Title. Apparently there is a cruise ship quarantined right now because of this. And a guy at work was telling me some of the staff escaped? Not sure what exactly is going on but is it cause for concern?
I have read a lot about it because I have stressed a lot about it, I’m also naturally very skeptical so I dig down a lot.
This particular variant is the Andes strain of the virus which have been show to transmit human.
It’s a virus that had existed for long time. And has already caused local epidemics. The most famous the Chilean Argentinian epidemic of 2019 where something like a dozen people died out of thirty infected.
Mortality is high (around 30% of infected, once you develop lung symptoms around 50%) but R0 number is low. Usually the studied R0 number has been below 1. This mean that each person rarely spread it to more than one other person. For comparison covid R0 was something between 2 and 4. This is the main reason to think it won’t spread a lot.
This virus has been around a lot, but it’s true that it has maybe never been in a situation like now with worries about quick international spread via airlines.
Currently most worries are about how easy is to actually spread human to human. There was a case of a flight attendant who was tested after a short contact with an infected but apparently has tested negative (her symptoms were apparently unrelated to the virus). So for now we must watch out if the people who were in flights with some of the infected have also been infected. If there are none or very few infected of those airplane passengers we could, most likely, breath safe, as the danger would be low. If we start to see infections after short contact then we should worry. As of this morning I start to believe that we are on the former scenario, as there has currently not been any positive test after a short contact.
My overall worry is that with globalization on the rise and international fast travel growing each year we will start seeing more and more of these epidemics. It’s just a question of time. From my point of view is not if there will be a pandemic virus that would wipe out a high chunk of the population. I think that’s guaranteed if we don’t change our traveling habits. It’s just a matter of when.
I hope you are correct, though I 'm not confident that doing any actual testing is a priority in the USA presently.
This is the most in depth response yet, thank you
From my point of view is not if there will be a pandemic virus that would wipe out a high chunk of the population. I think that’s guaranteed if we don’t change our traveling habits. It’s just a matter of when.
Yes I agree with you actually. The reasoning behind this conclusion is airtight, yet no one wants to go there because it’s such a disturbing thought.
And even though the COVID lab leak theory is controversial, there have been many well documented lab leaks of other biohazards, viral or otherwise. If we keep poking around with these things it increases the odds of another pandemic increase even further, whether that be by a malicious actor doing it intentionally or someone letting it slip by mistake
I bought all the toilet paper that was in store. Just in case.
Stressing out about it right now won’t do you or anyone else any good. Just keep an ear to the ground for news updates. If they still have hantavirus under control and quarantined on the ship, it’s a good sign that it will stay contained there.
I don’t think we have another global pandemic on our hands, but you should take precautions now just in case - especially if it makes you feel less anxious about it. Wearing a mask in public costs you very little in terms of effort and is far more socially acceptable post-Covid.
It’s fucked up but you’re seeing so much about it online and hearing so much about it because sensationalized fear translates to money and attention for those seeking such things.
That’s not to say that this virus isn’t dangerous and devastating to those affected, infected, and exposed to it. We definitely shouldn’t be down playing that. It’s just that this virus has no chance of causing a major disruption of our lives on a wide-spread global scale.
It’s fucked up but you’re seeing so much about it online and hearing so much about it because sensationalized fear translates to money and attention for those seeking such things.
This is exactly the sort of reasoning I used to downplay COVID though
Brutal honestly here,
So because of your own willfully ignorance and lacking education on the topic. You are now over correcting in the other direction via fear and panic because you fucked up the first time. Due to the same external forces that you allowed dictate your actions the first time. Aka bad faith journalism and misinformation.
The actual solution to your problem is to go actually learn about the topic so you can make an informed opinion and action plan with our relying on random internet strangers to tell you how to think. And by learn, that doesn’t mean go watch some shitty 5 min video on YouTube or ask some random fucking idiot on reddit or Lemmy. Go actually educate yourself. Proper long form content from licensed doctors and nurses or books. Educating your self will help with the anxiety, fear, etc. And it prevents the fear mongering from bad faith news sources to dictate your thoughts and opinions.
There are several hundred cases of Hantavirus in the USA and various parts of South America every year. Doesn’t make the news, doesn’t turn into a pandemic.
You’ll be fine unless you’ve been in close proximity to someone who’s been infected.
Wait, theres a hentai virus?
To add on to the points here, hantavirus is lethal in a way that doesn’t translate to widespread pandemics easily. Coronavirus is unique in that while it was 5:1 more lethal than similarly transmissible airborn viruses, that was the “Goldilocks zone” for a virus with its lethality and transmissibility to do maximum damage. Lots of excess death, but the average person generally only had a slightly rough go of it. Hantavirus has >30% lethality in many forms, and is extremely likely to burn itself out before any sort of epidemic status.
So ultimately, very unfortunate for those that contract it, but its characteristics put it way below pretty much every other airborn illness in terms of what keeps me up at night.
Covid plays the long game, though. People who only had a rough time of it can die as a result of it years later.
That’s true of all flu strains.
COVID is just the one we’ve studied the most, because of the pandemic and the number of cases.
There’s a lot of studies showing that “regular” flu strains can cause lasting damage to cardiovascular systems years/decades down the road.
COVID is just the most prominent flu strain, and the one we have collected the most data on. But all flues are really, really bad for you long term if you get them.
Does the flu cause heart attacks and strokes due to vein and arterial damage?
Covid is a systemic disease, flu is a respiratory disease.
Since there are comments saying that the hantavirus rarely spreads from human-to-human, it seems like the news hasn’t spread fast enough…
https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/hondius-ship-hantavirus-andes-strain-9.7189281
Hantavirus is spread by rodents and, more rarely, people. To date, the Andes strain is the only type of hantavirus in which human-to-human transmission has been confirmed, usually through close contact, such as by sharing a bed or food, experts say.
Article title: WHO confirms Andes strain hantavirus on cruise ship passengers, with 3 transferring from ship for treatment
…
And just 13 minutes ago, this news came out: https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/hantavirus-outbreak-cruise-ship-9.7190707; Contract tracing is underway.
No need to panic. The virus is rarely transmitted from human to human or via air.
Cruise ships are a hot bed for diseases though: Many people in a confined space going to places with diseases that their body has no resistance against. So your best protection is simply not going near the ship.
On the topic of staff escaping: Given that the ship hasn’t been able to dock so far I highly doubt that’s true.
It doesn’t spread person to person so it won’t have the explosive growth and spread to all corners of the globe like covid.
Edit: this one might, though it isn’t clear yet and if it does, it seems to require close contact or at least isn’t as explosive as covid.
Apparently this strain does
Well then you have two options beyond the standard practices such as basic hygiene, food safety, etc.
Panic, freak out and lock your self in a hole.
Or trust that the people who’s actual job to handle this problem will do what they need to.
Or trust that the people who’s actual job to handle this problem will do what they need to.
Hahahahahahaha
Haaaaaahahahahahahaha
Buy the toilet paper now before the shelves are empty.
In France, it was red wine and condoms. But you do you.
I don’t need condoms for the same reason I need twice as much toilet paper. I could still go for the wine but it makes the whole experience kind of sad.
