Sadly sometimes when you work with the homeless you are vulerable to getting hepatitis. Would you take a job that affected your health?

Locally a cop contracted hepatitis because of that and now the police association (I think it's that organization) wants 1600 cops given a vaccination for it. That is something I never knew about. Thank you for your reply m2c and Happy Saturday to thee.

Oh my gosh bh! Poor guy who had T.B. but I wonder how many others were exposed to him and contracted it? It's something I never thought about. Well, except after 9/11 I think lots of those who worked to clean up the site got lung diseases which shocked me. Thank you for your reply and Happy Saturday. It's a very good thing you were there and did what you did. :)

You'd have to build the wall high enough to stop airplanes coming in from southeast Asia, the incidence of tuberculosis is higher there than in Mexico. Africa, too.

The issue with the USA's southern border is the potential of uncontrolled access to the USA from every country in Central and South America, and by extension every other country in the world. (Some of those countries now have very lax "visitor" entry control.) Even just considering Central and South America there have been a number very violent crimes (rape, murder, armed robbery) perpetrated by non-Mexican illegals that entered the country by crossing that Mexican/US border undetected. It seems that while Mexico won't let those interlopers stay in Mexico (they actually enforce their immigration laws, with a vengeance) they don't much care if someone is just "passing through". Fortunately our neighbors to the north do have serious entry control very similar to that of the USA, and no other bordering countries to deal with. 

And that entry control is the "wall" for air traffic (and for seafaring traffic) which makes your aircraft argument pure BS. Those aircraft that you refer to can't land just anywhere, gotta be an airport, and fly through "controlled" airspace with a flight plan, to get to one. Aircraft that have had an International stop must first land at an airport that has a Customs presence, which includes that Passport Control. And EVERYONE on the flight has to go through Passport Control, even the President. (Yes, they have Customs with Passport Control at Joint Base Andrews). Part of that includes verifying that the traveler has the proper immunizations if they're traveling to or from most countries (some, like Western European countries, are exempt from that requirement, but passport control WILL scan your VISA stamps in your passport to see if there's any stamps from non-exempt locations and there WILL be more questions if there are and the traveler lacks that current official immunization paperwork. And while the required vaccinations will vary by destination, all will require the useless TB vaccine (which does work great for leprosy) along with Hepatitis A and B.

This post was edited by my2cents at November 3, 2017 5:40 PM MDT

I would hope that all the cartels read your response and realize how smuggling people by air is simply not feasible and and just give up.

Perhaps it is the continual success that they have by air that mitigates their fear of the difficulties that you assume they can't overcome. 

Really? 

So that's "legal" activity? Do you have any actual proof that such activities are occurring? I've not seen any news stories to that effect. Perhaps you're one of those smugglers that hasn't been caught?

This post was edited by Salt and Red Pepper at November 4, 2017 12:10 AM MDT

And that needle stick is a lot more common than one might think. And not just with nurses. Doctors and med students too are on that list. 

My kids are tested regularly for HIV/AIDS (one did sustain a "stick" with a needle previously used on an HIV patient, fortunately no infection transfered); and also for TB as the vaccine is virtually useless. (the Tine test, not the more accurate chest X-Ray) With the one kid their boss was shocked at the negative TB result because of their medical service in South Africa; told that there was virtually no way for a medical professional to escape contracting it if they dealt with infectious diseases in the "third world", the boss's specialty.

South Africa, or southern Africa? South Africa isn't particularly backward when it comes to disease, no more than most Western nations. Pretoria is no more dangerous than Los Angeles. Clean water, access to medical practitioners, adequate sanitation etc. Some other nations in southern Africa are less pleasant - Zimbabwe and the Congo are particularly nasty, and further north it gets worse - but RSA is middling decent.

If someone was in South Africa would they not also be in southern Africa? By the way, the Congo (where AIDS originated) is in central Africa, not south Africa. You might want to consult a map. 

And who said that South Africa was "backwards", although it's sliding that way rapidly. The first human heart transplant took place in Cape Town; Dr. Christian Barnard was the lead surgeon (he was rather "Boorish" (Afrikaans) as I remember, wonder if he operated in his bare feet?). South Africa even had its own nuclear weapons program at one time.

And perhaps you missed the part where I mentioned that the kid was there working in medical services?  For the record they spent most of their time in Maseru and the surrounding area where AIDS is raging out of control (and guess what! The Kingdom of Lesotho is completely contained in South Africa; check a map, if you can find one). "Business" time was also spent in Port Elizabeth and that surrounding area. Recreational time was in Cape Town and that northern "suburb" of J-berg (Johannesburg to the non-natives) that your refer to, Pretoria. They also managed to visit Swaziland and Botswana during their two-year visit.

