We are headed towards a catastrophe...

[PCIntern]

We had one in the first term: COVID-19, which almost no one predicted other than some chronic doom-sayers who got “lucky”. This time…who knows??? You have a group of deliberately ignorant miscreants in charge of the infrastructure of our federal government and a sufficient number of glad-handing, ass-kissing subservient governors, cabinet officers both state and federal, and state legislatures which deny the existence of reality.

One of the things I point out to my patients who neglect their health, both dental and general, is that not that many years ago, people died of the simplest diseases due to lack of medication (either because it was not yet invented or shortages) and lack of competent medical attention. Given that, there is no reason why someone can’t die today: there’s no immunity which has been conferred because someone went to a MAGA rally and chanted USA!! three hundred times.

When I was a kid, three other children died in my neighborhood of pneumonia which arose from a cold that evolved into bronchitis and then pneumonia. Three in a six square block area. Of a condition which today is treated with ten days of pills or at worst, IV antibiotics in a hospital. And that was just in one winter, 1962, in Bensalem Township, Pennsylvania.

We are returning to Stone Age in our thinking about vaccinations and communicable diseases. It’s not gonna take long for the new pandemic to take hold and of course, for the first quarter of a million deaths, it’ll just be a “hoax”. And it will be “under control”. And “decreasing”.

And tgen a celebrity will die. Think of Rock Hudson in the AIDS epidemic. That was a milestone and suddenly…it was real. I lost nearly thirty percent of my practice to that disease. I’m glad I’m semi-retired before this one coming. Hold onto your hats.

[spanone]

1. K&R

[markodochartaigh]

2. The line between health and death

is much thinner than most people understand. And for a lot of people that lifeline is spun from government thread.
Working as a registered nurse in the intake area of one of the largest county jails in the US I would come across people who had stopped taking their blood pressure, diabetes, and once, even transplant medications. The county hospital, which covered medical care in the jail, required a current driver's license/i.d. to be enrolled in the low income program. People would get a traffic or parking ticket, not pay it, and end up with fines that they couldn't pay. Sooner or later they wouldn't be able to renew their license and they wouldn't be able to stay enrolled in the county program.
Our safety nets are a patchwork and more people than we realize fall through.

[cliffside]

36. Thin, that word came to mind initially when I read your your subject line ...

thank you as those are the most vulnerable!

Even if one has decent insurance they still need to pay attention and hopefully have an advocate for some help.

[WestMichRad]

3. His first Maladministration was lucky that the only large crisis we faced...

… was the coronavirus. (The American public was also fortunate, mostly… coulda been much worse.) And they really bungled that.

A large natural disaster? They’re totally unprepared. Surge in resistance to antibiotics? Ditto. Another epidemic? Worse than unprepared: “let nature sort it out.”

[lonely bird]

39. Well...

VRSA does exist. Vancomycin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus doesn’t seem to have exploded but it is out there.

[Farmer-Rick]

41. I was thinking about that disease in China that was spreading

Chikungunya virus caused the CPC to quarantine Foshan city in Guangdong Province, China.

It is a mosquito spread disease but if it's allowed to spread it could mutate into god knows what.

[Seinan Sensei]

42. "Herd immunity" for y'all

Vaccinations for me and mine
And let’s call it Natural Selection

[JustAnotherGen]

4. I feel this in my bones

I said to my husband last night - I feel a sense of doom.

The last time I felt that way was January 2020 - when we pulled in our trip to PR to February.

I had a feeling.

[vapor2]

5. totally agree

but most of us feel so helpless. Repugs are complicit and deaths due to rfk jr will be on their hand. They voted to confirm his ass including Cassidy who is a freakin dr. I really feel they are trying to kill us and many tote "eugenics". I am itching to get the hell out of here and can't pack fast enough

[bucolic_frolic]

6. They are trying to make the public turn to religion in the face of tragedy

Salvation through suffering. No meds, no cures, just thoughts and prayers. That's the way it's been all along their tenure.

