Infection Connection: Double Shot!

This isn’t about any particular bacteria, virus, or other wee beastie. This is a review of two books concerning infectious disease, one fiction and one non-fiction. (By the way, I’m up to 50 books read this year. My goal is within sight!)

First is one I’ve been wanting to read for some time, The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear, by Seth Mnookin. Of all the articles and a few books I’ve read about the anti-vaccine movement, this reigns supreme. Mnookin does an incredible job of discussing the devastation of infectious disease, the development of inoculation/vaccination, and how the anti-vaccine movement began and took hold.

He also masterfully skewers the arguments put forth by the anti-vax crowd, although I would agree with him that they aren’t just anti-vax; they are anti-science. It is inexcusable for anyone to simply ignore the facts of the high rate of efficacy and low rate of complications of vaccines, not when children’s health and public health are at stake. One of the rationales for some is that there is so little exposure to these infections that they aren’t worried about their child getting it. Do you know why there is so little exposure? Because vaccines have been so successful! It is simply not acceptable to say, “I know, because I have mommy-instincts.” Science simply does not work that way. My great-uncle Sid died in his early twenties of diphtheria. People have forgotten that these infections can and do kill people.

Mnookin gives plenty of space to Andrew Wakefield, the unethical, sorry excuse for both a doctor and human being who started this whole ridiculous mess with his flawed and unscientific paper published in the British medical journal Lancet. The paper has since been withdrawn, and Wakefield lost his license to practice medicine in England. His studies were horrible, including contamination from control strains of the measles virus, and not including positive and negative controls in each experiment. Anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of laboratory tests knows that in order to confirm your results, you must have known positives and negatives included to show that your assay is working properly.

Mnookin also provides much criticism to the media, who gave this story legs despite all evidence to the contrary. It’s a good thing for journalism to be fair and balanced, but sometimes, the other side of the argument does not bear up under proper examination; such false and harmful misinformation should not deserve equal treatment. There are two sides to every story, and sometimes one side is simply wrong.

A fantastic book, and one of my new favorites. Anyone who is sitting on the fence or has doubts about immunizations should read this. Anyone (like me) who believes that vaccines save lives should also read it, in order to bolster your arguments if you’re ever in the situation where you want to debate the subject with someone who really doesn’t get it.

Next is Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague by Geraldine Brooks. Although a fictional book, it is based on the real village of Eyam in Derbyshire, which voluntarily quarantined itself during the Black Plague of 1665-66. Brooks puts a human face on sterile statistics; it’s one thing to know that Europe possibly lost one-half to two-thirds of its population, or that bubonic plague has a 40-90% mortality rate if untreated. It’s quite another to read about Anna Frith, a housemaid who must face the death of loved ones and see her rural village felled by the Plague.

Anna is a likable character, compelled to learn, and she is strengthened by her trials. The same can’t be said for many of her fellow villagers, who at times descend into irrational fear and murderous ways. The sadness that Anna had to deal with brought tears to my eyes several times throughout the book. The horrors of the deaths and losses, her triumphs and the failures of others, shows how devastating such a pandemic would be upon even our modern-day world. Although our medical knowledge and support is substantially greater now, the stress placed upon our infrastructure and society would still be devastating. People haven’t changed so much in four hundred years or so to think that there wouldn’t be blame to be laid upon others, certain ethnic groups or religious sects forced to be the scapegoat.

This book reminded me very much of Katherine Anne Porter’s Pale Horse, Pale Rider. Although Porter’s novella dealt with the 1918 influenza pandemic, the psychological and social strain of such a devastating and lethal pandemic is the same. The horrors of such widespread disease and panic is brought to life in both books.

Those who would condemn vaccinations would be wise to read both of these books and learn more about just how bad infectious disease can be.

Book review

And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.

~~Revelation 6:8

I read Pale Horse, Pale Rider by Katherine Anne Porter today. Wow. That has to be one of the most chilling and tragic tales I've read in some time. (If you have any desire to read it, you should skip this entry, because it's a synopsis of the whole thing.)

It's 1918, and Miranda is a young lady working as a newspaper reporter. As the story opens, she is having a bad dream, which turns out to be foreshadowing. In the dream, she is riding a horse, and she is accompanied by another rider on a gray horse.

The stranger swung into his saddle beside her, leaned far towards her and regarded her without meaning, the blank still stare of mindless malice that makes no threats and can bide its time.

She meets a young soldier named Adam, and during the course of his leave they become close and begin to fall in love. The influenza outbreak is alluded to early on, but it is not dwelt on; the bigger issue of the story is the War, and Miranda and Adam's knowledge that he will soon be shipped out. This novella is as much an anti-war treatise as a tale of the influenza pandemic. Adam feels it is his duty, and has no qualms about going; Miranda is sick of the war. After attending a play and being subjected to another "Buy War Bonds" lecture, they leave the theater and discuss the lecture and the man who gave it.

"Just another nasty old man who would like to see the young ones killed," said Miranda in a low voice; "the tomcats try to eat the little tomkittens, you know. They don't fool you really, do they, Adam?"

Adam brushes it off, but Miranda continues:

"Adam, the worst of war is the fear and suspicion and the awful expression in all the eyes you meet...as if they had pulled down the shutters over their minds and their hearts and were peering out at you, ready to leap if you make one gesture or say one word they do not understand instantly. It frightens me; I live in fear too, and no one should have to live in fear. It's the skulking about, and the lying. It's what war does to the mind and the heart, Adam, and you can't separate these two--what it does to them is worse than what it can do to the body."

