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#mortality

2 posts1 participant0 posts today
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WIST Quotations

A quotation from Stevenson

By all means begin your folio; even if the doctor does not give you a year, even if he hesitates about a month, make one brave push and see what can be accomplished in a week. It is not only in finished undertakings that we ought to honour useful labour.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Essay (1878-04), “Æs Triplex,” Cornhill Magazine, Vol. 37

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/stevenson-robert-lou…

#quote#quotes#quotation
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vk3kri

So I'm writing the code for my weather station upgrade, and I do a quick check on whether the cumulative counter for the tipping bucket rain gauge should be int(16bit) of long(32bit) . Looking at Melbourne's avg rain fall, it looks like int will last 33 years.
Short pause. - Hmm I'll probably be dead by then .
Short pause. - Well that's two bytes saved.

#mortality#weather
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B Thoreau 🛸

Thinking about my own mortality and how I don't want to end my life in a bad/dark time in history. I expect to die when it's a good time in history, sunshine and roses, and how mad I am going to be if I don't, and how American/entitled is that anyway? Too many Hollywood movies and not enough ....something else? Some ennui is out of place, delusions ruling the hind brain.

#mortality #good times #end times #annoying optimism

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MikeDunnAuthor

With the 2nd measles death of the year, and all the misinformation coming from America’s fake health and science boss RFK Jr., as well as the continued proliferation of anti-vaccine lies and hysteria, how about a close hard look at the facts:

1. CLAIM: RFK Jr. said that measles outbreaks are not unusual in the U.S.
FACT: The MMR vaccine is so effective that measles had been eradicated in the U.S. by the early 2000s. So, NO, measles outbreaks were NOT usual. In fact, they were nonexistent, at least until recently, when vaccine hesitancy started to grow due to the lies and disinformation coming from people like RFK Jr.

2. CLAIM: Measles is not serious.
FACT: In the U.S., the mortality rate for measles is around 0.1-0.3%. (thelancet.com/journals/laninf/). A gambler might consider this to be low odds of dying from the disease. However, just a few years ago, one’s chance of dying from the disease was ZERO because the disease didn’t exist in the U.S. The two people who died of measles over the past few weeks would not have died if vaccination rates were still at 95% or higher.

3. CLAIM: Measles is not serious.
4. FACT: In lower income countries, the mortality rate for measles is around 3-4%, which is quite high. This is due primarily to the effects of malnutrition, which weakens the immune system. Trump’s slashing of USAID funding will likely result in an increase in measles deaths in countries that once relied on USAID to support their vaccination programs.

5. CLAIM: Measles is not serious.
6. FACT: 20% of unvaccinated people who catch measles in the U.S. will become hospitalized due to complications; 5% of children who get measles will develop pneumonia from the disease; 0.1% of children who get measles will develop encephalitis; and unvaccinated pregnant women who catch the disease have an elevated risk of having premature births or babies with low birth weight. (cdc.gov/measles/signs-symptoms). Measles also impairs one’s immune system, making them more susceptible to other infections, and it can cause brain swelling, seizures, blindness, deafness, and brain damage.

7. CLAIM: Measles is not serious.
8. FACT: 7-10 years AFTER a measles infection, survivors still run the risk of developing Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis (SSPE) a rare, but fatal disease of the central nervous system. From 1989-1991, they estimate that 7 to 11 out of every 100,000 people with measles were at risk for developing SSPE. That risk is higher for those who contract measles before the age of 2. (cdc.gov/measles/signs-symptoms) And, of course, that risk is 0 for communities with a 95% or higher vaccination rate.

9. CLAIM: MMR vaccine is more dangerous than measles. OR it causes febrile seizures in kids.
FACT: Febrile seizures are extremely rare with vaccines, including MMR. 0.03-0.04% of kids who get the MMR vaccine will get febrile seizures, and most will recover fine. But the risk of febrile seizures is much higher if you actually get measles. (cdc.gov/vaccine-safety/vaccine). Therefore, the vaccine is actually protective against this symptom.

