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Thursday, September 17, 2009
Is knowingly exposing others to infectious disease, a form of violence?
I ask this very seriously, given the fear of an H1N1 pandemic. And I ask the question to myself, as I am one of those people who often feels so enamoured with his work that he'll force himself to go to work when he's sick. But I best not do that, and neither should you.
There is no scientific question (and it's also common knowledge), that going into an enclosed space with other individuals and sneezing or coughing while ill with a cold or flu is callously exposing other individuals, and consequently, individuals that they subsequently come into contact to with infection. But many of us do it all the time, as if it's just "part of life". But if that infection reaches a very young child or an elderly person, the distant causal effect may actually be the death of an individual.
But we often treat this kind of question as a matter of social etiquette rather than a matter of absolute morality. And I'm not sure that's right. After all, spreading the flu to someone could--in rare cases--do more tissue damage to someone than a bullet wound, requiring weeks of hospitalization. Really. The flu does extensive tissue damage to the body, which is why people are weak and achy sometimes for days or weeks after recovering from a bad encounter with influenza.
Now we are faced with a potential influenza pandemic, of an unrelenting strain, which is almost certainly going to claim a great number of young and elderly lives around the world, with estimates of the infection rate exceeding one-third of the global population. And considering the number of fatalities we've seen from H1N1 in the past year, from a very small infected population of only hundreds, we could be staring down the barrel of one of the worst health catastrophes in any one of our lifetimes. I don't think the average person has actual grasped this yet.
So the question is, do you have a moral duty to avoid contact with the outside world if you do become infected? And given all considerations, I think you might.
Posted by Mike Brock on September 17, 2009 | Permalink
Comments
Mike,
Looks like we agree again! With ordinary colds and flu we tend to treat the issue as one of etiquette because they are generally quite unlikely to cause any serious or long lasting harm. But when Trevis Smith knowingly exposed women to HIV by not telling them he was HIV+ and having sex without a condom with them, it was not just a moral issue, it was a legal issue. He was charged and convicted of sexual assault and sentenced to more than 5 years in prison.
There should be no doubt that we all have a moral duty not to be a "Typhoid Mary". The strength of that duty is directly proportional to the risk that we pose. Sometimes the degree of risk is debatable and highly contested (like in the case of kids bringing peanut butter sandwiches to school). But when the risks are fairly clearly known, fairly significant, and more than marginally likely, the moral duty becomes a clear and strong one.
Posted by: Fact Check | 2009-09-17 10:56:34 AM
Good Question Mike. The way I look at dillemas like this, is to look to the golden rule. Put myself in the place of the one who gets infected. I would be pissed off if I caught a potentially deadly disease at work just because someone doesn't care about others.
The problem is, now as a society we are more concerned with the letter of the law, rather than the spirit of the law. People in general don't care how their actions affect others. You see it all the time; people talking on cell phones in parking lots almost running pedestrians over, drivers ignoring crosswalks and almost running pedestrians over, and people yelling at fast-food employees because their order is taking so long. Yet they are the first to complain when they think their rights are violated. It's always me, me, me.
I think we have a moral responsibility to other people. Unfortunately we can't change the majority of peoples attitudes. Because imposing laws to change their morals (even if for the better) would be worse than their rude action, which I think is actual ignorance (in the true sense of the word, not knowing.)
The only solution I can see is everybody should try to be the best person they can be and maybe your actions will be recipricated.
Posted by: Doug Gilchrist | 2009-09-17 11:03:22 AM
Mike, just on an aside. When is the next episode of the hot room?
Posted by: Doug Gilchrist | 2009-09-17 11:05:34 AM
"Is knowingly exposing others to infectious disease, a form of violence?"
Yes.
Posted by: Shane Matthews | 2009-09-17 11:21:04 AM
P.S. Yes, provided the disease can reasonably be expected to cause harm AND you have reason to believe the other party would not likely catch it from anyone else. If you have AIDS or the Black Death, you take steps. If you have a universal complaint like the seasonal influenza that most people get every year regardless of who stays home, there's little point. If everyone who had a cold or flu took to their beds, workplaces would be empty in the winter.
Swine flu's fearsome reputation is largely based on the unusually high number of fatalities in Mexico. As yet there is no explanation for this anomaly, as it has not recurred elsewhere. In Canada and the U.S., symptoms and mortality rates have been comparable to the seasonal flu, which still kills nearly 35,000 North Americans every year. It is neither deadlier nor more contagious than the achy, chilly annual inconvenience familiar to us all.
"Pandemic"? What pandemic? We haven't had one since 1918.
Posted by: Shane Matthews | 2009-09-17 11:36:51 AM
I am in classes at the UofC. My social and political philosophy prof basically stated that it is a moral imperitive that you not come to school if sick, given the potential severity of this outbreak. She went further. I don't even need a doctors note to get out of assignments, I just say I was sick with flu like symptoms and rather than risking transmission by visiting the doctor, I decided to stay home.
Seems even the Universities agree with you this time Mike!
Posted by: James | 2009-09-17 12:00:05 PM
"Pandemic"? What pandemic? We haven't had one since 1918.
Posted by: Shane Matthews | 2009-09-17 11:36:51 AM
I agree with your entire post.
Posted by: Freedom Manitoba | 2009-09-17 12:07:55 PM
Since medical science doesn't really understand most of these viruses, it's hard to answer that question. Those known to be fatal, like HIV, need special rules, but the flu? They're not even 100% sure how it spreads.