As they continue to grow closer, Miranda begins to feel the symptoms of influenza. Her landlady threatens to throw her out, telling Adam that "it's a plague, a plague, my God, and I've got a houseful of people to think about!" Adam assures her that he will take care of Miranda, and to keep out. He tells Miranda that the landlady can't throw her out, and when Miranda asks if it's really that bad, Adam says:

"It's as bad as anything can be...all the theaters and nearly all the shops and restaurants are closed, and the streets have been full of funerals all day and ambulances all night..."

While Adam is out to get more supplies, a doctor comes at the request of Miranda's boss at the paper, and she is taken to the hospital, where they eventually find a bed for her. Adam tries to see her, but they don't allow him into her room. As she descends into near death, her hallucinations and fever dreams become increasingly real, but she eventually begins to fight off the infection. As she begins to regain her senses, she realizes that she has narrowly escaped death, and feels that she doesn't quite belong in the world of the living. She finds out that while she was struggling for life, the war had ended. As she begins to look through the letters that accumulated during her hospital stay, she comes across a letter from a soldier at the base where Adam was stationed. He writes to her that Adam asked him to let her know if anything happened to him, and goes on to write that Adam perished of influenza in the camp hospital, over a month before.

I found this tragic on two levels: not only was Adam taken from her, after he'd tried to save her, but while he was so stoic about going off to war, he was felled by a virus before he got near the battlefield. As Miranda leaves the hospital, the book concludes:

No more war, no more plague, only the dazed silence that follows the ceasing of the heavy guns; noiseless houses with the shades drawn, empty streets, the dead cold light of tomorrow. Now there would be time for everything.

Bleak, yes. But some damn fine writing.

Midweek Miscellany

Finally a chance to write! And I haven't even started reading blogs yet....

First of all, the blackened tuna turned out great, and the mango salsa went very well with it. I'm not sure I'd make the mango salsa every time, but the tuna was spicy enough that the sweet made a good partner. I will definitely make the blackened tuna again--it was quite easy, and a nice blend of spices. Oh, and I got a dozen roses, too. Isn't that sweet?

Fellow blogger Laurel and I exchanged a couple of emails about the Packard Predictor. I don't know if you've read Laurel's blog, but she runs a restored gas station on Route 66 in Afton, Oklahoma, and has several Packards on display. I love hearing her stories about the "Roadies" that come through! Anyhoo, she mentioned that she'd love to have the Predictor in her collection, but since it's the only one, that might be kind of difficult. I was surprised, because while I knew it was a concept car rather than a production car, I thought they'd made at least 2 or 3 of them. I emailed my contact at the Museum, and she forwarded my email on to the archivist, Andy. He wrote me back right away, and said that yes, the '56 Predictor is indeed the only one ever made. How cool is that? It's in such beautiful shape, too. Looks like Laurel and I love our "rarities!"

Today was errand-running day, because the snow is supposed to fly tomorrow, and it sounds like it could be a doozy. First stop was our library branch, where my book was in (I had it transferred from the main branch to our local branch--what a great service!). Remember when I wrote about the 1918 influenza pandemic? While I was researching, I came across the title of a book by Katherine Anne Porter: Pale Horse, Pale Rider. It's a fictional account of a girl who falls in love with a young man ready to go off to war, and it is set during the outbreak. I knew it was a must-read! It's actually a novella, so I should be able to knock that out pretty quick. I'll let you know what I think of it. While I was at the library, I heard someone go, "Pssst!" I looked up and it was Aubrey from the lab! It was great to see her, and she had some wonderful news--she bought a house! I'm thrilled for her. We had a nice chat and got caught up on a few things.

Let's see...then it was a stop at Circuit City. They just opened this one by us last year, and they're already closing it! CC is in a fix financially, and they're closing several stores. What a drag that they're closing this one. Everything is on sale right now, but it's odd how the prices seem higher than they were before...! Hmm, interesting! I've been wanting to get a car adapter for my MP3 player for a while now, and I did find one for a pretty good price. That will come in handy when we drive to Missouri for Thanksgiving. I also picked up the new Pretenders CD, "Break Up The Concrete." Chrissie Hynde rocks!

A quick stop at PetSmart for some Enchant-a-Cat litter (it's really Exquisicat, but I like Enchant-a-Cat better, so I call it that), and a peek at all the kitties. Awww, they are so cute! There were a couple that looked just like Sheeba, and I wish I could bring all of them home with me! But Sheeba wouldn't be happy with me, and I also don't want to be known as the Crazy Cat Lady of Nutwood.

Then on to Target, where I got a few more presents for Ken, so I think I'm done with his Christmas shopping. A couple of house things, and I treated myself to another CD. Cousin Shane wrote to me the other day about how he bought some new CD's recently, because of the band names. We used to do that once in a while--if we were intrigued by a band name, we'd get the CD despite never hearing anything by them before. One of the ones he got was by a band called The Wombats, I believe. Ha ha! I haven't done that for a while, and I think the last one might have been The Ass Ponys (and I ended up liking their music quite a bit). I did it today with a band called The Ting Tings. I can hardly wait to listen and see if I like it or not! Isn't that a fun name for a band?

Finally, off to the grocery store. (I got this monster head of cauliflower on sale--the thing is huge!) I was happy to get home and get everything unloaded. We're well-stocked, so groceries won't be a problem. I'm off to do some reading now, books and blogs, but I also want to get my new CD's on the MP3 player. That actually might have to wait until tomorrow. Hope you all had a good day!

My plan is to write about something more substantive tomorrow. I haven't figured out exactly what, but I will!