Polio and TB

[ravi]

Marco Anglesio wrote:
> On Tue, 2 Apr 2002, pms wrote:
> 
> 
>>Were these diseases mostly caused by people being poor?  And then they broke
>>out into the upper classes?
> 
> 
> I believe that they're caused by bacteria. However, you'll have to check
> on that.
> 
> That said, and all sarcasm aside, the poor are almost always subject to
> outbreaks of disease. They generally have more compromised immune systems,
> less access to medical services, live in cramped conditions amidst a host
> of vectors, etcetera. 
> 

indeed, all sarcasm aside, biologists like lewontin (and others) have
questioned this notion of causality: that it is the bacteria that caused
the infection, not poverty, and they offer serious non-sarcastic
critiques of this view.

i think others and i have mentioned this before on this list, iirc...
apologies for jumping in the middle of the debate!

	--ravi