On the subject of flu, is anyone as disgusted as I am, over those reserves receiving body bags? Some very senior people need to be fired over this.
Posted by: dp | 2009-09-17 12:44:05 PM
Why? If they didn't receive body bags they'd just be whining about it if they do need them.
Posted by: K Stricker | 2009-09-17 1:19:19 PM
Just yesterday, CBC reported that people living in remote and isolated settings or communities are on a priority list for H1N1 vaccine. There is no cure for the flu. The H1N1 vaccine isn't going to be available until mid-October/November. Sending 'body bags instead of medicine' is not news. Nobody has medicine. It frustrates me how easily people are manipulated into 'being disgusted' about non-news.
Posted by: K Stricker | 2009-09-17 1:55:50 PM
James, social and political philosophy professors are not generally any more reliable as sources of health or medical information than the guy who sweeps the floor.
Posted by: Shane Matthews | 2009-09-17 2:21:06 PM
"I agree with your entire post." - Dammit, Freedom, now how am I supposed to get those pigs outta the tree? :-)
Posted by: Shane Matthews | 2009-09-17 2:21:55 PM
From what I can see this flu doesn't seem any worse than any other flu. Not that this makes spreading it any better.
Posted by: GeronL | 2009-09-17 2:43:37 PM
I do not think that swine flu is much worse than regular flu, media and government blathering to the contrary.
I like bacon.
Posted by: GeronL | 2009-09-17 2:51:36 PM
I can't believe that I came back here only to find out mathews has posted something I agree with.
What pandemic? Just more fear mongering in my opinion. The guy that had sex people without informing them of his HIV status should have been charged with attempted murder.
Posted by: DrGreenthumb | 2009-09-17 3:10:44 PM
I have a 14 month old son. I'm not too sure if he will be old enough to be safely vaccinated. If he isn't, I'll give a warning shot to anyone who exhibits flu-like symptoms on my property before treating them like a common zombie.
The right to not be vaccinated ends where my property line begins.
Posted by: Welke | 2009-09-17 7:53:00 PM
A couple of hundred people die every day in the US from "plain old" flu. Why isn't that a pandemic? Oh yeah...there's no money in it.
Posted by: The original JC | 2009-09-17 8:40:54 PM
A couple of hundred people die every day in the US from "plain old" flu. Why isn't that a pandemic? Oh yeah...there's no money in it.
Posted by: The original JC | 2009-09-17 8:40:54 PM
Another government conspiracy. Have you called Scully and Mulder about this one?
Posted by: The Stig | 2009-09-17 9:26:14 PM
I'll give a warning shot to anyone who exhibits flu-like symptoms on my property before treating them like a common zombie.
Posted by: Welke | 2009-09-17 7:53:00 PM
And after you've fired a warning shot and they don't get off your property what are you going to do?
Posted by: The Stig | 2009-09-17 9:28:47 PM
Another government conspiracy. Have you called Scully and Mulder about this one?
Posted by: The Stig | 2009-09-17 9:26:14 PM
"Government Conspiracy" are your words "The Stig" Not mine. Again I infer no government conspiracy...but it does seem to be heavily on your mind these days.
I suppose your able to ignore the fact that Big Pharma is the second biggest lobby in congress. Or the simple facts of economics...there's no money in healthy people and there's no money in dead people...not for Big Pharma...they just want us all sick...not dead...sick.
And even better, if they can scare into beleiving we'll be sick unless they come to save us with outdated "made in China" vaccines they can't get rid of, they can make a fortune right?
I hope you're the first one in line "The Stig"
to have a nice shot of mercury laden vaccine.
And you just keep your head up your own ass, its nice and warm up there and the view is just about all your narrow little statist mind can handle anyway...Have a nice day. :)
Posted by: The original JC | 2009-09-17 9:46:24 PM
And even better, if they can scare into beleiving we'll be sick unless they come to save us with outdated "made in China" vaccines they can't get rid of, they can make a fortune right?
Posted by: The original JC | 2009-09-17 9:46:24 PM
The vaccines sold in Canada are made in Canada by GlaxoSmithKline. Put your tin foil hat back on.
Posted by: The Stig | 2009-09-17 10:20:11 PM
So how many in here were affected by that bird-flu pandemic a couple of years ago that was supposed to kill us all?
Posted by: DrGreenthumb | 2009-09-17 10:59:22 PM
Wow, Flu flu flu, it will come and go and be a part of history that we will learn from. Microbes have been here longer than we have and will be here long after we are gone. Golden rule . . . should be changed, "treat other people how they want to be treated" Like HIV, it is more important to equip ourselves with knowledge on how to protect ourselves (HIV is a chronic illness; meds are good if you can access and tolerate them). So, sneeze in the sleeve, and cough in the trough, and stay 2m away from each other, and don't shake my hand, knuckles or elbows are good enough, and don't take it personal. Treat each other the same, the flu will be a memory, just like Y2K (remember that?)
Posted by: G unit | 2009-09-18 10:51:27 AM
And after you've fired a warning shot and they don't get off your property what are you going to do?
I believe the law is clear, Stig. You can use whatever force is necessary to remove them. Seriously, though, who would opt to remain, if the homeowner has already started shooting? Granted, you're probably ornery enough, but most aren't.
Posted by: Shane Matthews | 2009-09-18 4:38:43 PM
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