world without elephants. They will never see one, ever, no matter where they go or what they do. A significant experience will be denied them; a choice will be denied them. So even if you don't care about elephants in themselves, won't you please think of the children?

Disease eradication is the opposite. By eradicating a disease, mankind makes a mark on the planet for the rest of time. Most things people do will eventually crumble. But as bad as the extinction of an animal is, extinction of a disease is the antithesis. It is a permanent, unalterable improvement in the state of the world. Disease eradication is one of the greatest achievements of man. And it only happens because of vaccines. If anyone ever tells you vaccines aren't safe, point out the alternative.

Only two diseases have ever been eradicated, and of the two, only smallpox affects humans. But we're making progress on several others, and polio is at the top of that list. Forty years ago there were 50,000 reported cases of polio in the world. The last few years, there have been under 500. There are only three countries with endemic polio (meaning it's transmitted within the country, not imported), and the number of endemic cases is down to under 150. Now, the game isn't over; as long as there are endemic populations and large groups of unvaccinated people, there can still be outbreaks, like happened this year in Somalia. But the vaccination will continue. Within the next decade, polio will be dead.

And then nobody, anywhere, will have polio again. Ever. This will never happen again:

 

Think about that.

In the same period of time, you can expect to see an end to guinea worm, and yaws may not be far behind. Then malaria and the measles.

Quackcast

I've been really enjoying listening to the Quackcast. It's a dry, sarcastic analysis of alternative medicine, complete with explanations of the available medical literature on each subject. Full of great references and in-jokes. It's not "fair and balanced". It's science, and it's all about data. If that's how you prefer your medicine to be done, this is a great podcast. The guiding quote sums it up nicely:

“Ridicule is the only weapon that can be used against unintelligible propositions. Ideas must be distinct before reason can act upon them.”

-- Thomas Jefferson (on a different topic)

Here's the summary of my listening so far. If you don't want to take my word for it (and you shouldn't), please, listen to the podcast! The data is quite convincing. Unless, of course, you don't make decisions based on data, in which case, why are you reading this blog?

• Acupuncture (without electricity) is ineffective and dangerous.
• Chiropractic is sometimes ineffective and dangerous. Now, chiropractors are a varied lot. Some are perfectly reasonable and helpful. I'm not saying you shouldn't see a chiropractor. But if you're going to, make sure you find a sane one. The more reality-challenged ones think that manipulating your spine can cure your allergies. Some reject germ theory, of all things, which means they may not clean tables or equipment. Equipment used to give colinics. You may now run screaming in terror.
• Homeopathy is hysterically ineffective.
• Vitamin C megadoses do not prevent colds, or reduce their intensity or length to any useful degree.
• Probiotics might do something, but not as typically sold.
• The anti-vaccine movement doesn't have a leg to stand on with any argument they've ever made. All they accomplish is getting children maimed and killed.
• Things sold as an "immune system booster" really just provokes an immune response, like inflammation. This does not make you more likely to fight off infection, and it may actually contribute to cardiovascular disease.

The Science-Based Medicine blog, often referenced in the Quackcast, also looks great, but I haven't gotten into it in depth yet.