On fighting epidemics

Microbes

The world surrounding humans is inhabited by a huge number of microscopic creatures called microbes. We constantly absorb thousands of microbes through the air, water and food. They live on the skin and inside the human body.

Certain types of microbes are beneficial. Such organisms are used in manufacturing. Other types of microbes cause various diseases. Such microbes are pathogenic, and diseases they cause are contagious.

Microbes include six types of entities. One of them are viruses.

Microbes multiply very quickly. The offspring of one microbe in 6–7 days could cover the entire surface of the globe in a thick layer. But that nevers happens. As a result of their activity, microbes secrete substances that delay their own development and lead to their own death. A number of microbes are inherently antagonistic and inhibit each other’s development. But there are types of microbes that help each other to survive and preserve. Also, microbes are vulnerable to environmental factors: sunlight, air humidity and temperature changes. These important circumstances must be constantly borne in mind when talking about viruses and epidemics.

What are viruses? They are the smallest microorganisms. Most of them are the size of a millionths of a millimeter (nanometer) and are only visible through an electronic microscope. Viruses freely pass through the pores of special filters that trap bacteria. Hence the name – filterable viruses (filterable forms of microbes).

Viruses are living particles, part of a living microbial cell. They are very demanding to the external environment, to living conditions and therefore it is difficult to grow them on artificial nutrient media. Viruses do not have an independent metabolism; they only live in a living organism, invading the cells of its tissues, where they grow, multiply and produce various substances, including poisonous ones – toxins.

In humans, viruses cause influenza, measles, poliomyelitis, smallpox, yellow fever, encephalitis, and other infectious diseases. Viruses, like microbes, enter the human body in different ways – through the nose, mouth, eyes, skin. Once in the body, viruses adapt to the new environment. At this point, the body mobilizes all of its defenses (its immune system) to destroy the virus. The fight begins. If the immune system wins, then the person does not get sick, if the virus wins, the disease sets in.

From the moment of infection to the first signs of the disease, a certain time passes. This time is called the latent (incubation) period of the disease. Each infection has its own incubation period, from several hours to several years (in case of leprosy).

At the end of the incubation period, the first general signs of the disease appear: weakness, malaise, headache, fever. Soon these signs intensify, new ones are added to them, and the disease begins to take its characteristic course.

In the course of each contagious disease, all major body systems are affected and go out of order. An increase in body temperature (fever) is almost always observed.

Each infectious disease has its own physiognomy, its own specific symptoms, but there are often deviations from the usual course of the disease. This is due to the fact that there isn’t a single pair of people who are completely alike and there are no completely identical living conditions for each person. When a person is immune to a contagious disease, the viruses of that disease do not cause disease. When people’s living conditions are favorable, the incidence of infectious diseases decreases sharply. Conversely, when the material and cultural living conditions of people are poor, the incidence of infectious diseases rises sharply.

Immunity

Immunity is the body’s lack of sensitivity to an infection or any substance foreign to the body. Immunity is formed by the totality of all properties and adaptations hereditarily obtained and acquired by the body. These biological devices protect the body from the penetration and reproduction of viruses and the action of their poisons.

By origin, innate and acquired immunity are distinguished.

Natural immunity is the biological immunity of a living organism to disease. This is a property given to a particular species through nature. It provides absolute protection of the species from this or that infectious disease. For instance, people do not get sick with rinderpest, and animals do not get measles.

Acquired immunity develops in a person in the course of their life, as a result of their interaction with the external environment. It can be active or passive. Active acquired immunity is developed as a result of a previous illness. Artificial acquired immunity is developed after vaccination.

Acquired immunity is not inherited. This immunity has an “expiration” date. This date depends on the general condition of the body, living conditions, the quality of the vaccine, the frequency of vaccinations.

Epidemic

What is an epidemic? The essence of an epidemic follows from the fact that infectious diseases tend to spread from one living organism to another, from animal to person, from person to another person. Therefore, the scientific defition of an epidemic is a widespread occurance of an infectious disease among people within a short period of time.

What is needed for the epidemic to develop? This requires three basic conditions:

• the presence of the source of contamination (infection);
• a certain order of the spread of infection;
• the susceptibility of people to this particular disease.

