Trumpled (Alternative Leading)

[LP]

A Huffinton Post article debunks the theory that larvicide caused the birth defects in Brazil, including a counter to the argument that other nations affected by the Zika virus hadn't experienced an increase in the incidence of microcephaly: http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/z...=australia.

The real problems are that the panic induced by poorly associating the larvicide with microcephaly actually increases the risk of all mosquito carried disease not just Zika.

If you want to read some valuable insights, rather than Weeties packet opinion columnists that earn a living from hits, go to a site like The Conversation

Now we have Womens Rights group using Zika as cover to argue the right to abortion, not that I am against this but at least the feminists should man up and step out from under the covers!

If you want to be critical there are just as many holes in the in the Huffington Post arguments including clangers about;
- Outbreak is only months old, but Zika has been around since the 1940s.
- Abortions from anomalies in ultrasound detections, but not in utero microcephaly detections which is apparently like winning tattslotto!

[madbluboy]

Now we have Womens Rights group using Zika as cover to argue the right to abortion

You're on fire today, first Roughead's cancer scars and now "feminist's" rights.

[LP]

You're on fire today, first Roughead's cancer scars and now "feminist's" rights.

Roughead's cancer scars, wtf are you talking about?

I've heard rumors Roughheads massive chin arrives at venues by forklift 5 minutes before the rest of him does!

[madbluboy]

Roughead's cancer scars, wtf are you talking about?

I've heard rumors Roughheads massive chin arrives at venues by forklift 5 minutes before the rest of him does!

Nice try.

[LP]

Nice try.

You're a very sad individual, no wonder your avatar is so angry.

Your post is a perfect example of someone taking an unfortunate situation and applying it to an unrelated matter for personal motives. Just like the feminist think tanks demanding that abortion be legalized in Zika affected areas. Do they really have to associate their cause with a human tragedy just to win a political/religious argument, do you really have to associate your posts with Roughead's serious health situation to make your point?

You've lost the support of most people before you started!

Even the Dawks market his chin!

[Mav]

Seems you've been learning from the NRA.  Any time there's a mass shooting, you can rely on the NRA to protest that "this isn't the time to make political comments regarding gun control".  WTF?  It's EXACTLY the time to make those points, as Obama has stated every time he has called for action in the wake of recent shootings.

Concerning Zika, it is EXACTLY the time to be calling for a reconsideration of reproductive rights.  These are countries in which even contraception is discouraged or banned. The pro-lifers would prefer to rail against abortions performed merely to save 'promiscuous women' from taking reponsibility for their sexual activities.  But what about married women who have been faithful to their husbands and who face devastation merely because they were bitten by a mosquito?  The Catholic Church and the mostly male politicians are happy to force women, often poor women, to run the risk of giving birth to babies with severe birth defects.  You can bet your bottom dollar they'll do bugger all to help them financially if that fate befalls them.

[LP]

Seems you've been learning from the NRA.  Any time there's a mass shooting, you can rely on the NRA to protest that "this isn't the time to make political comments regarding gun control".  WTF?  It's EXACTLY the time to make those points, as Obama has stated every time he has called for action in the wake of recent shootings.

Concerning Zika, it is EXACTLY the time to be calling for a reconsideration of reproductive rights.  These are countries in which even contraception is discouraged or banned. The pro-lifers would prefer to rail against abortions performed merely to save 'promiscuous women' from taking reponsibility for their sexual activities.  But what about married women who have been faithful to their husbands and who face devastation merely because they were bitten by a mosquito?  The Catholic Church and the mostly male politicians are happy to force women, often poor women, to run the risk of giving birth to babies with severe birth defects.  You can bet your bottom dollar they'll do bugger all to help them financially if that fate befalls them.

I'm not religious but I doubt you can claim that the various Churches do bugger all financially to help people in those countries. The stance you take is certainly an NRA style claim like, "The police don't help so you'd better get a gun!"

