Blogs Jan 28, 2016 at 1:51 pm

Freaking Out About the Zika Virus Yet?

Dan Savage
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Comments

1
Move to Vancouver?
caution&daring on January 28, 2016 at 1:55 PM Report this
2
@1 - You may not.

Sure hope BigPharma can get their heads out of the lifestyle-drug-asshole it's buried in to come up with a remedy.
sperifera on January 28, 2016 at 2:01 PM Report this
3
@1: when they say "Canada", they mean the areas that get fucking cold. like everywhere else but Vancouver.

you could move to Stanley, Idaho. it's always cold there.
Max Solomon on January 28, 2016 at 2:16 PM Report this
4
@, but I don't want my toenails to be yellowish!
Cato the Younger Younger on January 28, 2016 at 2:19 PM Report this
5
Here's the problem with this: given past media "freak-outs" about various diseases that come up it't hard to wonder if you should be concerned or not.
Last of the Time Lords on January 28, 2016 at 2:30 PM Report this
6
Good news! The groundwork has already been laid to science the shit out of the mosquitoes. Not only do we have GMO mosquitoes ready to cut the population of mosquitoes by 90% ...
http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda…

... our very own Bill Gates has invested a lot into understanding how we can prevent mosquitoes from spreading infectious diseases. http://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gates_unpl…

And let the anti-science crowd begin declaring this a conspiracy.
unknown_entity on January 28, 2016 at 2:38 PM Report this
8
It's already in Alberta, Canada......http://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-ne…

PapaKipChee on January 28, 2016 at 3:01 PM Report this
9
@3: Actually, it's not the cold countries. It's all the countries that start with "C". The Chinese and the Colombians are remaining calm too.
saxfanatic on January 28, 2016 at 3:05 PM Report this
10
@3 is correct as in Kootenays or Chilcotin BC correct.

But ... Don't freak out.
Will in Seattle on January 28, 2016 at 3:05 PM Report this
11
@8 from other locations - more worried if it was skeeter-filled Wainwright Alberta near Calgary actually
Will in Seattle on January 28, 2016 at 3:07 PM Report this
12
Jeez, relax. Not like it's hitting the gays earliest and hardest. Expect treatments/vaccines in the pipeline with all deliberate haste. /snark
rob! on January 28, 2016 at 3:26 PM Report this
13
The article says "Experts cautioned against alarm" so you don't need the 'Panic' in the heading attribute, Dan!
raindrop on January 28, 2016 at 3:33 PM Report this
14
No you should not freak out, you should get an iud or implant. I hate how these all but foolproof methods are never mentioned when some guy is blathering about how ineffective BC is (see linked NYT article).
Of the fraction of women left over that are pregnant or actively trying to be you have a right to be a bit freaked.
The messed up part is that many of these countries outlaw contraception and abortion but blithely tell women not to get pregnant.
chi_type on January 28, 2016 at 3:38 PM Report this
15
@9 thanks for that. I laughed pretty hard. @14 no countries in the Americas outlaw contraception. Abortion yes, pretty restricted everywhere s. of the USA.
dalefarnham on January 28, 2016 at 4:38 PM Report this
16
So... On a scale of Mad Cow (everyone but the vegans are all going to die!) to Ebola (nothing to worry about you racist fuck!) what is the Stranger approved level of freak-out for Zika?
You_Gotta_Be_Kidding_Me on January 28, 2016 at 5:17 PM Report this
17
@11You've got an odd idea of what "near" means if you think Wainwright is near Calgary.
agony on January 28, 2016 at 5:40 PM Report this
18
Yes that was badly phrased. Contraception like implants are just out of reach for many. Abortions are illegal under any circumstances in some (but not all) countries.
chi_type on January 28, 2016 at 6:25 PM Report this
19
Zika is from the same family of viruses as west nile, yellow fever, dengue, and others. It's primarily a vector born disease. Unlike west nile, its not spread by a mosquito that covers most of the US. The range of Zika's vector is restricted to the deep South, so you're safe in Seattle. Also, it doesn't seem to have a reservoir here other than humans, which should restrict its spread. Is Zika a big deal? Yes, and we should do something about it for no other reason than to help people in affected areas. But it's not an imminent threat to most people in this county.
cjb5 on January 28, 2016 at 7:24 PM Report this
20
Even scarier: it seems to occasionally cause several weeks of total paralysis as part of an autoimmune disorder.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/22/world/…
venomlash on January 28, 2016 at 10:30 PM Report this
21
@17 military near, we crashed a cargo jet with my units equipment there, so it's "near"
Will in Seattle on January 28, 2016 at 11:30 PM Report this
22
Worth noting, once you've had Zika, you *probably* can't get it again, and pregnancies at that point are probably safe. That doesn't help anyone who is pregnant now or might be soon, which is a scary situation. But this is not some kind of microcephaly End Times like I've seen it on Facebook.

Mtn. Beaver on January 29, 2016 at 3:17 AM Report this
23
@22: Mtn. Beaver, I like your style. No one will ever convince me that you're the most primitive rodent!
Max Solomon on January 29, 2016 at 10:11 AM Report this
24
You're very kind, sir, but I actually embrace "primitive". Have you seen the size of my primitive flea?
http://deadinsects.net/Giant-mountain-be…

Modern rodents these days. I pity their fleas.
Mtn. Beaver on January 29, 2016 at 1:39 PM Report this
25
Not really. But I'm a gay male and I don't have, want, or like children and this doesn't seem to have much of an effect on adults who aren't or won't be pregnant.
brandon on January 29, 2016 at 2:00 PM Report this
26
Thinking about the implications is what is chilling. What will happen if a large percentage of all human babies are born with this horrible deformity? What if humans have to have fewer and fewer babies? The social and economic implications of a possibly severely negative population growth? Generations lost or born deformed?? This is why I'm concerned by this virus.
bodhirungus on January 29, 2016 at 6:10 PM Report this
27
bodhirungus @26,

Keep calm and get vaccinated.
http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/he…
Alison Cummins on January 29, 2016 at 8:11 PM Report this
28
bodhirungus, see "not some kind of microcephaly End Times" above. Once the virus is endemic in an area, most women get it before childbearing age.
Mtn. Beaver on January 30, 2016 at 7:40 PM Report this

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