Evading fever screening, on the other hand, involves greater selective pressure and so may happen on a faster time scale, possibly fast enough to significantly influence the shape of the pandemic this year.
Fever is part of the immune response, it creates a less hospitable environment for pathogens when the body is at a temperature above normal (actually a good thing even it it makes you feel shit). Pathogens have always had to deal with it.
How effective is fever-screening now?
Do you have any data:
number of cases found by screening?
% of population screened, for how long and how often?
(I’ve had a quick look at some of the figures you linked to, they seem hospital based so I’m not sure how they connect to screening).
What are the effects of screening?
I would think people who feel ill are more likely to stay home if they think they might get ‘caught’ by a screener. i.e. The presence of screening is more likely to change the behaviour of the infected than the evolution of the virus.
Attitudes to illness have shifted—If I’ve learned anything from adverts from cold and flu remedies is that you can take one and just get back to work with a smile, never mind if you’re contagious or not ….
Drug resistance evolves slowly
Can you justify that statement? It feels like words used to justify your thinking but is it grounded in fact? What drugs, pathogens, mechanisms of resistance are you talking about? So many possibilities..
Fever is part of the immune response, it creates a less hospitable environment for pathogens when the body is at a temperature above normal (actually a good thing even it it makes you feel shit). Pathogens have always had to deal with it.
How effective is fever-screening now?
Do you have any data:
number of cases found by screening?
% of population screened, for how long and how often?
(I’ve had a quick look at some of the figures you linked to, they seem hospital based so I’m not sure how they connect to screening).
What are the effects of screening?
I would think people who feel ill are more likely to stay home if they think they might get ‘caught’ by a screener. i.e. The presence of screening is more likely to change the behaviour of the infected than the evolution of the virus.
Attitudes to illness have shifted—If I’ve learned anything from adverts from cold and flu remedies is that you can take one and just get back to work with a smile, never mind if you’re contagious or not ….
Can you justify that statement? It feels like words used to justify your thinking but is it grounded in fact? What drugs, pathogens, mechanisms of resistance are you talking about? So many possibilities..