I have been accused of overly downplaying the COVID threat. In a nutshell, no, I haven’t. It’s a serious, very serious threat . . . to certain sectors of the population. It’s at its most threatening to particular persons, as is true with most infections.
We’ve known this for quite some time: the elderly and those with chronic health conditions are most vulnerable. But, today, we are acting as if the thing doesn’t discriminate. It does, and does with a vengeance in both its lethality and severity of symptoms.
Then again, so does the flu. The flu is fatal to the same groups, as well as others.
My source is an excellent overview by Lisa Lockerd Maragakis, PHD and MPH, on the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine – Health website, updated May 14, 2021.
The internet is flooded with tons of articles on COVID. Most assume that COVID is synonymous with the Black Death, striking down all groups with great ferocity. They are just repeating the highly-reported error from the earlier AIDS epidemic. No, not everyone is vulnerable to AIDS. Ditto for COVID.
When I go to find the basis for the claim about COVID, there is nothing but someone repeating the assumption. No scientific analysis and no reference to any. It’s assumed to be true and the reporter is off to the races.
Not so fast. One of the trumpeted differences is COVID’s long term effects. Maragakis cites COVID’s long term damage to kidneys, brain, heart, and lungs. But, then again, she says that the flu may result in inflammation of the heart (myocarditis), brain (encephalitis), or muscles (myositis, rhabdomyolysis). Yes, there are differences, but any infection leaves a scar in our bodily system.
I’m sure that honest people can honestly disagree. But the problem lies in the fact that some of us aren’t honestly disagreeing. Political agendas poison the well. The dread of professional culpability for anyone’s death paralyzes “experts” into draconian policies. The rest of us, unaware of these social forces, are oblivious.
I am skeptical of legacy, mainstream media sources. All too often, these newsrooms are populated with the poorly-educated and semi-literate, and susceptible to ideological frenzies of the moment. And it shows.
I’ve been burned too much. Now, I want the meaty sources, not another blowhard repeating a mantra. If you make an assertion, damn it, back it up.
RogerG