#disease vector

[medblrforlife]

Inktober 2019, day 16: “Wild”

Medical inspiration: illnesses and their vectors that we are exposed to when we are outside, ie in the wild. Spirochetes like those that cause Lyme disease (vector is tick); malaria , dengue, zika (vector is mosquito).

[lepromatosis]

Did the similar shape of “s” and “f” confuse you a bit? I’ve found this to be common in books predating the early 19th century. This is what it says:

The deviation of man from the state in which he was originally placed by Nature seems to have proved to him a prolific source of diseases. From the love of splendour, from the indulgences of luxury, and from his fondness for amusement, he has familiarised himself with a great number of animals, which may not originally have been intended for his associates. - Edward Jenner

I found this quote to be of interest because it is eerily accurate. People in the 18th century certainly had a different view on what caused disease, but I feel like this paragraph, aside form the wording, wouldn’t be out of place in a contemporary book about infectious disease.

[reclaimedkeyboard]

It’s kind of interesting how sickness can alter your idea of normalcy. I’m not talking about, like, big, life-changing ailments, just a persistent string of upper respiratory tract infections. Once you get 3 or 4 of them lined up back-to-back, that just sort of becomes your baseline. You get used to a life where you can’t breathe through your nose, or constantly gag on post-nasal drip. Eventually, you don’t even miss being healthy anymore.

Other people don’t feel that way though.

The effect that a single sick toddler can exert on any number of healthy, child-naive adults is swift and terrible. It is disease on another level. You can tell yourself that you have a good immune system, that you “never get sick,” but you’re deluding yourself. You’re not ready for the big leagues. Frankly, if you aren’t taking turns licking the foot pedal of a trash can in a room where a dozen babies get their diapers changed, you aren’t even showing up to practice.

[reclaimedkeyboard]

I am not usually a heavy sleeper. Moreover, toddlers are not usually terribly stealthy. But when this kid gets it in his head that he’s gotta come get me, I almost never wake up before he’s 3 inches from my face whispering “Dadaaaaaa…” We’re partly to blame here; we’ve tried to really drive home how important it is to be quiet at night because his sister is sleeping. Most of the time he just gently wakes me up and asks me to come lie down with him for a bit. Sometimes though, he engages in tactical night pranks.

Additionally, and this is probably related, we’re sick. All four of us, and maybe also our dog, got Covid a few weeks ago. We finally started testing negative after 14 days, but we keep getting tagged by other diseases that are having something of a renaissance at daycare. Fortunately, everyone seems to be limping along alright. Boogery and bedraggled, but otherwise intact.

Oh, I killed another laptop. I’m not sure what the technical term for what happened is, but the hand-me-down laptop my father-in-law gave me asked to restart for an update, and then just lost the operating system. Can’t find it; windows left; must’ve had something else it needed to do. The hard drive is shot as near as I can tell. When I load up Windows 10 install media to try and do a repair, it says there just isn’t a hard drive. I was able to get to C:\ using command line, but the only directory left on the whole drive is my Neil Cicierega mashup albums. 

Which, obviously, means it is perfect and that the computer is perfect and there’s nothing anyone can or should try to do to improve it. Set us on fire and send us to Valhalla—we’ve peaked.

[ms-hells-bells]

Prepare to be disturbed. I don't usually wash my hands after using the bathroom.

say it off anon, you fucking coward, let us shame you, you fucking petri dish.

[metabotulism]

[newsierising]

Rare Tick Found In NJ An 'Emerging Threat,' CDC Says In New Study

The CDC this week released a report on the tick species that has been confirmed in 7 New Jersey counties.