Pandemics Do Not Exist (Health)

[Ishmael]

TB is going to be present in any population where drinking water is contaminated. It has virtually disappeared in the West precisely because modern plumbing is so effective. It remains an ongoing threat in developing countries. Part of the reason I was pondering this question is because I am acquainted with someone in the Philippines who has TB.

A "high rate" of TB among Indians is relative to a Western population and may represent the background rate. However; I suspect it too is inflated, precisely by the same thing that inflates the rate in the Philippines: Sewage disposal systems that are inadequate to the waste generated by the cities in these developing countries (in Manila, raw sewage is often dumped straight into the rivers---out of which I have seen locals fishing and witnessed children bathing).

Indoor toilets contribute to this problem. Without them, for example, high-rise condos would be impossible. Those same condos add to the population density, which is the source of the overwhelming sewage.

[Mick Harper]

[Ishmael]

Got it.