Jovial Monk wrote on Oct 14^th, 2025 at 7:09am:


Idiots alright   

More than a decade after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Australia free of measles, the country is facing a spike in cases. Many experts blame the international anti-vaccination movement, which is most prominent in the US.

As of October 7, there have been 133 cases of measles in Australia this year. By way of comparison, there were 57 cases in 2024, 26 in 2023, 7 in 2022, and none in 2021. Numerous cases have been imported from overseas, some of which have affected children too young to be vaccinated.

aquascoot wrote on Oct 13^th, 2025 at 9:38am:


I was going to post this 2 days ago but with the problems the forum was having I had to leave it until today.

So, I really have to ask you this - what do you think is the most effective way of dealing with airborne viruses like flu, Covid, RSV and now measles?

Hand washing? Coughing or sneezing into a tissue or elbow?

Or masks? That's high quality ones worn properly, by the way.

Perhaps you should ask Mrs. Scoot seeing as she works in a hospital?

Oh, I finally managed to snap a picture of this poster on the train on Monday. What do you (or Mrs. Scoot) have to say about this health "advice"?

"Catch it so others don't"
"Thank you for using a tissue or your elbow when coughing or sneezing"

And I always have to laugh when I see "Manners In Motion" (at the top of the picture). 

There is one small piece of sound health advice in that poster - the lady wearing the black mask on the right side of the picture. I'm surprised they put her in there.

Of course, it would have been best for all concerned if 'coughy/sneezy' dude was the one wearing the mask but never mind - maybe next time they do one of these posters? 

Antibiotic resistance is now considered one of the biggest public health threats in the world. Here’s what’s known from the most authoritative data:


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🌍 Global figures

A major study published in The Lancet (2022) estimated that:

1.27 million people died directly from antibiotic-resistant infections in 2019, and

Nearly 5 million deaths were associated with antibiotic resistance that year (meaning resistance contributed to, but wasn’t the only cause of, death).


That makes antimicrobial resistance (AMR) a leading cause of death worldwide, roughly on par with HIV/AIDS or malaria.


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🇺🇸 United States

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2023):

At least 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections occur in the U.S. each year.

More than 35,000 Americans die annually as a direct result of these infections.



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🇦🇺 Australia

The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (2023) reports:

Antibiotic resistance is rising, with organisms such as E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Staphylococcus aureus increasingly resistant to key drugs.

While precise national mortality numbers are hard to calculate, hundreds of Australian deaths each year are attributed to antibiotic-resistant infections, and thousands more are complicated by them.



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⚠️ Why it’s serious

Common infections (urinary tract, pneumonia, post-surgical wounds) are becoming harder to treat.

Some bacteria (“superbugs”) such as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) and MRSA are resistant to nearly all known antibiotics.

Routine procedures — joint replacements, chemotherapy, C-sections — rely on effective antibiotics to prevent infection.



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🧬 Future outlook

Without global action, the UK’s Review on Antimicrobial Resistance (2016) projected that by 2050, antibiotic resistance could:

Cause 10 million deaths per year,

And cost the global economy US$100 trillion cumulatively.