Anthony Fauci and West Nile virus "Sickest I've ever been" - NY Times opinion piece Oct. 7, 2024

[Mary]

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/07/opinion/fauci-west-nile-virus.html

So Fauci got very ill with West Nile Virus, was hospitalized for 5 days and was fortunate enough to make a full recovery after some months of being very weak, etc. He ends with:

When I returned from the hospital and lay in bed, disoriented and unable to sit up, there was little to offer me except the much-appreciated support and love of my family. Was I going to be one of the lucky ones who recovered completely, or would I be permanently impaired? There are many people who have not been as lucky as I have been in my recovery. Considerably more resources must be put into addressing this threat now, not when the threat becomes an even greater crisis. As a society, we cannot accept this as the status quo.

Okay - so he's been very sick and debilitated with a virus and says this can't be the status quo. Wow - too bad he did not feel the same way about ME/CFS, which affects millions more than West Nile, when he had a chance to actually do something about it, instead of shutting down research centers and subsequent funding cuts. Cort summarizes Fauci's actions and inactions re ME/CFS here: https://www.healthrising.org/blog/2023/11/21/fauci-long-covid-chronic-fatigue/

I used to wish some of the head honchos who make funding decisions would come down with ME/CFS and see what it's like. This is sort of close but I don't think he gets the irony of decrying our lack of a vaccine for a virus which has sickened 27,000 Americans in 20 years (1999 - 2021) when more than 3 million with ME/CFS languish without care, in part due to his actions/inactions.

If you want to write a letter to the times about Fauci's piece, here are some tips:

send letters to letters@nytimes.com

To be considered for publication, letters should:

• Preferably be 150 to 200 words.
• Generally refer to an article that has appeared within the past seven days.
• Include the writer’s city or town and phone number.
• Not contain attachments.
• Be exclusive to The New York Times. We do not publish open letters or third-party letters.

 

[hapl808]

Considerably more resources must be put into addressing this threat now, not when the threat becomes an even greater crisis. As a society, we cannot accept this as the status quo.

This guy has the right idea! Someone should put him in touch with whoever ran the government response to infectious disease for the last forty years.

Oh crap.

 

[Wayne]

This guy has the right idea! Someone should put him in touch with whoever ran the government response to infectious disease for the last forty years.

Oh crap.

I sometimes don't get jokes right away like I used to (could an ME/CFS brain be why?). But this one landed in an instant. Good job!

 

[Viala]

I wish this would work but letters will not solve this, at least not to the people that are part of the problem. We would need media interest first but hey they are working for the same guys. They're just good at saying things that do not change anything, but it keeps people believing that something is being done so that there is no uproar.

It seems that making people sick is part of the current world design, they will not solve anything that suits their agenda. They're not foolish by not fixing something or by not noticing the problem for years, creating the problems is their goal. Writing to a guy like this would be like asking someone bad to start playing nice. It is also not normal that suddenly we would get a few dangerous viruses in a row, within a few years or even decades. Epidemics happened but it was very rare including the time when people didn't have access to clean water. 'Considerably more resources' means 'we want more of your money for the viruses'.

 

[Mary]

@Viala - I don't expect letters to change anything. tbh, I doubt the Times would even publish any such letters. It's more that I just want to call out Fauci for what he did and didn't do, and if something gets published, great, and if not, oh well. I'm not writing to Fauci, but the NY Times. And again, I doubt if they would even publish it. I guess I wanted to cause some discomfort for Fauci if any such letter got published, but no, I don't expect it to do anything substantial. In an ideal world he would be prompted to speak out about the horrific damage caused by the NIH's neglect of ME/CFS, but no worries, I'm not expecting that either.

ETA: I think it was this phrase which really got to me: "As a society, we cannot accept this as the status quo" - it was so pompous (so he got sick) and so ironic given what he did with ME/CFS. Who knows - maybe if the Times received a lot of letters they might decide to look into this issue - of course I'm sure this wouldn't happen, but you never know!

 

[southwestforests]

it was this phrase which really got to me: "As a society, we cannot accept this as the status quo" - it was so pompous (so he got sick) and so ironic given what he did with ME/CFS.

Yep.
Now, let's run it through Google Translate to translate it from Washington Politicibureaucratese to plain English, USA version.

(The UK English translation may not be sharable where American children are present)

"Oh wow, now that I'm personally affected by it, something needs to be done."

 

[Wayne]

And again, I doubt if they would even publish it.

I've tried "diplomatically" commenting on vaccine safety a handful of times on NYT health articles. Though they always publish my comments on any number of political articles, they NEVER allow a comment (by me or anyone else) that somehow questions the safety or status quo of vaccines.

Mainstream media by all appearances is in lockstep with mainstream medicine and associated governmental agencies. It simply is what it is. In my mind, leaving us with a health care system that is highly compromised by political and financial interests.

IOW, lots of corruption, which Fauci had become extremely good at not only navigating, but essentially taking the lead on. He could have spent 40 years of his life leading the country toward a much more affordable and effective holistic health approach, but he couldn't resist the many allures of the current (lucrative) conventional model.

 

[southwestforests]

Mainstream media by all appearances is in lockstep with mainstream medicine

As for that bit, just like us, the media has bills and a checkbook to think about, hence keeping mainstream medicine happy enough to spend their pharmaceutical advertising dollar with your media is a life necessity for the media.

and associated governmental agencies.

And then there's the thing about media broadcasters requiring government licenses in order to do that media broadcasting, hence, pleasing the government, or at least not overly annoying the government, is a life necessity for the media.

 

[hapl808]

lots of corruption, which Fauci had become extremely good at not only navigating, but essentially taking the lead on

Yeah, I agree - he didn't just learn how to 'navigate' corruption, after four decades being one of the most important people in global healthcare, he created and furthered that corruption.

The only thing that was greater than his ego was the damage he caused to the most vulnerable of people.

 

[Viala]

@Viala - I don't expect letters to change anything. tbh, I doubt the Times would even publish any such letters. It's more that I just want to call out Fauci for what he did and didn't do, and if something gets published, great, and if not, oh well. I'm not writing to Fauci, but the NY Times. And again, I doubt if they would even publish it. I guess I wanted to cause some discomfort for Fauci if any such letter got published, but no, I don't expect it to do anything substantial. In an ideal world he would be prompted to speak out about the horrific damage caused by the NIH's neglect of ME/CFS, but no worries, I'm not expecting that either.

That's the reality, the guy will retire and live happily as a wealthy person not bothered by anyone. We would need the majority of people to change anything here.

I even doubt that he got actually sick, it's all a PR move to justify taking more of our money and keep people in stress mode that there's yet another danger around so that we need government's protection, again. They didn't do anything with very expensive covid studies though. Corrupted people lie.