10. CLAIM: The measles vaccine is not very effective
FACT: It is 97% effective, one of the highest rates for any vaccine out there. What this means, in actuality, is that 97% of those who receive the vaccine will develop lifelong immunity, and will have almost no risk of ever catching measles, spreading it to others, or dying from it. The 3% for whom it does not provide full lifetime immunity are still protected from ever catching the disease, assuming the community vaccination rate is at 95% or higher.

11. CLAIM: So, what if I’m not vaccinated? The disease is rare. I’m not going to catch it.
12. FACT: Measles is the most infectious disease known. 90% of unvaccinated people who are exposed will get measles. (nfid.org/resource/frequently-a) I guess if you always wore a properly fitted N95 in public you might be safe-ish. But how many anti-vaxxers out there actually wear masks?

Map of the world, 2012, showing no measles deaths in any of the wealthier countries of the north, including the U.S., but relatively high rates of measles deaths in the global south, particularly in Africa and India.
#publichealth#measles#vaccination
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O=C=O

Women and girls continue to bear disproportionate impacts of heatwaves in South Sudan that have become a constant threat

#ExtremeHeat has affected a large region of continental Eastern #Africa since mid-February. Extreme daytime temperatures have been recorded in South #Sudan particularly affecting people in poor housing and outdoor workers, a very large part of the population.

After dozens of children collapsed with #heatstroke in #Juba, schools were closed for two weeks nationwide starting February 20 and the population was advised to stay indoors and keep hydrated. Both are a huge challenge for many across the country as houses are often built with iron roofs, lack cooling and electricity and access to clean #water. In Juba, a third of the population does not have access to water and only 1% of the city offers green space and shade for people who do not have access to cooling at home. #Heatwaves are arguably the deadliest type of #ExtremeWeather event and have a large impact beyond #mortality, on e.g., #morbidity, #agriculture, #infrastructure, and #economic opportunities the death toll is often underreported and not known until months after the event and many other impacts are not systematically assessed. Those reported so far in South Sudan only represent a very small #sample of the full impacts. The impacts we do see already disproportionately affect #women and #girls, and widen the gap between their opportunities and those of men in an already #unequal #society.

worldweatherattribution.org/wo

A women collects water in Juba, South Sudan. Image by Rod Waddington.
Figure 1. Seven day average maximum temperature (TX7x) for the period of 22 of February to 28 of February. The blue box highlights the study region. Data ERA5.
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David

Origins of Dusk
I used to run games for the official Vampire Live Action group. For one session I asked my friend Gabby to play the NPC for the night, a minion of the overall bad guy for the plot I was running.

Years later I used that story line to help build Dusk, and that NPC became Eve.

Well Gabby died back in 2023 of cancer.
Getting old sucks and that is why I write about vampires, and live forever 😊

#comics #vampires #horror #immortality #mortality #vlarp

kickstarter.com/projects/demon

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Rev. Charles Browning

Perhaps one of the more interesting developments of #Christian practice during my time has been the advent of #AshesToGo on #AshWednesday. Every year I hear from a number of people who rarely appear in a #church on Sunday, but who feel compelled to have dirt smeared on their heads and be reminded of both their #sins and their #mortality. And while there are those who downplay the practice, the fact that it seems to resonate with the wider culture is undeniable and worth deeper consideration.

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Maggie Maybe

From the link:
“Question  What is the relative severity of illness caused by SARS-CoV-2, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)?
Findings  In this cohort study of more than 141 000 nonhospitalized US veterans who were concurrently tested for all 3 viruses and diagnosed with a single infection between August 2022 and March 2023 or between August 2023 and March 2024, RSV was associated with lower 30-day risk of hospitalization, and COVID-19 was associated with a higher risk of long-term mortality through 180 days.
Meaning  COVID-19 was associated with more severe disease outcomes, including long-term mortality, compared with influenza or RSV.”
jamanetwork.com/journals/jamai

#covid#rsv#influenza
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