What is with the pessimism outlook on Pandemics?

[Wirel]

Everywhere you go on the internet there's a lot of articles claiming that the next disease is going to kill millions and it has to me thinking if it's a possibility or it's all alarmism & fearmongering at it's finest.

I remember a Ted talks where a majority of epidemiologist's agreed that a big threat is on it's way in the future and Loads of people on the net say that we are unprepared for this yet there are people who say we are prepared, who should we believe?

* Just realized the title should be Pessimistic

[MyNameIsTerry]

Well Ebola was coming to get us all last year. The machines are going to get us in the future (one newspaper had a nice picture of The Terminator on it :biggrin:). Trump was going to start nuclear war not long (one newspaper had a mushroom cloud on the article). All the possible ways cancer is going to get us...which has been done to death.

And what about all those asteroids? :winks:

It sells. Clickbait.

It's like a brain fart of "what ifs" that just gets printed rather than dismissed.

[NervUs]

I don't know if it's really all that possible to find optimism in pandemics, kwim?

I am not too sure why there seems to be more concern about a pandemic right now. I think epidemiologists are rightfully concerned about the overuse of antibiotics and how that is creating a situation of superbugs that are resistant to the only treatment we really have for certain infections.

I am not so sure it's pessimism as drawing awareness to a problem that *somebody* needs to deal with. It is very likely that no one will deal with it until it's too late- but I don't think they're putting this out there to be pessimistic or to scare. They are just in the field and see what's going on. They can't sugar coat their statements because of how hypochondriacs might react, ya know?

[MyNameIsTerry]

I don't know if it's really all that possible to find optimism in pandemics, kwim?

I am not too sure why there seems to be more concern about a pandemic right now. I think epidemiologists are rightfully concerned about the overuse of antibiotics and how that is creating a situation of superbugs that are resistant to the only treatment we really have for certain infections.

I am not so sure it's pessimism as drawing awareness to a problem that *somebody* needs to deal with. It is very likely that no one will deal with it until it's too late- but I don't think they're putting this out there to be pessimistic or to scare. They are just in the field and see what's going on. They can't sugar coat their statements because of how hypochondriacs might react, ya know?

Those in relevant fields talking about areas of concern to address will have been going on long before the media was even created. Is it any different to doctors meeting up at summits to discuss cancer or any other illness?

But now we have media interest in what used to be concealed in a room of relevant people often is presented to us and the endless speculation starts.

When we have a terrorist event here there are always people demanding updates. They seem to have little patience for the authorities doing their jobs and this has lead us down a path of irresponsible news reporting from some outlets. In reality, what can anyone outside of the relevant workplace do? Nothing but we've been pulled in by the media to a point so many think they are relevant parties to a discussion that will never leave a room of secretive people.

[NervUs]

Those in relevant fields talking about areas of concern to address will have been going on long before the media was even created. Is it any different to doctors meeting up at summits to discuss cancer or any other illness?

But now we have media interest in what used to be concealed in a room of relevant people often is presented to us and the endless speculation starts.

When we have a terrorist event here there are always people demanding updates. They seem to have little patience for the authorities doing their jobs and this has lead us down a path of irresponsible news reporting from some outlets. In reality, what can anyone outside of the relevant workplace do? Nothing but we've been pulled in by the media to a point so many think they are relevant parties to a discussion that will never leave a room of secretive people.

Personally, I would rather that science gets reported, especially when the findings point to human behavior that can and should be changed. I get that the news media is a can of worms, but not all outlets are the same. I think reporting about superbugs is changing some medical policy in the US at least, might be changing some minds about taking antibiotics for every little sniffle, and hopefully is making its way to farmers and ag policy and the like. In the US, we are living in a situation of a head honcho trying to suppress science AND the media, and that feels worse than the media putting a spin, or using titillating language or whatever. To a large degree, we need to be able to rise above that, imo.