Wednesday, August 11, 2010

zomg we're all gonna die, part MCMLVII

Apparently, people are flying off from the NHS paradise in The Place Where Great Britain Used To Be to go get elective surgery in developing nations, and are coming back with pretty exotic bonus prizes.

What gun for superbug?

(To be fair, hospitals in even the First Worldiest of places can harbor some awfully nasty germs, since they are, by definition, chock full of sick people...)

19 comments:

Ferret said...

I guess people don't understand (and prepare accordingly) for the fact that for all the medical and high-tech industries in India, a substantial portion of its people are still living a dirt-poor third-world existence. Even in Mumbai, thousands of call center workers live in squalid shantytowns in a crescent around the airport - perfect conditions for nasty bugs to develop.

Themadlemming said...

Is it too late to strap a colander to my face and try and conquer the wastelands?

Revolver Rob said...

As the population of humans on this planet increasingly teeters on the brink of not having enough resources to provide for said population, things like this will get more common. International air travel, giant international air travel hubs and airplanes, that are not being effectively cleaned or disinfected in anyway.

It is my opinion that we have less to worry about from global warming than a genuine pandemic. One or two good pandemics could effectively eliminate 20-50% of the population within a couple of years.

However, I just don't think there is a lot we can do about it. I view it as the balancing force necessary to prevent total extinction. Of course, I view extinction as a natural phenomena and there is nothing wrong with it, nor any reason to assume humans are exempt from it. Frankly, if we all went extinct tomorrow, I wouldn't be so torn up about it...

-Rob

Revolver Rob said...

Sorry I lost my brain mid-thought, the top paragraph above should have a final sentence saying, "These things are all combining to provide the ability to create and then spread a fast acting virus."

Lewis said...

I have a vivid but possibly incorrect memory of an afterword by the author in Frank Herbert's "The White Plague" where Herbert pointed out that you could jack humanity up pretty thoroughly if you could aerosolize the bubonic plague and release it at three or four international airports.

Dixie said...

Is it too late to strap a colander to my face and try and conquer the wastelands?

Nope. You need an angry-looking fat sidekick, or is that position killed already?

Themadlemming said...

Depends. Do I have to go through the union or can I interview walk-ins?

Themadlemming said...

I should also admit that I'm not exactly petite, myself :).

nbc said...

On an annual basis, the NHS kills four times as many people than those killed in traffic related incidents on the roads.

If I had the money, I'd travel for treatment as well. Them hospitals are lethal.

Stranger said...

The waiting period for most NHS service is so long that those who can become "medical tourists."

Per the Telegraph, 16 weeks to see a "screener," followed by 16 more to see a doctor; plus up to 32 weeks to see a specialist, plus 102 weeks for surgery if warranted is typical for the "world third largest employer." If you are still alive at the end of 166 weeks.

India is the least expensive of the popular destinations, while the US is favored by the most affluent.

But you don't have to look to Europe for an example. Canadians wonder where they will get health care when ObamaCare kicks in. As we should.

And yes, those hospitals kill. And leave patients wallowing in urine and feces soaked beds.

Stranger

theirritablearchitect said...

This kinda reminds me of something I saw last night on the idiot box.

commoncents said...

Nothing too insightful but I just wanted to say I really like your blog...

Steve
common cents
http://www.commoncts.blogspot.com

Firehand said...

Got a friend who's a nurse here in OKC, says the hospital she works at has horrible hygiene problems. In large part because most of the cleaning staff nowadays is Mexican/OTM, many barely speak English and don't really give a damn about actually cleaning the rooms, including the operating theaters.

We've got that here, think what a lot of hospitals in other places may be like.

Matt G said...

The most powerful barrier to such things in a hospital, next to Universal Precautions, is proper housekeeping. From my chats with friends in the profession, that's sorely lacking. We're using people for hospital housekeeping who are basically trained to make it look good, rather than to really make it clean. In an office building, that's okay. In a hospital, ees vera vera bad.


Uh, # 1957?

rickn8or said...

"you could jack humanity up pretty thoroughly if you could aerosolize the bubonic plague and release it at three or four international airports"

Or simply cough/sneeze into your wallet regularly.

Brad K. said...

Maybe make like that song about "40 grams of kerosene". That might slow SuperBug.

But I think you miss the bigger part of the story. See, Canada is lamenting ObamaCare, because they had gotten used to sending Canadians to American doctors and hospitals for surgery and care within the lifetime of the afflicted. The waiting list at home is too long to live with.

England taught them how to make that arrangement. Notice the statistically significant number of English flocking to the Middle East for medical care. Now imagine four years from now, and Americans are flocking to Venezuela for a witch doctor that will consent to perform a heart bypass surgery - 'cause there won't be any doctors closer to home allowed to do that kind of thing without a 14 year wait, and membership in good standing with the Democratic Party. And, given our B. Hussein Obama's personal choices, will likely need to be Muslim as well.

Son of Sam Adams said...

Pardon my tinfoil, but I find it interesting that this new superbug can be caught by being treated in unapproved nations. How oddly advantageous to English doctors!

Justthisguy said...

Ohyeah, I mind the time I was in the hospital with a collapsed lung a few years back and this "volunteer" insisted on giving me a shave. I regret that I finally gave in and let him mow my chin. I think I caught a slight disease-like skin thingy-poo from his shaver.

Protip: When in hospital, just let yer facial hair grow. It doesn't matter what you look like. Antibiotics are starting not to work, anymore. Avoid occasions of potential infection!

WV: nobacci. Yep, me too. I use the nicotine gum.

KA9VSZ said...

Matt G:

Yah, I likewise got 1957. Is there some significance I am missing? Mebbe I should read the linked piece before asking. Nah...it's more fun to ask than do the research myself. :)

WV:innerc as is "it's so hot 'n humid ah'm totally innerc from fatigue. Ha! Sigh. Gonna go lie down now.