Post #1971932
2026-05-03 21:11 UTC
@oldclumsy_nowmad What I realized over the years is that while all pathogens and parasites are inextricably bound by this hard and fast mathematical principle, there are some (very few) apparent exceptions, wherein a very narrow balance exists, more or less as you describe here.
Rabies is the most obvious example, and I had to look this up: Though it's almost invariably fatal, it has a long incubation period, allowing ample time for retransmission.
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Replies (2)
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@wesdym@mastodon.social 2026-05-03 21:14
@oldclumsy_nowmad 2/ A similar case is the more deadly (to humans) strains of CoVID-19. That, too, relies on an unusually long (for this type of virus) incubation period: Many people re-transmitted it before they had any symptoms. Over time -- as predictable and predicted -- CoVID-19 became more infectious but less deadly, as that's the mathematical pattern that nearly all pathogens MUST follow to avoid extinction. Deadlier strains may randomly appear, but burn themselves out.
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@oldclumsy_nowmad@mastodon.social 2026-05-03 22:28
@wesdym Good examples! It's humbling that, while we humans have learned so very much about living systems, they remain so complex and adaptive that we have only scratched the surface!