Not there yet
[QUOTE
Exactly the sort of 'expert's assessment' that the press has largely ignored. This might be a good quote to send to media whose reports unscientifically overstate the implications of the recent UK studies.
[/QUOTE]
Actually, the "press" whoever that is has given this quite a bit of attention especially the NYT. Remember, what is exciting to you and to a bunch of scientists is competing with health care bills, wars, famines, tea parties and a million other diseases etc. The news hole is only so big.
Secondly, many journalists do not have a specific background in health and medicine and those that do tend to focus on "health" rather than medicine because that is the focus of the available professional education. How much did you know or even care about virology, immunology and infectious disease prior to coming into contact with this specific disease?
Third, there is no known pathogenic tie in between XMRV and any human disease as of today. There are hints, scientists are excited about the possibilities, but the vast unknown is how shall I put this? Vast. And what is known is highly variable dependent. As more becomes known either way, more press should follow.
Part of that depends on the scientists connecting with journalists and pitching their work and being available for interviews. Journalists are far too busy to spend all day trolling through hundreds of thousands of publications on PubMed, assuming they are even on PubMed, looking for what amounts to a drop of water in an ocean. They read press releases and call contacts. And scientists and organizations who are inaccessible are not exactly considered a go to source. You may have noticed that Dr. Wessely uses his contacts and press releases freely - and it works for him. Not because he's right, but because he is media saavy.
So, and I'm sure you know this, be really careful about the dirt you sling - people who find themselves covered in dirt rarely feel like helping out the person doing the slinging. That is just common sense.
[QUOTE
Exactly the sort of 'expert's assessment' that the press has largely ignored. This might be a good quote to send to media whose reports unscientifically overstate the implications of the recent UK studies.
[/QUOTE]
Actually, the "press" whoever that is has given this quite a bit of attention especially the NYT. Remember, what is exciting to you and to a bunch of scientists is competing with health care bills, wars, famines, tea parties and a million other diseases etc. The news hole is only so big.
Secondly, many journalists do not have a specific background in health and medicine and those that do tend to focus on "health" rather than medicine because that is the focus of the available professional education. How much did you know or even care about virology, immunology and infectious disease prior to coming into contact with this specific disease?
Third, there is no known pathogenic tie in between XMRV and any human disease as of today. There are hints, scientists are excited about the possibilities, but the vast unknown is how shall I put this? Vast. And what is known is highly variable dependent. As more becomes known either way, more press should follow.
Part of that depends on the scientists connecting with journalists and pitching their work and being available for interviews. Journalists are far too busy to spend all day trolling through hundreds of thousands of publications on PubMed, assuming they are even on PubMed, looking for what amounts to a drop of water in an ocean. They read press releases and call contacts. And scientists and organizations who are inaccessible are not exactly considered a go to source. You may have noticed that Dr. Wessely uses his contacts and press releases freely - and it works for him. Not because he's right, but because he is media saavy.
So, and I'm sure you know this, be really careful about the dirt you sling - people who find themselves covered in dirt rarely feel like helping out the person doing the slinging. That is just common sense.