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They're "essentially" sterile, which is not to say they're absolutely sterile. 3-4 percent of their offspring survive. Under the right conditions, up to 15 percent of the offspring of Oxitec's genetically-modified male mosquitos will be viable.
And, as I understand it, 3% to 4% surviving offspring is more than enough to re-start a population after the population crash that results from the sterile males being introduced.
[quote=Leisesturm;42875332]Scott Weaver (Univ. of Texas) says its "3 to 4 years before a Zika vaccine is available to the public". There may as well not be a vaccine. Millions upon millions will have been exposed by then. The immediate response everytime a new virus or bacteria appears is to ramp up R&D on a vaccine. A vaccine that will take years to reach market. Why bother. Zika has been around since 1947. It is inexcusable that only now is there any response from Big Pharma. Whatever millions might be shunted to the pharma labs should be given instead to the people looking into reduce mosquito populations, or the makers of insect repellents. Effective mosquito repellent can be nasty stuff. If I was pregnant I wouldn't want it anywhere near my developing baby. Maybe if we gave Johnson & Johnson enough money they could come up with something less toxic, but 100% effective. Hmmm maybe we should give Toms of Maine (tm) 5 million to see what they can do[/QUOTE
Avon Skin So Soft works. It has been used to repel mosquitoes for decades. That is the Original, not the new products they now make solely to repel mosquitoes. It smells wonderful to we humans, but apparently not to mosquitoes.
Back when we had the first outbreak of West Nile in NY in the 90's, so many Soccer Moms were using it that the Avon Lady couldn't keep up with the orders.
Scott Weaver (Univ. of Texas) says its "3 to 4 years before a Zika vaccine is available to the public". There may as well not be a vaccine. Millions upon millions will have been exposed by then. The immediate response everytime a new virus or bacteria appears is to ramp up R&D on a vaccine. A vaccine that will take years to reach market. Why bother. Zika has been around since 1947. It is inexcusable that only now is there any response from Big Pharma. Whatever millions might be shunted to the pharma labs should be given instead to the people looking into reduce mosquito populations, or the makers of insect repellents. Effective mosquito repellent can be nasty stuff. If I was pregnant I wouldn't want it anywhere near my developing baby. Maybe if we gave Johnson & Johnson enough money they could come up with something less toxic, but 100% effective. Hmmm maybe we should give Toms of Maine (tm) 5 million to see what they can do
I don't quite get your reasoning. If it takes 3 or 4 years, we all have to be very careful until then, maybe even need to go back to DDT for a while, or whatever. It's hardly futile.
I don't get you anger either. No one ever declared Zika a health emergency previously.
My big question is that since Zika has been endemic in Africa for decades why hasn't it caused a lot of microencephaly there? Has the virus mutated once in South America?
I don't quite get your reasoning. If it takes 3 or 4 years, we all have to be very careful until then, maybe even need to go back to DDT for a while, or whatever. It's hardly futile.
I don't get you anger either. No one ever declared Zika a health emergency previously.
I don't know... maybe its me, but... after 3 years (4?) of 'being very careful', we might get pretty good at it, no? I know I would. Maybe, when (if) the time ever comes that a Zika vaccine is available, people will just save the $200USD that it will cost, thanks for nothing. Talk about a day late... ... A $6.95 bottle of Avon 'Skin So Soft' is just the biscuit, and no nasty potential side effects from rushed to market invasive technology.
Go back to DDT... ... oh man... DDT is banned. Do you imagine it wasn't for a very good reason? Does the premier Capitalist entity on the planet get in the way of a corporations ability to make money for any but the most dire of reasons? You didn't read "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson I'm guessing. No. Just no. Our problem has always been that "protection from" in human terms means "elimination of". I'm secure enough in my manhood that if it means using a woman's moisturizer to allow the continued existence of mosquito's while remaining safe from them, then so be it. Finally, I am as angry as I am because many of us are not angry enough. The entities that are tasked with our collective well being are gorging themselves on the outrageous profit garnered from palliatives. There is little incentive to raise the bar any higher for all our sake's.
My big question is that since Zika has been endemic in Africa for decades why hasn't it caused a lot of microencephaly there? Has the virus mutated once in South America?
Possibly, and possibly such babies simply don't survive there... ...
I don't know... maybe its me, but... after 3 years (4?) of 'being very careful', we might get pretty good at it, no? I know I would. Maybe, when (if) the time ever comes that a Zika vaccine is available, people will just save the $200USD that it will cost, thanks for nothing. Talk about a day late... ... A $6.95 bottle of Avon 'Skin So Soft' is just the biscuit, and no nasty potential side effects from rushed to market invasive technology.
Go back to DDT... ... oh man... DDT is banned. Do you imagine it wasn't for a very good reason? Does the premier Capitalist entity on the planet get in the way of a corporations ability to make money for any but the most dire of reasons? You didn't read "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson I'm guessing. No. Just no. Our problem has always been that "protection from" in human terms means "elimination of". I'm secure enough in my manhood that if it means using a woman's moisturizer to allow the continued existence of mosquito's while remaining safe from them, then so be it. Finally, I am as angry as I am because many of us are not angry enough. The entities that are tasked with our collective well being are gorging themselves on the outrageous profit garnered from palliatives. There is little incentive to raise the bar any higher for all our sake's.
Yeah, I think it's just you. I mean, it takes time to develop a vaccine, but once you have it, you have it. There's a new cohort of people coming into the childbearing years every year. We used to not have polio vaccine either, so you just had to take your chances, but now we do.
If you have ACA compliant insurance, and this vaccine becomes part of the recommended schedule, your insurance will cover it for free at the point of service, regardless of whether you have met any deductibles. If you're under 18 and are uninsured or under-insured you can get vaccines from the Vaccines for Children program for free. VFC | Home | Vaccines for Children Program | CDC Here are some sources for low cost vaccines for adults: How To Get Low-Cost Vaccines for Uninsured Adults
Yes, I know DDT was banned. Why else would I have said "maybe even need to go back to DDT" . I know why it was banned which is why I said "for a while". I am not as ignorant as you presume me to be. A health emergency for people just might take precedence over wildlife.
Scott Weaver (Univ. of Texas) says its "3 to 4 years before a Zika vaccine is available to the public". There may as well not be a vaccine. Millions upon millions will have been exposed by then. The immediate response everytime a new virus or bacteria appears is to ramp up R&D on a vaccine. A vaccine that will take years to reach market. Why bother. Zika has been around since 1947. It is inexcusable that only now is there any response from Big Pharma. Whatever millions might be shunted to the pharma labs should be given instead to the people looking into reduce mosquito populations, or the makers of insect repellents. Effective mosquito repellent can be nasty stuff. If I was pregnant I wouldn't want it anywhere near my developing baby. Maybe if we gave Johnson & Johnson enough money they could come up with something less toxic, but 100% effective. Hmmm maybe we should give Toms of Maine (tm) 5 million to see what they can do
There was no reason to produce a vaccine before now because the link to microcephaly was not known. The illness it causes is otherwise benign. At least one vaccine may be ready for testing later this year
There will never be a repellent that is totally risk free and 100% effective.
DEET is safe during pregnancy, and the benefit in reducing exposure to mosquitoes and diseases they can spread justifies using it.
Mosquito control is obviously necessary, too, but not a substitute for a Zika vaccine. it could be given to women prior to childbearing age, specifically to target those at risk to have a child with microcephaly caused by the virus. We do the same thing for rubella now. Women are tested and if they are not immune to rubella they are offered the vaccine.
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