An epidemic occurs when all three of these conditions are met and present simultaneously and in combination. When an infection causes a small number of cases of illness, not exceeding the “normal” incidence of a particular disease, no one talks about an epidemic, only the individual sick people are treated. The same principle, but with increased medical measures, is carried out during the so-called “seasonal peak incidence”, for example, when the incidence of influenza increases in the beginning of winter.

The beginning of the epidemic is considered to be an avalanche-like spread of a particular disease, when within a short period of time (usually several days)  a lot more people start to get sick than in the usual “seasonal peaks” of this disease, that is, the epidemiological threshold for this disease gets exceeded.

What are the fastest spreading infectious disease epidemics? The following diseases spread the fastest:

1. a) those with a short incubation period – the period of latent development of infection in the body, from the point of initial contamination to the appearance of the first signs of the disease;
2. b) those which are transmitted by airborne droplets, for example, flu.

Based on the type of transmission of infection, there are contact-household epidemics, water epidemics, food epidemics and mixed ones, when the infection is transmitted in several ways at once.

When does an epidemic become obvious? How do epidemics develop?

In 1846, a measles epidemic broke out in the Faroe Islands (North Atlantic). It began when a worker from Holland, who contracted measles in his homeland, arrived on the main island. As a result of being in contact with this worker, 9 people, the residents of the island, fell ill. They became the main source of infection. Within 10 days, out of 7782 inhabitants of the island, 6082 people fell ill with measles, i.e. 78.16% of the population. An epidemic broke out. Only the elderly, who had already had measles in childhood, when the first measles epidemic swept across the islands, did not fall ill.

It is noteworthy how the bourgeois authorities of the Faroe Islands “fought” the measles epidemic. The governor, prefects, fishery owners, local bankers, large traders and speculators hastened to board ships and sail to Norway and Iceland, as well as to the remote islands of the Faroe archipelago. The epidemic was fought by six doctors from a local hospital, paramedics, fishermen themselves, port workers and workers of small fish factories and one more or less honest prefect.

In the spring of 1926, an epidemic of typhoid fever broke out in Rostov-on-Don. On April 23, while monitoring tap water, the city sanitary station discovered a sharp drop in its quality. The next day, analysis showed that the water was clearly contaminated with sewage. What did the local Soviets and committees of the All-Union Communist Bolshevik Party do?

1. A radio announcement was immediately made on the radio about the contamination of drinking water. Leaflets and posters were posted all over the city urging people not to drink tap water or use it only for cooking and household needs. The nature of the pollution, its possible source, the impact of pollution on humans, the type of infection and its danger were explained on the radio and in leaflets. The workers were immediately given all available information, honestly and openly. Precautions and preventive measures were explained. Sanitary stations and hospitals worked round-the-clock. Disinfection of houses and public places was carried out everywhere in the city. Sanitary checkpoints were organized in place of city baths.

All enterprises and citizens were working normally. The workers themselves organized sanitary squads to be on duty around the city. These squads helped to disinfect toilets, streets, train stations, port, schools, kindergartens, etc. The volunteers helped sick citizens get to hospitals, monitored the timely supply of drinking water to schools, kindergartens and nurseries, hospitals, maternity hospitals; stopped panic and hooliganism.

2. The supply of clean drinking water to the city was promptly established. Water was taken from underground sources and drinking reservoirs, which were located outside the city in sanitary zones.
3. All engineering troops of the Rostov garrison were immediately alerted. Together with the workers and engineers of Donvodokanal and other enterprises, soldiers and commanders examined the entire city, all underground utilities, pumping stations, water intakes, galleries, canals, etc. The police were also mobilized. Many militiamen volunteered for earthworks, dug ditches, helped sappers find hidden cables and pipes.

Since there was not enough earth-moving equipment, on April 25 a convoy of trucks and a train with 8 excavators from Stalino arrived in Rostov. Doctors, military engineers and several wagons of disinfectants arrived in the same echelon. They worked in shifts, non-stop, and by the morning of April 27, they found the cause of the pollution. Under the ground, about 20 meters from the gallery of the city’s spring water supply, a main sewer pipe burst. The wastewater quickly found the way and poured into the clean water supply network.

