Enough ... for now ...

I think we have had enough worms for a while. There are more, but maybe only if I get desperate or something.

Laura Ofobike had a good piece in the Beacon on Tuesday (1-15-08) about global efforts at disease control. I am of the opinion that all "global" efforts really boil down to local implementation of solutions.

Vaccination campaigns against disease do work. Preventive campaigns work better. You do have to keep in mind that for all the faults associated with Darwinism, the basic principle he put forward, that traits which help a species survive tend to be perpetuated, is sound. We cannot forget that successful parasites do not kill their hosts. If we eradicate the most virulent forms, and vaccinate to the highest level possible to achieve our own comfort level with whatever is left, do we produce unintended side effects?

People today seem to have allergies and other immune system problems that were not observed in times past. If our immune systems are deactivated by lack of exercise against some of the "childhood" diseases, do they react in unexpected ways against other factors in life? Does an immune system with nothing else to do turn on its own body? Is there an unintended bad consequence to being entirely disease-free? Obviously, chronic illness is not a good thing, but could it be that a certain low level of disease is necessary to keep us healthy?

While we ponder that, don't neglect to wash your hands and vegetables and cook your food.