Editing 51: Malaria
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | This was the forty-nineth comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]]. The previous one was [[54: Science]], and the next one was [[52: Secret Worlds]]. It was among the [[:Category:Posted on LiveJournal after xkcd.com|last eleven comics]] posted both on LiveJournal and on [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] after the new site was launched. This comic wasn't published on the same day across both sites, but most of them shared the same posting day. It was released on LiveJournal on January 21, 2006, three days after originally being posted on [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com]. See the [[#Trivia| | + | This was the forty-nineth comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]]. The previous one was [[54: Science]], and the next one was [[52: Secret Worlds]]. It was among the [[:Category:Posted on LiveJournal after xkcd.com|last eleven comics]] posted both on LiveJournal and on [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] after the new site was launched. This comic wasn't published on the same day across both sites, but most of them shared the same posting day. It was released on LiveJournal on January 21, 2006, three days after originally being posted on [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com]. See the [[#Trivia|triva section]] below. |
− | This comic humorously considers {{w|pox parties}} as a means of preventing malaria. | + | This comic humorously considers {{w|pox parties}} as a means of preventing malaria. In these "parties", adults bring their children to deliberately expose them to a communicable disease to promote {{w|Immunity (medical)|immunity}}. This is commonly done for a childhood disease like {{w|chickenpox}} and {{w|measles}} instead of vaccination. In this comic, we see four [[Cueball]]-like children in party hats with a balloon lying on the ground, suggesting a missing "celebrant." |
− | + | Some illnesses are more serious for adults than children. For example, chickenpox is far less severe contracted as a child than as an adult, the latter sometimes ending in sterility, brain damage, or worse. (Note that {{w|shingles}} is not adult-onset chickenpox, but a condition occasionally developed by older people who previously had chickenpox.) Having caught chickenpox once, a person's {{w|immune system}} has developed {{w|antibodies}}, reducing vulnerability to the virus. The antibodies create immunity for a significant period of time, possibly life. However, immunity through antibody creation is not usually an effective strategy against malaria. Contrarily, once one has suffered from malaria, it can recur on its own, even after apparent healing from symptoms. Thus, having a malaria party would not be a useful exercise, as many could suffer significant illness and die. | |
− | + | The title text blames [[David]] for the idea, while the original caption just seems to give him credit. He also mentioned David in [[42: Geico]] and [[100: Family Circus]]. | |
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− | + | ===Malaria=== | |
+ | {{w|Malaria}} is a {{w|Mosquito-borne disease}} of humans and other animals caused by {{w|protists}} (a type of microorganism) of the genus ''{{w|Plasmodium}}''. It begins with a bite from an infected female {{w|mosquito}}, which introduces the protists via its saliva into the circulatory system, and ultimately to the liver where they mature and reproduce. The disease causes symptoms that typically include fever and headache, which in severe cases can progress to coma or death. | ||
− | + | It takes approximately seven days for ''Plasmodium'' parasites to travel from the mid-gut of their mosquito vector to the salivary glands after being ingested. This means that the malaria party would have to go on for at least a week to facilitate the transmission of malaria between party-goers. An additional source of potential humor in this comic is the dramatic irony that the party-goers did not know that their plan would be ineffective for transmitting malaria between them, and was 'not very much fun' as a result. | |
===Vaccination=== | ===Vaccination=== | ||
− | At the end of the 1990s, a study reported what would turn out to be made-up health threats from MMR-{{rw|vaccines}}, which created an {{w|MMR vaccine controversy}} and lower vaccination rates, even after they were exposed as false. This made {{w|pox parties}} more popular as the "natural alternative." However, even usually-"harmless" diseases like {{w|measles}} can (rarely) have complications and side-effects, up to and including death, which are by far more common and/or more severe than the actual health risks involved in vaccination. In the past 20 years, 2 Americans died from measles, both people with compromised immune systems. Also none, or late immunization, may create an immunization gap through which nearly extinct diseases can reenter a population (see e.g. {{w|Epidemiology of measles}}). If this gap can be closed (or made small enough), it is possible to make a disease extinct. This was actually successfully done with {{w|smallpox}}, and is now attempted with the {{w|poliovirus}} (Causing {{w|poliomyelitis}}, also known as infantile paralysis) | + | At the end of the 1990s, a study reported what would turn out to be made-up health threats from MMR-{{rw|vaccines}}, which created an {{w|MMR vaccine controversy}} and lower vaccination rates, even after they were exposed as false. This made {{w|pox parties}} more popular as the "natural alternative." However, even usually-"harmless" diseases like {{w|measles}} can (rarely) have complications and side-effects, up to and including death, which are by far more common and/or more severe than the actual health risks involved in vaccination. In the past 20 years, 2 Americans died from measles, both people with compromised immune systems. Also none, or late immunization, may create an immunization gap through which nearly extinct diseases can reenter a population (see e.g. {{w|Epidemiology of measles}}). If this gap can be closed (or made small enough), it is possible to make a disease extinct. This was actually successfully done with {{w|smallpox}}, and is now attempted with the {{w|poliovirus}} (Causing {{w|poliomyelitis}}, also known as infantile paralysis). |
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
:[Four Cueball-like children wearing party hats, a discarded balloon is lying to the right. There is text above:] | :[Four Cueball-like children wearing party hats, a discarded balloon is lying to the right. There is text above:] | ||
− | : | + | :We had a malaria party |
:[And there is text below:] | :[And there is text below:] | ||
:but it turned out not to be very much fun. | :but it turned out not to be very much fun. |