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Comment by cryptonector | Hacker News Reader

What TFA is saying is that attempting to avoid the colds and flus makes them worse. It's better to get them than not to. Is that right, wrong? Maybe you could share your thoughts on that.

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Alternatively, continued wearing of masks and observing basic hygiene - it's absurd we're politicizing WASHING YOUR HANDS or NOT GOING TO WORK WHILE BEING SYMPTOMATICALLY SICK - can also drive pathogens out of existence.

The anti-covid measures likely led to the extinction of at least one strain of human influenza [1], it is likely that this feat could be repeated. There is no need at all for the massive economic impact that flu and other transmittable diseases have - back in 2017/18 for example, the flu caused a noticeable slowdown in economic growth in Germany [2], and we all see just how badly COVID is still fucking up economies worldwide.

[1] https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/09/covid-may-have-pushe...

[2] https://www.reuters.com/article/deutschland-konjunktur-einka...

There’s no driving pathogens out of existence. Forget about that.

I literally posted an example where that worked in recent times, not to mention the historic examples of smallpox and polio (although the latter sadly still remains at like 99% due to anti-vaccine misinformation in the few areas that still have polio).

Vaccines work.

I think with the comment was saying is that we cannot eradicate a flu/covid disease by handwashing and masking. China has shown us you can control it with ruthless rules. And a more effective vaccine could do it, but there’s little precedent for a 100% effective respiratory vax.

Not COVID, because it is so highly infectious, but there is evidence that a strain of flu was eradicated because of COVID measures[1].

[1] https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/09/covid-may-have-pushe...

There is. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eradication_of_infectious_dise...

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