[haele]

9. That's the goal of the "Christian" Nationalists...

Everyone will have to depend on God if they weren't already blessed with money and resources to begin with.
It's a f'ing Cargo Cult. But instead of being on an isolated island where everyone is already used to living on subsistence and personal skills, dealing with few resources and privation. We're an interdependent country where a good 90% of the population couldn't survive a week without depending on a large number of other people and organizations just to be able to get food. It ain't God supplying the grocery store.
Nor is it some "Big Man" in a big house with all the money giving individuals the resources they need to survive from a limitless pool for favors - and that's the bubble world Christian Nationalists are trying to make.
Nationalists believe Money and Property = God's Blessing. But they can't seem to understand you can't eat money. If there's no trust, sharing or fair, consistent community support, a Property Owner that needs a large group of someones to work to continue to make money will end up living in fear their work force will take the opportunity to rise up and take "their" stuff.
A community is critical for individual prosperity. And a diverse, equally valued community is critical for innovation and advancement.
If you want the new stuff that makes your life healthier, easier, and enriched, you need diversity and fair treatment. Otherwise, you get a small, constrained, isolated community that can easily be destroyed by just bad luck or natural catastrophes.

[popsdenver]

50. They are just anxiously waiting for the

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse to come swooping down from heaven and carry them to their eternal life..........

[bdamomma]

57. Handmaids

tale coming true, UNLESS we stop them. Power in numbers.

[bluestarone]

7. 100% agree

I just cannot for the life of me, figure out how my American citizens are not RIOTING in the streets before our loved ones start dying off.

[3Hotdogs]

17. I used to figure that when the death toll reachers what we experienced, there would be rioting.

I figured, a few hundred thousand people dying, above the current national average, the maggots in Congress will have to respond.

---then it occurred to me.

thousands of people die every year from gun shots. Maggots respond with thoughts and prayers.

A pandemic will be met with the same thoughts and prayers.

[MadameButterfly]

24. Because we know riots will bring marshall law

[yellow dahlia]

32. We need to be more like France.

I read an article recently which explained why it isn't in our DNA. Can't remember where.

[bdamomma]

48. Maybe

it's because of the "it can't happen here" denial. But us here are aware of what's going on.

[yellow dahlia]

49. Good point. Too many don't know what's going on.

[mokeyz]

8. Covid is very high here in Nevada

There are no covid shots available here at all that i can find, however there are some available in Oregon🤦🏻‍♀️

Gotta love our newly identified red state.

[bronxiteforever]

10. Kick and rec

The US is the laughing stock of the world. In the most technologically advanced society in history, the GOP is destroying American science. I have never seen the like of this in my life.

Like Carl Sagan observed “I have a foreboding of an America [...] when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and … our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness.”

[ananda]

11. Yes, big time.

I wonder if all the diseases will come back,
not just measles.

[erronis]

12. The ancillary fallout will be the worst. Hospitals and ambulances and morgues overloaded.

Since most social services will no longer be helped by any federal funds or real support, people will suffer and die. Frequently in their own homes or on the streets.

A return to the times of the plagues.

I just wonder how Project 2025 and all the rich entitled people behind it are planning to deal with the stench of death throughout the country. Is it just gas masks or island retreats?

[Hekate]

33. That's what *already* happened. Hospitals & morgues were overwhelmed, med personnel attacked...

… docs & nurses died (my allergist, when I came in: “Three of my fellow doctors have died of Covid” ) and some docs & nurses committed suicide.

All of the Bad Things have already happened before, under Trump’s first term.

Emergency supplies grossly insufficient in America; supplies sold to China.

Medical supplies air-shipped inside the US literally stolen off the tarmac by some form of government agents — so much so that suppliers and recipients resorted to subterfuge in labeling, packaging, and shipping manifests. Kind of like some WWII spy drama.

We got to thinking that ventilators were absolutely necessary and none were to be had. Finally woo-hoo! Some showed up, to be shared out among the states. California’s share: two (2)

How many died? Well that certainly will never be known in Florida, seeing as how DeSantis fired the State statistician.

And propaganda and lies galore. Dr. Fauci, who deserves our gratitude and respect forever, has been under nonstop death threats ever since.

The Stupid won. And since Trump is in the WH again, The Stupid is definitely back

[Emile]

13. K & R Great Post

[Skittles]

14. I agree

it's just a matter of time and Trump.2 still has plenty of time

[Hornedfrog2000]

15. You have russian agents in our government

And we wonder why its breaking

[bsiebs]

16. Totally agree.. losing John Prine to Covid hit me pretty hard...

[Mr.Bee]

18. Covid Is Still Around

I wear my facemask outside every day!

