Bacteria that can live for decades and kill 70% of infected humans (2016)

Re:Bacteria that can live for decades and kill 70% of infect... by Someone on Wednesday March 01, 2017 @04:30AM (#13762484)

"And the death rate can be high — "up to 70 percent,""

"In parts of northeast Thailand, up to half of the population has been infected at some point"

That would mean that, out of every 100 people born, 75 would get infected, of which 50 die, leaving 25 who never got infected and 25 who survived.

That would mean this disease kills half of those born. Yet, this disease, which has visible symptoms, isn't well known? => I expect that "up to 70 percent" is based on an exceptional and small sample (for comparison: under five child mortality rate is 1:6 in Angola, more like 1:10 in south east Asia)

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Re:Bacteria that can live for decades and kill 70% of infect... by pdpi on Wednesday March 01, 2017 @08:05AM (#13763346)

My reading of that was that "up to 70% mortality rate" refers to specific groups. That is, mortality might be 20-30% for adults, but 70% for infants, or something to that effect.

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Re:Bacteria that can live for decades and kill 70% of infect... by keir-rex on Wednesday March 01, 2017 @05:46AM (#13762791)

How did you deduce those figures? 50% of 100 is 50. 70% of 50 is 35.

Meaning: 1) 50 out of 100 people were infect, 2) 35 of which would die, 3) leaving 50 who didn't get infected, 4) leaving 15 who survived.

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Re:Bacteria that can live for decades and kill 70% of infect... by masklinn on Wednesday March 01, 2017 @06:15AM (#13762883)

> How did you deduce those figures?

Probably by inferring "up to half of the <living> population has been infected at some point".

In your version, only a quarter of the <living> population has been infected at some point since you have 15 infected out of 65 living people.

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Re:Bacteria that can live for decades and kill 70% of infect... by keir-rex on Wednesday March 01, 2017 @01:29PM (#13766674)

Ah, I see it now. Apologies!

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Re:Bacteria that can live for decades and kill 70% of infect... by mikeash on Wednesday March 01, 2017 @09:40AM (#13763929)

The death rate is likely to be far lower in places where the disease is endemic. People will evolve partial immunity, and the pathogen may evolve to be less deadly since it's rarely advantageous to kill the host.

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Re:Bacteria that can live for decades and kill 70% of infect... by vegabook on Wednesday March 01, 2017 @06:00AM (#13762837)

Doesn't "death rate" refer to people who have a confirmed infection? Which of course is much lower number than the number of people born?

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