By the evening of the same day, the damage was repaired, and by the morning of April 28, the entire Rostov water supply network was disinfected.

From April 26 to May 2, patients with acute intestinal disorders (vomiting, diarrhea) began to be admitted to hospitals in Rostov. By May 10, there were 20,000 such cases. The bulk did not require hospitalization or quarantine. The patients were given first aid, medicines, and returned back to normal in a couple of days. Only a small proportion of patients were hospitalized in quarantine, those who really required isolation and long-term treatment. The quarantine was carried out in infectious diseases hospitals of the city and infectious diseases blocks of ordinary district hospitals. At the same time, the disinfection of all public and courtyard toilets, garbage cans and other epidemically dangerous places was intensified.

On May 3, an outbreak of typhoid fever began in the city. The main wave of the epidemic caused 2,000 cases. All patients were hospitalized, and their homes and other places of stay were disinfected. Relatives and colleagues of typhus patients were examined at home and at work by mobile medical teams. No one blocked the urban areas, except for the area of ​​private houses in Nakhichevan (Berberovka, Goryachy Kray, Sobachiy Khutor). Quarantine was declared only in these quarters, a cordon was set up, all the measures that provide for quarantine were carried out. At the same time, almost the entire city was treated and disinfected, and then carefully examined for “hidden” foci of infection. By May 15, the typhus epidemic was eliminated.

It should be understood that the epidemic situation developed mainly in Nakhichevan, therefore it made sense to talk about an epidemic and a regime of isolation only in case of this particular region, including access control, sanitary posts and police cordon.

This is a typical example of how the Soviet government fought infectious diseases.

But the question arises: what should be done in general to successfully fight infectious diseases?

The main measures to eliminate a mass infectious disease are as follows.

1. It is necessary to break the chain of transmission of infection from person to person. This is achieved by identifying a specific source of infection with its subsequent isolation or destruction. This means that it is necessary to find and isolate from society a person or a group of people who have become a direct source of infection in a district, city, etc. If we are talking about animals carrying the infection, then in this case they must be eliminated with a guarantee of disinfection, i.e. burning, processing with strong chemicals, etc.
2. It is necessary to stop the transmission of the disease from a sick person to a healthy one. This is a continuation and development of paragraph 1. Specific patients with an infectious disease are identified and hospitalized for treatment. At the same time, a person is recognized as sick with this or that contagious disease by a qualified doctor – on the basis of a scientific analysis of the obvious and hidden signs of the disease. All residents of the region or area where an outbreak of a contagious disease is detected cannot be declared sick collectively. Those people who surrounded the patient cannot be automatically quarantined – only on the basis of suspicion of infection.

Any suspicion must be motivated and scientifically substantiated. If such people do not have external signs of this disease, but there is a likelihood of their infection, then such people are checked from the medical and sanitary-epidemic point of view in the form of a regular checkup at home or at the place of work, during the scheduled medical examinations of workforce, etc. In special cases, such people are put under observation. If it turns out that a person is sick and can really infect others, they are admitted to hospital.

This raises the question – what is observation and quarantine?

Observation is a set of measures to prevent the spread of an infectious disease beyond the limits of a specific established center of this disease, or beyond the established lesion area – if bacteriological weapons are used against the population.

During the observation, a single set of interrelated measures is carried out, in which it is mandatory to implement every single one of them, namely:

• general and detailed explanation of the nature of the infectious disease to the population as well as its consequences, explanation and justification of all measures to eliminate the infection, clarification of the need for these measures;
• restriction of entry into and exit from the infection cluster;
• prohibition of the export of any property, transport, cargo from the infection cluster without preliminary disinfection;
• restriction of communication between residents of the lesion area with residents of neighboring areas; at the same time, cordoning, isolation of the population, splitting into small groups is not implemented, there is no access control; there are only medical checkpoints and sanitary checkpoints;
• constant medical supervision of the residents of the affected area – for the purpose of timely detection of sick people, their isolation and hospitalization;
• emergency disease prevention with antibiotics, vaccines and other medicines throughout the entire population of the affected area;
• increased sanitary and hygienic measures and careful medical control over their implementation.

During the observation period, the population of the affected area, with the exception of those hospitalized, leads an ordinary industrial and social life along with the population of neighboring areas (quarters, etc.) that are not bacterially infected.