[SidneyR]

20. I wear a mask every time I go anywhere inside with others.

Which isn't very often. I still stay home a lot and most things I have delivered. So far I haven't had Covid and I don't want to catch it.

[hamsterjill]

19. I would be interested if you have any advice as to how we might prepare in any way.

I know you can't give medical advice, but whatever insight you could offer would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[Hope22]

21. Gonna be like round one but with no vaccine in sight.

The memory of the young people carrying on like nothing was up while the seniors were stuck at home remains. Well they are all six years older now. I expect nothing but the worst from them. Last time I thought they wished we would die. This time they may just help us along!

[Nigrum Cattus]

22. Bird flu is what we have to be watch for

Without a fully functioning mRNA infrastructure any
response will be lacking.

[biophile]

25. Bird flu came to my mind as well

They are dismantling the means of testing and tracking outbreaks and hot spots of diseases. I guess we are all going to have to “do our own research” 😏

[enigmania]

23. Death from disease or mishap by the age of 60 was not

uncommon back then. I was thrilled when I realized those times were behind us. Now, who knows?

[Ocelot II]

26. Karma would be Bobby Brainworm succumbing to covid.

He's probably been vaccinated, though, but he won't admit it.

[yellow dahlia]

31. I think his megalomania delusions have convinced him he is invincible.

[LeftInTX]

37. He is

[Bayard]

27. At the same time,

Funds for medical research are being withdrawn.

I feel the roller coaster picking up speed.....

[generalbetrayus]

28. "And then a celebrity will die."

I can think of one “celebrity” whose death could quickly change our path toward catastrophe.

[RockRaven]

29. Alongside the disease and death comes A) jeopardized national security and B) economic collapse.

Repugs don't give a shit about people dying, but maybe someone can wake them the fuck up about A and B.

[Hekate]

34. They are deliberately destroying federal infrastructure at all levels, which will cripple or collapse A&B

[misanthrope]

35. These crypto-libertarian tech bros see the state as the enemy

They don't give a damn if it falls apart as long as they are insulated.

[yellow dahlia]

30. I'm in the choir with you.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220595899

[live love laugh]

38. It's the Dark Age redux. (I thought history was history.)

[NoMoreRepugs]

40. The Crypto-Christian-Fascist Bro's need a widespread pandemic to get

the Eugenics party started.

[womanofthehills]

43. With bio labs 3 and 4 all over the world - we are never totally safe

As lab accidents happen all the time.

There are 59 known bio labs 4’s and thousands of bio lab 3’s in the world all working with pathogens.

Bio lab accidents from Wiki:

“List of laboratory biosecurity incidents”

“This list of laboratory biosecurity incidents includes accidental laboratory-acquired infections and laboratory releases of lethal pathogens, containment failures in or during transport of lethal pathogens, and incidents of exposure of lethal pathogens to laboratory personnel, improper disposal of contaminated waste, and/or the escape of laboratory animals. The list is grouped by the year in which the accident or incident occurred and does not include every reported laboratory-acquired infection.“

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_laboratory_biosecurity_incidents

“Near Misses at UNC Chapel Hill’s High-Security Lab Illustrate Risk of Accidents With Coronaviruses”

https://www.propublica.org/article/near-misses-at-unc-chapel-hills-high-security-lab-illustrate-risk-of-accidents-with-coronaviruses

[oldinmtdem92]

44. marshal law

they need for the people to revolt so they can put us all in camps ,marshall law. the chaos is by design.

[creeksneakers2]

45. Yep

Total insanity has taken hold. Since the Dark Ages normal people believed in science, until now.

[Exp]

46. This would be an opportune time for a (new) mutant virus to thrive. And I'm NOT talking about STUPIDITY! That virus is

already a pandemic in the USA! USA! USA!

[ificandream]

47. Excellent post. This one should be spotlighted in the DU menu.

And for many of the reasons cited in the OP and the responses to this post, I think we're already there. Sad to say.

[ReRe]

51. K&R

It's the truth. And do you have any idea what's going to happen to children's regular vaccinations?
Have ALL vaccinations gone the way of RFK?

[Teacher of the Year]

52. Thank you from me, for that 30%.

Thank you for giving those people compassion and care.

I lost some of my best friends and they did not all get such compassion from their caregivers.

Much love.