---

The belief that Zika might cause microcephaly is largely based on a recent spike in reported numbers of cases in Brazil. The virus has been detected in the amniotic fluid of pregnant women with microcephalic babies. There is also an apparent increase in the severity of microcephaly (smaller head sizes) in Brazil.

However, estimates of microcephaly cases in Brazil are in the process of being revised down. This suggests there may have been a transition from under-counting to over-counting of cases.

Disclosures;
Euzebiusz Jamrozik receives funding from an Australian Postgraduate Award (PhD Scholarship).
Michael Selgelid does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond the academic appointment above

The expert advice is that other than extreme and severe cases of microcephaly it's almost impossible to accurately diagnose in utero, it is also reported that the majority of Zika detections in placental fluid have lead to no observable effects in the child. Only a very small percentage have any effects that appear on a wide scale of symptoms many of which cannot be differentiated from other causes like alcohol consumption, rubella and herpes;

Other possible causes of increased microcephaly – infections such as rubella and cytomegalovirus (a member of the herpes family), as well as malnutrition and heavy alcohol consumption – should also be considered.

The World Health Organisation admits it has not yet been scientifically proven that Zika causes microcephaly.

You haven't read The Conversation links, you wouldn't be making spurious claims about the epidemiology of Zika if you had. I won't be so bold as to claim my opinions, or those dredged from the Huffington Post, are more insightful or valuable than the doctors and biologists who study the disease and have been looking for cures for many years.

Even if Zika sometimes causes pregnant mothers to have babies with microcephaly, this does not necessarily mean every infected mother would have an affected baby.

Assessing the risks of Zika thus requires knowing the percentage of infected pregnant women who give birth to babies with microcephaly. If this percentage is higher than the percentage of uninfected women (which has not, to date, been shown), it might be safe to conclude that Zika increases the relative risk of microcephaly.

Even then, the absolute risk that an infected pregnant woman will give birth to an affected infant might still be quite low.

Michael Selgelid
Director, Centre for Human Bioethics; Director, World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Bioethics, Monash University

Euzebiusz Jamrozik
PhD Candidate, Centre for Human Bioethics, Monash University

[Mav]

Yep, I'm sure the Church will pay for child care for years to allow poor mothers to go to work or work from home to help support their families.  Maybe it will pay mothers a weekly benefit so they don't need to work and can concentrate on a disabled child.  Maybe they'll also pay for early intervention services including occupational and speech therapists and physiotherapists.  And Brazil has a reputation for supplying welfare to the poor and needy.  Businesses in Rio even came up with an effective program to reduce the number of street kids.  Maybe, though, hiring killers to thin their numbers wasn't the best way to go.

I would have thought it might be best to leave pregnant women to make their own decisions about what risks they can afford to run.  Priests and conservative politicians who aren't willing to put their money where their mouths are should GAGF.

[LP]

Yep, I'm sure the Church will pay for child care for years to allow poor mothers to go to work or work from home to help support their families.  Maybe it will pay mothers a weekly benefit so they don't need to work and can concentrate on a disabled child.  Maybe they'll also pay for early intervention services including occupational and speech therapists and physiotherapists.  And Brazil has a reputation for supplying welfare to the poor and needy.  Businesses in Rio even came up with an effective program to reduce the number of street kids.  Maybe, though, hiring killers to thin their numbers wasn't the best way to go.

I would have thought it might be best to leave pregnant women to make their own decisions about what risks they can afford to run.  Priests and conservative politicians who aren't willing to put their money where their mouths are should GAGF.

Freedom of choice should be available to all women, they should have it and be able to exercise it without scaremongering from wealthy Western civilisations using the poor South American economies as their political lab!

As for all those impending disabilities you refer to, most likely according to the medical experts the same number of babies will be healthy as was previously the case and none of your subsequent argument remains relevant. You are scaremongering!

[Mav]

Seems to me that Brazilian women were scared well before First World countries were even aware of the problem.

Don't worry.  In a few weeks, you won't have to cut and paste choice bits from your favourite experts.  Case-control studies will be completed by then and the issue of causation will be resolved for all intents and purposes.