And you're quite wrong about the safety of Pretoria (or any other city in South Africa) compared to any major US city. One does not have to travel very far from the city-proper to be immersed in that wrenched poverty that is still typical outside of the white enclaves of the J-burg area and Capetown. Muggings, street robberies, ect. are MUCH higher than in the US. Non-blacks do have it somewhat better for now but that's less than 20% of the population. And virtually all of the non-whites live in well-guarded, gated communities. But that's now shifting with the current government; I'm told that a growing number of them want to get the hell out. 

The subject at hand is disease - not muggings or violence in general. In that, South Africa "proper" is no worse than much of the US. LA has its own health hazards - as Tom Lehrer put it, "if the hoods don't get you, the monoxide will".
Lesotho is within South Africa but not part of it - like the Vatican, which is an independent nation entirely within the city of Rome but not part of it. You didn't mention that your offspring were working among the Swazi and Basuto people, as they aren't South African and proud of their independence. 

You're the one that changed the subject from disease to focus on your simple "National Geographic" knowledge of south Africa (or South Africa), not me. (Have you ever actually been there?) I was only using South Africa as a reference to one of my kids having experience with infectious diseases there, which is on subject. 

But now that you mention it there is indeed a strong connection between disease and criminal violence from a public health point of view. You can add lack of proper nutrition and lack of a good education to that list of disease risk factors too. Poor nutrition weakens the body to make it more susceptible to pathogens and also encourages that violence in an effort for the hungry to get food (my kid was mugged at gunpoint in Port Elizabeth). Or perhaps you think that POP (basically corn meal) provides for all the nutritional needs of most South Africans? (Where the hell is the protein?) The lack of an education lead to things like unsafe sex practices that actually promote the spread of diseases like hepatitis and AIDS.

Which brings us to the LA comparison. Contrary to what some 89-year old left-wing moron musician allegedly said about "monoxide" (what kind of monoxide is he talking about anyway), I doubt that he has any actual knowledge of the facts. (Or perhaps you meant Jim Lehrer, formerly of PBS news, who is equally ignorant of those facts.) But from a disease point of view I can offer a few real facts to compare. South Africa, particular the black population, is at serious risk from diseases like measles, mumps, hepatitis A, hepatitis B (and probably hepatitis C), typhoid fever, tuberculosis; even though all but hepatitis C and most strains of TB are vaccine-preventable. Maybe it's that "outstanding" government-provided Universal Healthcare that most South Africans with dark skin have access to? (Whites still have their own, separate healthcare system, wouldn't dream of using the government system.) Outbreaks of those diseases in LA or any other US city . . not so much. In fact, those make the news Stateside when they do occur, like the current hepatitis outbreak in San Diego (carried in by some illegal crossing that Mexican/US border). 

Then there's malaria, tick-bite fever, and schistosomiasis to contend with. Not going to find those Stateside either. 

And let's not forget the STD's. AIDS infections are at around 19% in the general South African population, much higher among sex workers (that lack of education thing). While AIDS does occur in the States its transmission vector is now well known and it tends to be limited to a "certain" risk group that often look on contracting it as a badge of honor. And there's now a treatment regime to control it that's provided to all that contract it courtesy of the US government. In South Africa people suffer from it until they die. 

So no, contrary to your allegation, South Africa is FAR more dangerous from a healthcare standpoint than is the States, even in the "big cities" there.
This post was edited by Salt and Red Pepper at November 4, 2017 12:29 AM MDT

I remember that was the fear early on when AIDS was kinda new. I also know that the folks who worked at the 9/11 site to clean up contracted lung diseases. It's something I really haven't thought about until very recently...Locally a cop who works with the homeless contracted hepatitis and I guess it is communicable. There are 1600 of them who work with the homeless and so the city is looking to find 1600 vaccines for them. I guess they don't keep that much on hand. Thank you for your reply Sbf and Happy Saturday! :)

Me too neither tom. It's something I would not have considered though I was aware of what happened to the folks who worked on the 9/11 site to clean it up. Some of them contracted lung diseases...including cancer I think. It's a dangerous world out there and yet we have people who knowingly risk their lives to help others. I guess they're human angels. A local cop who works with the homeless contracted hepatitis and now there are 1600 cops at risk so the city was looking for 1600 vaccines. They don't keep that much on hand. Thank you for your reply and Happy Saturday! :)