Questions of Smallpox

The nation has reached a remarkable state. The country of Jefferson, Adams, Madison, Lincoln will watch as its president, Biden, goes under anesthesia and, during that period of time, the presidential power will be in the hands of one Kamala Harris.

Epidemiologists have estimated that the coronavirus has a “basic reproduction number” between 2 and 3, meaning that each infection leads to roughly two to three other people getting infected. The basic reproduction number is often rendered “R.” New variants push that R to about 4. The virus kills about 0.2% of everyone it infects. Smallpox, before the vaccine, had an R between 5 and 7, a mortality rate over 30%, and disfigured the rest.

A small company has developed a treatment for smallpox, a therapy that works, not a vaccine. The anxiety over the homicidal Soviets' having a bioweapons lab that was using smallpox as their base agent stimulated a plan to have the anti-smallpox therapy available in the U.S. but it was deep-sixed by a Republican 'statesman' who did not want to give profits to the company as it was owned by a prominent Democrat donor. (Sometimes the betterment of the nation has to take a back seat to a higher vision.)

This week a vial of material labeled 'smallpox' was discovered in a Merck lab. Then a guy in Maryland tested positive for Monkeypox, a close relative of smallpox. The stock went nuts.

One can only wonder what a narcissistic culture that thinks selfies is an occupation, demands perfection in all ways, and protection from any threat will react to the appearance of a bug that has a 30% mortality and scars the survivors.