Epidemics and Pandemics Coming to Your Doorstep

Ever wonder what if, there would be an outbreak of a dreaded disease in the area that you now live, what would YOU do? Would you stay and take care of your family, escape to a secluded place or hunker down and start isolation. Just what would YOU do?

The viruses are constantly changing in their form and the genetic make-up to make the virus increasingly more able to sustain existence. Some of the viruses that were weak in the past have changed to become more transmittable, dangerous and virulent. Scientists have even modified and genetically transformed some viruses into military weapons and Dooms-day ethnic-cleansing machines.

Each day, there are television reports and newspaper articles about new forms of bacteria, viruses and other types of diseases. Each day, we become less concerned about anything happening with our world, but believe that we are totally engulfed in our protective dome. When will the reality become part of the thinking of humans to think about the dangers and take action before the pandemics hit home?

Have the people of the world become so caught up in the beliefs that the governments are the cure-all, the universal remedy and the medicine for all that ails or destroys life. Look at what has happened around the world, whether it is an earthquake, a hurricane or an outbreak of a disease. Who prevents this from happening? Things happen and there are those who try to make life better after the event or try to warn people before the event.

This now reflects whether it is wise to communicate the pandemic, as to warn people to the possibilities and how to prevent catching the disease or to let the pandemic take the course that it is directed. Panic can cause more devastation than that of the actual disease.

HOW CLEAN IS CLEAN?

To have your hands washed and clean is what the officials recommend to shield against catching a virus or bacteria, but is this enough? Just how can germs, viruses and bacteria spread from one person or animal to another? To have these questions answered, the agent or disease causing instrument must be identified and gain knowledge about its existence.

Some diseases are transmitted in the air, the water, direct contact, bodily fluids, through the mouth, through cuts and abrasions, through blood transfusions, through food and still there are other ways that diseases might be transmitted. So with so many different ways of transmissions, the diseases, if the agent is able to use the media, can cause a pandemic with little or no effort.

Everyone has to eat, drink and excrete waste, each being a way that the disease can be transmitted and spread to the other people in the population. Restaurants, diners and fast food establishments serve food, sometimes 24 hours a day, constantly being a direct source for possible bacterial, viral and fungal outbreaks. Most of the businesses have strict rules about washing hands, certain foods and equipment.

Food is handled by numerous people, machines and may also come in contact with animal or waste by-products. Crops may also be sprayed with sewage or untreated waste that contains pathogenic bacteria and viruses. Some cows and pond fed fish are fed with chicken manure, animal by-products and manufacturing waste. The raw sewage that each city produces should be treated, made inert and pathogens should be neutralized before discharging into the rivers, lakes and streams, but often, though mechanical failure, human error or environmental override, the stringent protocol might not be held to that standard, releasing pathogens and harmful agents into the drinking water.

How might a pathogen be transferred from one person to another? Being that contaminated food and water might be the obvious and direct way, how might this be the culprit? First, dirty hands that handle food and beverage could be the understandable method. There are many that do not wash before handling food, do not wear gloves while handling food and those who “taste” or “sample” the foods that they prepare using the same eating utensil. The majority of the people do not wash their hands after going to the restroom, handling money or doing garbage chores.

In a restaurant setting, many different ways of transmission of viruses, pathogens or agents can be cause for concern. What seems to be one of the biggest problems is cleanliness, but there are other problems also. As one walks into the restaurant, the hostess welcomes you and leads you to be seated. Once there, she hands you a “menu”. Just think how many hands have touched this menu, how many people have just come from the restroom, how many have sneezed or coughed on the menu and how many have blown their noses near it. Now comes the glasses, cups and dishes. Think about how many dirty dishes this person that is delivering them has come in contact with, how many dirty napkins, how many saliva covered utensils this person has handled, then you might think just how fast an outbreak might happen.

The same reasoning is given with almost all viruses, bacteria and agents, which is, “the bodily fluids are contagious”. What do you not see in a café or restaurant? Most people are not aware of how germs, bacteria and viruses spread and multiply. How many times have you seen someone coughed, spit or blow their noses into a napkin at the dinner table? How many restaurants use disinfectants on the tables, chairs and menus? Does the same person who services the tables also take credit cards, receive money or gather trash? In a buffet setting, do the customers handle the same utensil to get food out of the buffet serving dishes? Do the people who refill the glasses or cups touch the rims with the carafe or pitcher? Do the same people who gather the trash and dishes off the table touch edible food and beverages? Do the vegetables get washed before serving? The next time arriving at any food establishment, check to see how the employees behave, how clean the environment is and if any conduct is out of what you would consider safe practices.

BODILY FLUIDS

Ok, what are bodily fluids? Bodily fluids include sweat, saliva, mucus discharge, urine, tears, blood, fecal matter and any other bodily material relating to the infection, including boils, blisters and discharges from the body. If the agent, bacteria or virus becomes viral, any sneeze, cough or expulsion could become a transmittable and deadly killer.

Each part of life, especially with the advancement of jet-age travel, medical centers with numerous blood tests, solid and liquid waste collections, crowded schools and institutions and major sporting events would make the transmission of any airborne a major concern for any city, town, state or country.

Each part of society and the economy would suffer immensely if any parts would have an outbreak of a major dimension. Isolation, seclusion and quarantined people would create panic, creating civilian unrest, major food shortages, military intervention, internment camps, government camps and job abandonment. Any media or object of any kind, including food and money would be ghastly and a death notice, so commercial activities would slowly bring to a standstill.

HELP ON THE WAY

You have heard it over and over, “do not panic, there will be help on the way”. The world has heard these words over and over, only to sometimes waiting weeks for assistance to arrive. But what would happen if an epidemic actually overtook the area, what would happen then? Would the first responders, the nurses, the doctors, the emergency medical service personnel and the healthcare workers still show up for work? Would the workforce for retail, automotive, industrial and food production come to a standstill because of threats, fright and panic?

Will the government services still be available or overwhelmed by the crises that multiply each and every day and with compound problems? With any apparent crisis, panic sometimes becomes more of a problem than the actual pandemic, so the government authorities will try to calm the public’s fears by propaganda, half-truths and misinformation. When looking for the truth about the actual bacteria, virus or agent, the answer may be distorted and vague. Can the public trust the government officials to state the truth and not distort the facts?

“Help on the way” has been told numerous times in times of catastrophic events, disasters and wars, but assistance and support comes slowly, if at all.