The hottest Pandemics Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top Health & Wellness Topics

The Prophets: D.A. Henderson

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 3125 implied HN points • 16 Mar 24
🏥 Health Politics Global Health Public Health Pandemics Lockdowns Epidemiology
  1. D.A. Henderson, an epidemiologist, warned that pandemic lockdowns may not effectively stop a disease but could lead to severe public health consequences.
  2. Lockdowns during the pandemic caused disruptions in education, social development, mental health issues, domestic violence, and overdose deaths, highlighting the broader impacts of such measures.
  3. Public health should focus on not just stopping a disease but also consider the broader health of society, including targeted protection for the ill and medically vulnerable, to avoid harmful consequences of overreaction like societal shutdowns.

Disease X - Turns Out Death Is Profitable

AND Magazine • 1061 implied HN points • 15 Jan 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Pandemics Prevention Research Pharmaceuticals
  1. Lab leaks and mishaps involving dangerous viruses are increasing worldwide post COVID-19 pandemic.
  2. Scientists are creating highly lethal viruses through experiments, raising concerns about potential future pandemics.
  3. There is a focus on preparing for 'Disease X' which may lead to profit-making opportunities and increased restrictions.

We're making diseases more dangerous and they're escaping from labs. But don't worry, it's all for your health & safety.

Break Free with Karen Hunt • 727 implied HN points • 28 Jan 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Diseases Research Pandemics
  1. Mankind is making diseases more dangerous through gain-of-function research, which poses significant risks.
  2. Despite extensive history of studying viruses, humanity has a low success rate in eradicating diseases.
  3. The proliferation of Bio Security Level 4 labs globally and the risks associated with lab accidents highlight the dangers and lack of stringent safety protocols.

Disease X, COVID-19, and Bio-Hacking the Next Pandemic

Break Free with Karen Hunt • 786 implied HN points • 19 Jan 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Genetic Engineering Biohacking Pandemics Vaccines
  1. The next pandemic, called Disease X, could be 20 times deadlier than COVID-19, according to the World Health Organization.
  2. CRISPR technology allows genetic modification, potentially leading to both positive advancements like cures for diseases and dangerous consequences like bioterrorism.
  3. Biohacking is becoming more accessible, with kits available for modifying DNA at home, raising ethical questions about self-experimentation and genetic engineering.
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Old pandemics: Yellow Fever in Buenos Aires

BowTiedMara - Geoarbitrage & Mobility Assets • 137 implied HN points • 14 Feb 23
💾 History Pandemics Hygiene Immigration
  1. The yellow fever pandemic in Buenos Aires in 1871 was devastating, with a high death toll of about 11-15% of the city's population.
  2. Hygiene standards in Buenos Aires in the 1870s were lacking, leading to ideal breeding grounds for disease-carrying mosquitoes.
  3. The Chacarita Cemetery in Buenos Aires, a result of the yellow fever pandemic, is a hidden gem with historical significance and famous burials.

Black swans and Covid-19

Joshua Gans' Newsletter • 19 implied HN points • 10 Mar 21
🔬 Science Pandemics Risk Assessment Infectious Diseases Vaccines Global impact
  1. Covid-19 was not truly a black swan event despite its extreme consequences, as a global pandemic was predictable based on historical precedent and scientific consensus.
  2. Several unexpected positive outcomes emerged during the pandemic, such as minimal surface transmission, limited spread outdoors, and the rapid development of effective vaccines.
  3. The pandemic's string of good luck should serve as a reminder of the unpredictability and potential severity of future global infectious disease events, urging caution and preparedness.

Review of Michael Lewis's Premonition

Joshua Gans' Newsletter • 0 implied HN points • 09 May 21
🏥 Health & Wellness Pandemics Public Health Policy Making Social Distancing
  1. Social distancing as a pandemic control measure has only been accepted for about 15 years by epidemiologists and public health experts.
  2. Understanding first-order effects is crucial in formulating policies and responses, as they present fundamental insights that apply universally.
  3. The resistance to social distancing as a policy option before 2006 highlights the importance of prioritizing logical reasoning over data-driven decision making in certain cases.

How much would a vax tax be?

Joshua Gans' Newsletter • 0 implied HN points • 31 Jan 22
🏥 Health & Wellness Vaccination Economics Public Health Pandemics Taxation
  1. Economists support the idea of implementing a tax on the unvaccinated as it aligns with basic economic logic and can improve overall welfare by making individual choices reflect their social consequences.
  2. The level of a vaccine tax on unvaccinated adults might vary depending on factors like vaccine efficacy, infectiousness of Covid-19 variants, and the health costs imposed on others. The suggested tax could be around $1,500 per annum for Canadian adults without three doses of the vaccine.
  3. The purpose of the proposed tax is not necessarily to increase vaccination rates, but rather to ensure that those who impose costs on others through being unvaccinated are the ones paying for these costs, thus internalizing the harm caused to others.

We need to plan for the worst

Joshua Gans' Newsletter • 0 implied HN points • 15 Feb 21
🏥 Health & Wellness Pandemics Immunity Treatment Public Health
  1. We need to plan for long-term strategies for managing Covid-19 as an endemic disease, considering the possibility that it might never fully go away.
  2. The ongoing mutations in the virus pose a challenge to achieving widespread immunity and point out the importance of developing effective treatments alongside vaccines.
  3. A diplomatic approach is needed in dealing with Covid-19, focusing on finding treatments that can make the disease more manageable in the long run, rather than relying solely on vaccine strategies.

Why R tends towards 1

Joshua Gans' Newsletter • 0 implied HN points • 12 Aug 20
🏥 Health & Wellness Epidemiology Human behavior Public Health Pandemics Immunity
  1. People's behavior plays a significant role in determining how a pandemic like Covid-19 progresses, even more than epidemiological models predict.
  2. Understanding the concept of R0, the basic reproduction number, helps in identifying peak infection points and herd immunity thresholds.
  3. Human behavior can cause fluctuations in the effective reproduction rate of a virus, ultimately leading to an equilibrium point where the virus becomes stable and endemic.

Assigning blame for Covid

Joshua Gans' Newsletter • 0 implied HN points • 06 Aug 20
🏥 Health & Wellness Pandemics
  1. Blaming others during the Covid crisis is natural, but it's more important to evaluate decisions and focus on improving institutions for future pandemics.
  2. During outbreaks, the handling and reporting of information are crucial for effective response; in past pandemics, issues with information dissemination caused delays and panic.
  3. The blame game can have long-lasting consequences and it's essential to set the right incentives for future situations, even if identifying responsibility for the initial Covid-19 response may take years.

Dealing with the next pandemic

Joshua Gans' Newsletter • 0 implied HN points • 19 Feb 21
🏥 Health & Wellness Pandemics Vaccination Surveillance Prevention Disease Control
  1. Understanding the connection between bats and viruses is crucial for preventing future pandemics.
  2. Focusing on early identification of human-to-human transmission is key to mitigating the health and economic impacts of pandemics.
  3. Developing a global surveillance system to monitor antibodies to various viruses can provide real-time information to detect and respond to outbreaks.