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A comment on Pfizer is testing a pill that, if successful, could cure Covid-19. Parent comment

Re:Pfizer is testing a pill that, if successful, could cure ... by istjohn on Tuesday April 27, 2021 @12:22AM (#26951980)
Seeing as we've wiped out multiple viruses completely, but have yet to eliminate any bacterial diseases, I believe there is an important difference between vaccines and antibiotics.

Perhaps viruses are simply more specialized, so it's easier to eliminate anywhere to hide by innocculating affected populations, while bacteria are more general purpose and can survive even without living hosts.

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Re:Pfizer is testing a pill that, if successful, could cure ... by Izkata on Tuesday April 27, 2021 @01:08AM (#26952234)
> Seeing as we've wiped out multiple viruses completely

If we're talking only human viruses, the count is 1: Smallpox, and it took about 20 years. If not, I think the count is 2, the other being a cat one.

In both cases, if I remember right, the virus couldn't jump species, while SARS-CoV-2 already has multiple times.

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Re:Pfizer is testing a pill that, if successful, could cure ... by istjohn on Tuesday April 27, 2021 @02:25AM (#26952675)
Yes, I thought we eradicated Polio, too. I see I was wrong. But apparently we are very close to eliminating a disease caused by a nematode parasite, too [1]. Fascinating.

[1] https://asm.org/Articles/2020/March/Disease-Eradication-What...

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