{"id":8984,"date":"2020-03-26T14:24:32","date_gmt":"2020-03-26T14:24:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=8984"},"modified":"2021-04-03T02:19:12","modified_gmt":"2021-04-03T02:19:12","slug":"meditations-on-the-new-plague","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=8984","title":{"rendered":"Meditations on “the new plague…”"},"content":{"rendered":"

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“Their headgear was particularly unusual” – and the plague-rod\u00a0helped “fend off victims…”<\/em><\/p>\n

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* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

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Last March 12, I went to the local library and checked out a copy of\u00a0The Plague<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>by\u00a0Albert Camus<\/a>. (In light our new\u00a0Coronavirus pandemic<\/a>.)<\/em>\u00a0 Which book, incidentally, I cannot now return, because that library and all others in the area are closed. (Possibly “for the duration<\/a><\/strong>.” See below right.)<\/em><\/p>\n

At the same time I checked out a copy of\u00a0What Jesus Meant<\/a>, by\u00a0Garry Wills<\/a>, for a bit more uplifting<\/em> <\/strong>reading. And I also started researching more on this “plague” business.<\/p>\n

One thing I learned was that\u00a0the Coronavirus is not – strictly speaking – a “plague\"Roseduration.jpg\"<\/a>.” According to\u00a0Wikipedia<\/a>, that term is restricted to the “infectious disease<\/a>\u00a0caused by the\u00a0bacterium<\/a>\u00a0Yersinia pestis<\/a>.” <\/i>(Symptoms for that version generally included\u00a0fever<\/a>, weakness and\u00a0headache<\/a>, similar to the Coronavirus.) <\/em>But the most familiar form is\u00a0bubonic plague<\/a>, which was one of three<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0types of this plague:<\/p>\n

Bubonic and septicemic plague are generally spread by\u00a0flea<\/a>\u00a0bites or handling an infected animal.\u00a0The pneumonitic form is generally spread between people\u00a0through the air<\/a>\u00a0via infectious droplets.\u00a0Diagnosis is typically by finding the bacterium in fluid from a lymph node, blood or\u00a0sputum<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"LaThe good news: There is now both vaccine and valid treatment for the plague of in Camus’ novel, at left. (Like “antibiotics<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0supportive care<\/a>.” With which the risk of death through treatment is “about 10% while without it is about 70%.”) <\/em>Not so with Coronavirus.<\/p>\n

Not yet anyway… (And “La Peste” is French for “The Plague.”)<\/em><\/p>\n

I also learned the difference between epidemic and a pandemic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The web article\u00a0Difference between epidemic and a pandemic<\/a>\u00a0went into great detail on distinctions between the terms, a distinction “often blurred, even among epidemiologists:”<\/p>\n

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