Moreover, if there is an outbreak of infection or toxin in the lesion area which is not transmitted directly from person to person, then the observation regime in the area is removed immediately after a complete special treatment of the area.

In case an outbreak of an acute infectious disease, easily transmitted from person to person, was detected and proven to circulate in the area, then quarantine is established.

Quarantine is the continuation and development of observation when the methods of observation become insufficient. It additionally provides for:

• dissociation of the population in the infection cluster into small groups with the establishment of a strict regime of prevention, nutrition, drinking, sanitation, medical examination;
• organizing a commandant service to ensure that all residents comply with quarantine rules;
• complete isolation of the population of the lesion area from neighboring areas (quarters, etc.) for the entire period of quarantine.

Access to the infection cluster is allowed only to those services and persons who arrive to eliminate the infection or to eliminate the consequences of bacteriological contamination. Food, medicine and water are supplied to the infection cluster in a centralized manner, under strict medical and sanitary control.

Quarantine provides for the limitation of production activities in the lesion area. That’s why the quarantine period is sought to be minimized. This means that maximum efforts and resources are directed at the elimination of the infection and contamination. All quarantine measures are a single whole and are carried out jointly. The omission of a single measure, or the reduction of quarantine to one or two of the most “convenient” measures, nullifies the quarantine and makes it a profanation. At the same time, the main quarantine measures are always medical, sanitary and hygienic.

But a quarantine organized by the bourgeois state can also be one of the predatory “means” for overcoming the crisis of capitalism, when the period of quarantine is prolonged, and in this way part of the productive forces of society is deliberately squandered and destroyed, and the development of production is artificially delayed.

3. It is necessary to ensure lack of sensitivity to this disease (immunity).

All these measures are applied together, in a complex. They form the backbone of the fight against the epidemic. But sometimes, in a particular case, one measure comes to the fore, becoming the main link in the struggle. For example, to dramatically reduce typhoid fever, it is enough to destroy lice and steam clothes. Obviously, in this case the sick people are isolated from the healthy and hospitalized.

There are additional but important conditions for the successful prevention and control of epidemics. The fulfillment of these conditions by 90% protects the population from outbreaks of infectious diseases. They are:

• a high level of development of the material and cultural life of the entire population;
• compliance with hygiene rules;
• a sufficient network of healthcare facilities with a full staff of specialists;
• adequate nutrition, rich in proteins, vitamins, acids and trace elements;
• strict control over the quality of drinking water and food;
• general system of physical education and sports, hardening of the defensive mechanism of the body;
• high general culture of the population, sufficient knowledge in natural sciences;
• regular and high-quality specific prophylaxis of infectious diseases – universal vaccinations with a weakened or dead vaccine, as well as the use of sera.

Soviet science has shown that a prolonged stay in dark, dusty or damp rooms reduces the body’s resistance to pathogens of infectious diseases. Under other conditions the endurance to infection increases sharply, when there is rational physical and mental work, proper nutrition and physical education in the fresh air.

Under certain conditions, it is required to quickly create immunity in large groups of people. For this purpose, urgent immunization (vaccinations) is carried out.

In cases where all these conditions have not been created in society, epidemics spread very quickly and are severe. Moreover, the resulting scale of the infectious disease immediately requires an extraordinary effort from society and the expenditure of colossal funds.

If the necessary effort isn’t made, if all the necessary funds are not spent, one of two things is obvious:

– either governments do not want to really fight the epidemic and decided to let their people go extinct;

– or these governments simulate epidemics in order to eliminate the rights and freedoms of citizens, rob them and establish a police state.

Epidemics, crises and wars

As a rule, wars were accompanied by epidemics. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the number of those killed in battle and those who died from wounds was significantly less than those who died from infectious diseases.

During those wars, infectious diseases increased due to the sharp impoverishment of the proletariat and all the working masses, the deterioration of the housing and sanitary and hygienic conditions of these people, the collapse of health care, deterioration in nutrition, population displacement from place to place and other reasons.

