Category Archives: Viruses

The Question About Ebola Restrictions That Is Still Unanswered

Posted on October 31, 2014 by mikethemadbiologist

It’s bad enough that healthcare workers who treat Ebola patients in the U.S. are now being stigmatized. In part, this stems from too many state governors and other political figures* caving due to unreasonable fear. But what I don’t get … Continue reading →

Posted in Fucking Morons, Public Health, Viruses | 7 Comments

Some Thoughts on De Facto Ebola Quarantines

Posted on October 30, 2014 by mikethemadbiologist

With Ebolamania in full swing, a phrase that has really bothered me is ‘understandable fear’, because most of the Ebola-related fears are not understandable at all. Here’s an example of understandable fear. You’re on the subway, and the guy next … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Liberties, Public Health, Viruses | 16 Comments

So This Is How We’re Going to Respond to the Killer Death Virus?

Posted on October 26, 2014 by mikethemadbiologist

So two power-hungry, corrupt, thuggish governors, New Jersey’s Chris Christie and New York’s Andrew Cuomo, have decided to enact their own public health Ebola policy. What could possibly go wrong? Well, according to Doctors Without Borders, one of their nurses … Continue reading →

Posted in Fucking Morons, Public Health, Viruses | 6 Comments

The Question That Needs to Be Asked of the Ebola Fear Mongers

Posted on October 23, 2014 by mikethemadbiologist

It is this: Have your had your flu shot? Between norovirus and winter vomiting disease, we’re going to have a lot of false alarms, if the hysterical reaction to Ebola right now is any guide. The fewer people coming down … Continue reading →

Posted in Fucking Morons, Influenza, Viruses | 1 Comment

The 100 Percent Fallacy and the Costs of Our Ebola Panic

Posted on October 22, 2014 by mikethemadbiologist

Paul Waldman makes an excellent point about our Ebola hysteria–and it is a panic (boldface mine): But Murphy is right in that Ebola is producing some of the same insane overreactions that terrorism did and continues to do. That “We … Continue reading →

Posted in CDC, Public Health, Viruses | 2 Comments

Yes, Budget Cuts Hurt Development of an Ebola Vaccine

Posted on October 19, 2014 by mikethemadbiologist

There has been some talk by scientists (of all people) that NIH Director Francis Collins’ statement that “if we had not gone through our 10-year slide in research support, we probably would have had a vaccine in time for this … Continue reading →

Posted in Funding, NIH, Viruses | 5 Comments

So What Did We Get For All of That Biopreparedness?

Posted on October 13, 2014 by mikethemadbiologist

After Sept. 11, 2001, a lot of money was dumped into ‘biopreparedness’, something most microbiologists thought would not be very effective. So one would like to think, in light of all of the money spent on bioterrorism/biopreparedness, there would have … Continue reading →

Posted in Funding, Public Health, Viruses | 3 Comments

Are We Really Ready for Ebola? The Nurses’ Union Perspective

Posted on October 7, 2014 by mikethemadbiologist

National Nurses United (‘NNU’) began surveying its members a few weeks ago about Ebola preparedness in the U.S. Here are some of the highlights (or, perhaps, lowlights; boldface mine): In updated preliminary results from nearly 700 RNs at over 250 … Continue reading →

Posted in Public Health, Viruses | 3 Comments

Former Republican Executive Director Says Something Horrible About Ebola

Posted on October 6, 2014 by mikethemadbiologist

I’m shocked, really, I am (boldface mine): The former general counsel and executive director of the South Carolina Republican Party is coming under fire for the novel solutions to the Ebola epidemic he is posting on Twitter. The vehemently pro-life … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservatives, Fucking Morons, Viruses | 1 Comment

When Fear and Preconception Meet Ebola: The Rand Paul Edition

Posted on October 6, 2014 by mikethemadbiologist

By way of No More Mister Nice Blog, we read that Republican Senator Rand Paul, who is a sorta licensed ophthalmologist, had this to about the Ebola virus (boldface mine): Glenn [Beck] interviewed Senator Rand Paul on radio today to … Continue reading →

Posted in Funding, Public Health, Viruses | 4 Comments