Pretend Covid-19 arrives somewhere in the Honorverse

Jonathan_S wrote:Can't speak to whether it's "common" or not; but there are a handful of scattered references to the flu in the books.

* AoV - Queen Elizabeth's son "Roger chose yesterday of all days to come down with the flu!"

* WoH - Protector Benjamin's daughter "Alexandra came down with the flu".

* AAC - The crash team investigating the nanite caused suicide picked up orgainc "could be explained away by a simple case of the flu, except that there's no indication of it in any of the other samples"

Thanks. Especially the case of Roger Winton is compelling. If there's anyone who can afford the best medicine an treatments, it's the monarch of Manticore.

Somtaaw wrote:As for the passenger liner medicine... how many people in the last 20 years have you seen ignore a cold because "why should I skip work because I have a cough?" sort of logic.

And why should they skip a day of work? Swing by sick bay on your way to work, get a cold/flu pill and you'll be better tomorrow. If in 48 hours you've still got a cough or sniffles, then talk to the doctor because this isn't common. Or maybe they will take the opportunity to skip a day of work, given that they have job security and won't e fired for taking a sick day. This way, you're not spreading whatever you've got and you got to relax a day.

People ignore the common cold because it's common. If it weren't, people would seek immediate help.

So maybe even the cases that Jonathan_S pointed out could be rare enough and cured easily enough. Couple that with the social conscience to prevent the spread, in the 14 days it takes the liner to go from Manticore to Haven or to New Berlin, the on-board physicians will have caught wind of something amiss.

Still, that leaves planets on both sides of a wormhole, since those can be reached within 20 hours of departure.

Simple coughs and sneezes are taken seriously when you're trying to enter the country, either returning or visiting. I would imagine it is the same in the Honorverse. It is simple to screen for the flu.

Also, remember, many planets are poor. Health care may be correspondingly poor. Take the planet Haven discovered and used for Bolthole, they had to be far behind the curve of modern medicine.

cthia wrote:Simple coughs and sneezes are taken seriously when you're trying to enter the country, either returning or visiting. I would imagine it is the same in the Honorverse. It is simple to screen for the flu.

Indeed. Given how long populations are usually kept apart, giving viruses and bacteria the chance to mutate, proper screening methods are usually called for.

Also, remember, many planets are poor. Health care may be correspondingly poor. Take the planet Haven discovered and used for Bolthole, they had to be far behind the curve of modern medicine.

They were, very. Dark Fall talks about how the current Shirkahna's grandfather died of a now completely curable disease (appendicitis).

It is questionable whether we are at risk from our pets. It is advised to keep an eye on them when we walk them. Our dogs may be able to transfer the virus to us. Two dogs and a cat thus far have tested positive for Covid-19.

What will it mean if it is determined the Treecats test positive and can transfer it to humans?


Related thread: Covid-19 and our pets.

cthia wrote:It is questionable whether we are at risk from our pets. It is advised to keep an eye on them when we walk them. Our dogs may be able to transfer the virus to us. Two dogs and a cat thus far have tested positive for Covid-19.

What will it mean if it is determined the Treecats test positive and can transfer it to humans?

It's highly unlikely, since they are aliens. Their metabolism is completely different. Viruses that affect one aren't likely to affect the other.

It's established in the Honorverse that alien flora and fauna is mostly incompatible with humans and won't transmit diseases. Except in a few cases where they do and that tends to be extremely dangerous. The Plague Years being one of them.

I suspect that Honorverse technology enables very comprehensive biological testing and scanning of visitors without being invasive. Given the divergent evolutionary pressures on a multitude of planets that had been isolated for centuries, it would be insane to ignore the potential threat.

Don't forget the threat of STDs.

All infectious diseases are STDs. What are usually called STDs are those that can only be transmitted by sex.

TFLYTSNBN wrote:I suspect that Honorverse technology enables very comprehensive biological testing and scanning of visitors without being invasive. Given the divergent evolutionary pressures on a multitude of planets that had been isolated for centuries, it would be insane to ignore the potential threat.

Don't forget the threat of STDs.

ThinksMarkedly wrote:

cthia wrote:It is questionable whether we are at risk from our pets. It is advised to keep an eye on them when we walk them. Our dogs may be able to transfer the virus to us. Two dogs and a cat thus far have tested positive for Covid-19.

What will it mean if it is determined the Treecats test positive and can transfer it to humans?

It's highly unlikely, since they are aliens. Their metabolism is completely different. Viruses that affect one aren't likely to affect the other.

It's established in the Honorverse that alien flora and fauna is mostly incompatible with humans and won't transmit diseases. Except in a few cases where they do and that tends to be extremely dangerous. The Plague Years being one of them.

Being affected by it and being able to transfer it is two different balls of wax.

Treecats could turn out to be like bats. Completely immune to it, but virtual step-up transformers. Besides, being an alien does not automatically make you immune to other alien viruses. Or there wouldn't be any reason to fear bringing something back from space. That whole hypothesis is what got the best of the aliens in War of the Worlds. They were killed by the common cold.

My niece jokingly said they didn't do enough scouting. "Someone should have told them not to attack in the summer. Summertime colds are a bitch."

cthia wrote:Being affected by it and being able to transfer it is two different balls of wax.

Treecats could turn out to be like bats. Completely immune to it, but virtual step-up transformers. Besides, being an alien does not automatically make you immune to other alien viruses. Or there wouldn't be any reason to fear bringing something back from space. That whole hypothesis is what got the best of the aliens in War of the Worlds. They were killed by the common cold.

Granted, but there's also no reason to say they will be carriers. A virus is a piece of DNA or RNA inside a protein capsule, with no ability to duplicate itself outside of a host. It attaches to and invades the host cell, where it subverts the cell's own mitosis mechanism to make more copies of itself. If the alien cell's reproduction mechanism is different, the virus won't duplicate and thus won't be incubating. The alien carrier may be no better at carrying the virus than warm, muddy soil.

Similar for bacteria: unlike virus, they can duplicate themselves, if given enough nutrients. But inside an alien host, who's to say all the aminoacids and other nutrients are incompatible with their metabolism?

The premise of War of the Worlds is based on what happened to native populations of the New World and Newest World when Europeans contacted them. But in both cases they were human populations. There's no guarantee that with aliens viruses and other pathogens would cross the species line.

Ok, here is a thought. I'm currently reading the short story Queen's Gambit from Worlds of Honor. It's the one where Queen Elizabeth is crowned.

Here is the conversation between Justin and Chou (detective investigating King Roger's death)

"Her father was ill." The implications hit Justin all at once. "King Roger was ill—very ill! Not many people knew that, but Beth told me. I guess she knew I wouldn't let the news out to the media."
"And you didn't."
"But the King recovered!"
"From a viral infection." Chou was no longer laughing. "The Star Kingdom of Manticore takes its good health for granted. Most infectious diseases were conquered centuries ago. We were never as isolated as many colonies. Mutated diseases like those that ravaged Artemis and Raiden never were a problem for us—especially since we did not let up on the strict quarantine and decontamination procedures from our expedition days."