Originally posted by JGRaider:
CL, what do you think of this data?
The WHO describes a “pandemic” as “the worldwide spread of a new disease.” By this description, we are witnessing several pandemics today. The WHO estimates that there were 228 million cases of malaria worldwide in 2018, with 405,000 deaths. Almost half the world’s population—about 3.2 billion people—are at risk. The disease kills a child every two minutes.
According to Dr. Christian W. McMillen’s excellent introduction to pandemics, cholera is in its seventh pandemic. It has lasted longer than any previous pandemic and shows no sign of easing. Researchers estimate that there are between 1.3 million and 4 million cases a year, with up to 143,000 deaths worldwide. Tuberculosis (TB) might be the oldest human disease, but this pandemic is still with us as well. Due to multidrug-resistant TB, extensively drug-resistant TB, poor infection control, and drug shortages, tuberculosis now kills more people than at any other time in history. And the AIDS pandemic has infected approximately 37.9 million people around the world, with 1.7 million new infections in 2018. According to the WHO, since the beginning of the epidemic, 75 million people have been infected with the HIV virus; about 32 million have died of it.
First, I found the source of your quote and I have not fact-checked it.
You are asking me what I think...Data is unemotional, so I'll share two perspectives:
From a humanitarian standpoint, there are targeted efforts (which can use additional funding, talent, resources) for any of the pandemics/epidemic diseases that you mention. Foundations and charities that are lead by some of the world's best and brightest are focused on having a significant impact, despite the challenges. One example is the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Donations are important. We try to do our part each year.
My initial hypothesis, based on CDC, WHO and other reports is that Covid-19 is different that the pandemics cited. It is, as you mention, new. There is no vaccine. There are no drug cocktails that dramatically extend life or prevent you from contracting it. Covid-19 is highly contagious and has fewer barriers to transmission. While it's still early, it appears to be as contagious as the flu, maybe more so. There are early case studies that report the virus lasts up to 3 hours airborne and several days on surfaces like plastic, even stainless steel. People die within days, some within weeks. It has the ability to clog the health care system, quickly: see the chart below for this explanation-
Why canceling events and self-quarantining is so important