[Mustellus]

53. IF YOU GET COVID CAUSE YOU COULDN"T GET VACCINATED....

.. go visit your local Republican party headquarters.. your local Republican congress person's office. Get to know people there. Be friendly and close.

[pbmus]

54. My 2 cents...

Right now, H5N1 avian flu is raising red flags. It’s spreading among birds, dairy cows, and other mammals in the U.S., with a mortality rate in humans around 50% in past cases (though underreporting might skew that). No sustained human-to-human transmission yet, but a single mutation could change that, and testing is spotty, so we’re flying a bit blind. The WHO’s got a list of over 30 priority pathogens, including influenza, dengue, and monkeypox, any of which could spark something big if conditions align.

On the flip side, we’re better equipped than we were pre-COVID. Vaccine tech, like mRNA, is a game-changer—SARS-CoV-2 vaccines were rolled out in under a year. Surveillance systems, genetic sequencing, and global data sharing have improved, though gaps remain, especially in low-income countries. But here’s the kicker: lessons from COVID—like masking, contact tracing, and equitable vaccine distribution—are already fading. People are back to coughing into their hands and ditching masks, and global health funding is still a patchwork mess.

Then there’s the wildcard: antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Unlike viruses, these could cause a slower, nastier pandemic. We’re burning through antibiotics like candy, and new ones aren’t coming fast enough.

So, are we doomed? Not necessarily. A pandemic isn’t inevitable tomorrow, but the odds aren’t zero—think 2.5-3.3% chance per year for something COVID-scale. Stronger health systems, better surveillance, and less screwing with nature could keep the lid on. But if we keep rolling the dice, eventually, we’ll crap out.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

55. I'm sure RFK Jr will get around to banning the polio vaccine.

He's probably too young to remember the horror of iron lungs (maybe now they'd use intubation), or the braces and crutches.

Even those who survived and got better can relapse in later life.

I'm even a bit nervous that there is no smallpox innoculation available (for the general population).

[czarjak]

56. What have we got to lose?

The rubes believed he was only talking to Black people?

[Joinfortmill]

58. We are indeed ripe for a catastrophe. I do hope it doesn't strike our children.

[BurnDoubt]

59. MAHA has ZERO tolerance for...

The possibility that SOME number of people will have a lasting or fatal reaction to vaccines or some components of them.
PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE!....
Let's take this attitude and apply it to the cause of the great majority of Child Mortality in the USA: Mass Shooting Events.
EVERY PERSON who purchases an ASSAULT WEAPON has very definite Homicidal Ideation... waiting for a triggering event in their lives.
ONE Child is one-too-many, and TO HELL WITH ANYONE WHO DOESN'T AGREE. YOUR life isn't worth saving.
The Founders made a huge blunder trusting born Killers. So far, they haven't protected us from the abuses of this Administration.
So... Moot Point.

[nitpicked]

60. Pneumonia still exists

Even despite having had a pneumonia vaccination, I was detected with pleural effusion last year.

((stupid me, I went into the medical center for a procedure, but they wouldn't do it because I was running a low-grade fever Plus my bloodwork values were too low. They sent me to the advanced urgent care area, where they found the situation. Then it was off to the hospital to get admittted, shot full of antibiotics and more IVs, bent "into a pretzel" to get the fluid drained, sent home with more antibiotics...))

I don't know if the situation would have gotten worse if I hadn't been stubborn and showed up for the procedure.

My lesson learned: if there's something you can't shake, go bother the primary physician anyway. It may be trivial, or NOT.

[PCIntern]

61. And you lived...

When I was a kid you may well not have.

[Heftylefty]

62. Headed toward catastrophe, indeed

Infectious disease is the #1 killer throughout human history. The 1918 flu originated in birds, and killed an estimated 100 million people, 5.4% of the world's population at that time. In comparison, COVID killed about 0.20%. All research and development of bird flu as well as new variant COVID vaccines has been halted in the US. We all remember the bodies in refrigerated trucks, and the COVID patients lying on the floors of hospitals, or being turned away to go home and die. What if bird flu becomes infectious in humans, or there is a new, more dangerous variant of Ebola, Mpox, or some other disease that, like COVID, comes out of nowhere? It will be worse, but only in the US, because RFK Jr has left Americans undefended against these enemies. If so, he may go down as the worst mass murderer in the history of humanity.