Why no masks or social distancing for Tuberculosis? - kills 1.5 million a year

[Louie7080]

A Global Threat
Tuberculosis (TB) is a global disease, found in every country in the world. It is the leading infectious cause of death worldwide. The World Health Organization estimates that 1.8 billion people—close to one quarter of the world's population—are infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb), the bacteria that causes TB. Last year, 10 million fell ill from TB and 1.5 million died. TB is an airborne disease that can be spread by coughing or sneezing and is the leading cause of infectious disease worldwide. It is responsible for economic devastation and the cycle of poverty and illness that entraps families, communities and even entire countries. Among the most vulnerable are women, children, and those with HIV/AIDS. There is growing resistance to available drugs, which means the disease is becoming more deadly and difficult to treat. There were more than half a million cases of drug resistant TB last year.

 

[Searc]

Never mind. Not worth my mental health today.

 

[Ben E N]

*Apparently, OP is not aware there is a vaccine for tuberculosis, which the vast majority of children get at a very young age in most developed countries.

Norovirus also kills many more per year, but that is due to inadequate healthcare and unsanitary conditions.
Some are just too willfully ignorant to understand how an airborne virus that nobody has immunity to and no one is sure how to best treat could possibly be a problem for the world's population.

 

[Ben E N]

And one other thing. If there were outbreaks of TB in densely populated cities, perhaps because enough people avoided getting vaccinated, I can guarantee you that those cities would lock down.

My daughter was not allowed into the hospital to see my son when he was born because all the anti-vaccine people allowed measles to run wild for a time in 2014-2015, and doctors had to take measures to make sure that it did not get spread any further.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

 

[PRINCESS Sweet Pea]

I don’t see any real comparison at all!

I have been looking at the charts on the worldometer web site. The curve isn’t even a curve. It is like straight up from zero to millions in only a few weeks. This is new and dangerous thing that you can get just by being anywhere nearby. And people want to just do what they want to do.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Never mind. Not worth my mental health today.

I don't even know why I clicked on this thread.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

I read, somewhere, that the BCG vaccine against TB, may (MAY!) offer some protection against Covid 19.

 

[Louie7080]

This is absolutely a fair comparison and in no way simple click bait and addresses the people who say things like one death is too much. If it saves a life, why don't people wear masks all time? Wouldn't it at least one death be prevented if everyone wears a mask when around other people?

If lowering the speed limit to 25 saves a life, why don't we do that too?

I don't take it lightly that my freedoms and rights are being stripped away and are likely to become permanent.

 

[SaintsManiac]

And there's the car comparison. Oy.

 

[DCJ]

 

[choirfarm]

Added another ignore to my list

 

[MillauFr]

If lowering the speed limit to 25 saves a life, why don't we do that too?

We should do that and we are in Seattle. The number of deaths we accept due to car accidents is outrageous. We need video enforcement of all traffic laws and microchips embedded into cars to force compliance.

 

[mefordis]

Never mind. Not worth my mental health today.

This is a great post. 10/10. Added a lot to the thread.

 

[mefordis]

Added another ignore to my list

When you add someone to your ignore list, can't they still see and comment on your posts?

 

[tzolkin]

This is not equivalent to what is currently going on with COVID-19. They are two completely different things.

We DO use masks and distancing with people who have active TB disease. But there are some key differences that make it unnecessary to have EVERYONE wear a mask and practice social distancing.

TB can only be transmitted by people who have active TB disease in their lungs or throat, not by people with a latent TB infection. So it would be relatively easy for just the people who are contagious to wear a mask. The reason the general public is wearing masks for COVID-19 is because it's being transmitted by people who are asymptomatic, so unless everyone is tested we have no way of knowing who is contagious and who is not.

Also TB tends to be spread by prolonged exposure to someone in a confined area, so it's mainly a concern for family members, friends, and caretakers not random strangers at the grocery store or at a park. It also doesn't survive on surfaces so it can't be passed by basic interactions like shaking hands, sharing food, etc.

 

[xuxa777]

.....

Also TB tends to be spread by prolonged exposure to someone in a confined area, so it's mainly a concern for family members, friends, and caretakers not random strangers at the grocery store or at a park. It also doesn't survive on surfaces so it can't be passed by basic interactions like shaking hands, sharing food, etc.

There is a strong possibility this is the case with this coronavirus as well, many studies worldwide are beginning to show just that.

 

[wvjules]

There is a strong possibility this is the case with this coronavirus as well, many studies worldwide are beginning to show just that.

Source for that?

 

[choirfarm]

When you add someone to your ignore list, can't they still see and comment on your posts?

Not sure, but even if they can, you will not see it!

 

[FlightlessDuck]

If lowering the speed limit to 25 saves a life, why don't we do that too?

So, the opposite is also true. Why do speed limits exist at all?

People who study city planning and traffic decided the appropriate speed for any particular type of road in order to minimize accidents. Just like social distancing was recommended by experts to minimize the rate of infection.

Speed limits will not lead to 0 deaths, just like social distancing is not leading to 0 infections. This is all about minimizing hazard by spreading the infection rate over a longer period of time.