Ok, so ... in theory, would this ridiculous plan eradicate the cold, flu, and a lot of other crappy virus/bacterial diseases?

[NotQuiteCockney]

If everyone, all around the world, stayed in their houses for 2 weeks, and didn't come out, didn't interact at all. As long as everyone had only a few people in their house, wouldn't cold, flu etc all just become extinct? (Ditto chicken pox, measles etc. Not malaria, dengue fever, and a few others, but still!)

I know it's totally not a realistic plan. But it would work, right?

hell, i'll try it [recluse]

why would it work? do all cold bugs die within a couple of weeks? if individual groups built up immunity to individual bugs, would those bugs not then be , like, latent or something, just waiting to pounce on next non-immune people? wily things, virus'

i like your style tho. lets start a campaign !

What about if everyone sneezed into a tissue & didn't spit on the ground, washed their hands & didn't kiss or shake hands.

well,no as not everyone would be actively infectious at same time.flu is viral it mutates annually (hence flu jab changes annually) and spreads by epidemic

but yes i do fancy couple weeks at home with DVD no work

I think these things can pass in the air, too though.

SM, but the flu bug has to be somewhere all the time. Viruses don't survive outside the body for long. And yes, it mutates every year, but mostly from the existing bugs. (Ok, every so often a new bug finds its way across from birds - but that's a) just flu and b) one bug every few years.)

Viruses need a big body of people to wander about through, mutating as they go, so by the time they get back to you, they've mutated enough that you're not immune. Places like Antartica, or other closed communities, only get colds etc when boats of outsiders come. The viruses wander through the population and die out, and everyone's well until the next boat comes.

Cupsoftea- couldn`t agree more.

Washing their hands after sneezing and flushing the loo would help infections too. As well as getting plenty of fresh air - open those windows, guys.

Surely we need a certain amount of minor bugs to keep our bodies in fighting mode for when the big guns come roaring into town though so eradicating one generation of bugs may not help?

Yeah, that's a fair point, new bugs will always come along. Babies certainly need exposure to some antibodies and bugs to prep their immune system.

But we'd still have some bacteria etc, cholera's not going anywhere for example.

i never thought anything about living in Antarctica would appeal to me... but if anything could do it, thats it

am resigned to perpetual rounds of snotty coughs and various tummy bugs ALL winter, every winter. DULL.

I've been stuck in the house for a week anyway but seem to have picked up DP's cold just as I'm getting over a throat infection

Would only work if you then hermetically sealed all of the houses, since houses are not air tight. And air circulates.

Hmmm, I doubt that air circulates enough to pass on viruses, not enough to keep the viruses going ... Oh, I guess in tightly packed conditions, it might be a problem ...

Aren't there animal sinks (orsomethinglike that) for some kinds of viruses?

Well, what about in apartment buildings, notquitecockeny? That's really what I am thinking of, since I live in one!

Oh, yes, apartment buildings with shared heating would be a problem, I guess.

TFM, not so much. I mean, yes, for malaria, and a few others. But mostly, from what I know, once a virus learns to pass between humans, it 'forgets' how to pass between animals.

My dh suggested the other day that we all be like the Japanese and wear masks when we have an illness and this will reduce the spread of it. I personally think that hand washing and antibacterial gels would greatly reduce the spread but hey, what would I know.

oh what an interesting idea - there are institutions that couldn't stop - but this is an academic rather than practical notion isn't it.

Although, really, I guess the isolation time would just depend on the size of the population - as long as all populations are lower than whatever threshhold we need for colds/flu (which will be a larger threshhold than for measles/mumps).

So if you were at home with only 4 people, you could go out again after a week, but if you're in a bubble with 100, it would be longer.

Any hope of getting MrsB or tamum on here?