The good of society

[tendomentis]

Out of the THOUSANDS of known diseases (god knows how many unknown there are), smallpox is the ONLY disease to be "certified" as eradicated.

Bear in mind that this doesn't necessarily mean that it's actually non-existant, just not present enough for a human institution to declare it non-existant due to the lack of evidence to the contrary.

But again, that's only ONE disease out of a countless number. That's not much of a justification.

[Seshat]

The difference is very simple. By being immunized against malaria (for example) we don't develop the natural immunity to that disease that we have for other deadly diseases

You're combining two distinct issues here.

Immunisation is done by putting a weakened form of the disease into the patient, and having the patient's own antibodies recognise the disease. The patient will thenceforth manufacture antibodies against the disease the patient has been immunised to - exactly as the patient would if they had caught the disease.
So immunisation immunity is identical to natural immunity.


However, there is another form of natural immunity to illness. Some people are genetically immune to some illnesses. Many people of European decent have a particular gene pattern which renders them immune to bubonic plague. Many people descended from tropical people have a gene pattern which renders them resistant to malaria.


Groups of people develop this sort of resistance over many generations of epidemic: and only for diseases where a genetic resistance is possible.


If you truly wanted this sort of genetic resistance, you'd have to create an epidemic of - say - bubonic plague. Have it run its course, then take the survivors. Move them to the tropics, and let them catch malaria. Take the survivors, move them to a subtropical zone. Give them smallpox. Take the survivors....

Continue until you have about twenty people left, who are totally insane with grief and post-traumatic-stress-disorder. But they probably have a genetic resistance to most illnesses which humans can have a genetic resisance to.


There's just one problem with doing this: people resistant to malaria frequently have sickle-cell. The same genetic variation that causes cystic fibrosis protects against typhoid. Tay-Sachs and tuberculosis are similarly linked.


Nothing is easy.