During the Russian-Japanese War of 1904-1905, the combat losses of the Russian army were comparable to those from typhus, cholera, dysentery and yellow fever. One of the consequences of the first imperialist war for the redivision of the world was the flu epidemic of 1918-1919, when, according to official figures, about 500 million people were ill around the world. Of these, approximately 20 million died. But here you need to understand that juggling all these numbers without understanding the details means cheating. The flu was not the main killer of people at all. Basically, it acted as a catalyst that hastened the death of emaciated, homeless, exhausted, wounded, weakened by the war and seriously ill people.

During the Second World War, infectious diseases in the US Army were 4 times higher than the number of combat wounds. 1941 to 1945 4 million American soldiers and officers were hospitalized. They were treated for dengue, cholera, hepatitis and other infections. Roughly the same situation was in the armies of other bourgeois states. In the German Wehrmacht, outbreaks of typhus, plague, hepatitis, cholera were repeatedly noted. One of the reasons for this was the large number of lice among German soldiers and officers at the front.

But epidemics were not a common companion to Soviet military. An example is the Great Patriotic War of the USSR against global fascism. During the war, there were practically no epidemics either in the troops or among the civilian population (except for the temporarily occupied territories). This was ensured by: a well-established military medical and sanitary service, sufficient and trained personnel, a large network of sanitary stations, sanitary inspection and disinfection points throughout the country and the army, powerful institutes and factories producing vaccines and serums, tens of thousands of epidemiologists and sanitary doctors, hundreds of thousands regular and voluntary sanitary inspectors.

It was also possible to cope with epidemics because the entire huge network of Soviet medical and scientific institutions, all medical workers were involved in the prevention of infectious diseases.

This state of affairs in the fight against epidemics was only possible in the USSR, on the basis of socialism and the Soviet state.

“Combat” viruses

In order to better assess the danger of a particular virus, it is better to look at it from a military point of view. Suitable for combat use are those viruses and other microorganisms that meet a number of requirements. First, these viruses must cause an infectious disease. Secondly, the disease that these viruses cause must be severe and extremely dangerous for the masses of people. Third, such viruses must be highly contagious, i.e. the dose for human infection should be minimal. For example, one gram of material containing Q fever pathogens, in theory, is enough to infect ¼ of the world’s population, and 1 ml of psittacosis virus suspension contains 20 billion infectious doses for humans.

But here you need to remember that in reality, viruses and bacteria are affected by environmental factors, first of all, the sun, humidity and air temperature. Viruses die in the air of open space much faster than in the air of closed rooms, apartments, houses, etc. In the open air, viruses are distributed unevenly, and therefore, even in the infection cluster, people inhale different amounts of viruses: some can inhale an infectious dose, while others might not inhale anything at all. Therefore, to guarantee the contamination of people in a certain area, a lot more of the infectious material is needed than it was initially calculated.

In a natural epidemic, this means that not all people in the infection cluster get contaminated or sick. Provided there is normal social organization, taking into account the existing prevention measures and the fact that viruses die in the sun and air, the observation and quarantine area are always limited as much as possible.

Another indicator of the danger a virus presents is the effectiveness of its action. This indicator includes: the duration of the incubation period, the severity and duration of the course of the disease, the difficulty of recovery, the ratio of death cases to the total number of patients.

The duration of the incubation period can be different for the same disease and depends on the dose of infection: the higher the dose, the shorter the incubation of the virus.

The danger of a virus or bacteria implies a high mortality rate if untreated. For instance, the plague in the pulmonary form is very severe and in untreated cases there is a 99.9% chance of dying. The same applies to smallpox, for which there is no specific treatment. This circumstance – the absence of specific means of treatment and immunization – increases the risk of infectious diseases.

This means that the most dangerous are epidemics of pathogens against which there are no means of immunization and treatment, or there are only ineffective ones. Such diseases include smallpox, glanders, meliodiosis, blastomycosis, nocardiosis, and some others. These pathogens are considered among the most powerful bacteriological weapons. Influenza is not among these diseases.

There are other important indicators of the risk of infection. Namely: the possibility of easy transmission from person to person, the ability to form aerosols and infect a person through the respiratory system, the resistance of viruses and bacteria in an aerosol state. The persistence of infectious aerosols depends on environmental conditions. All viruses die faster or more slowly from solar radiation. But at the same time, the larger the aerosol droplets, the longer the viruses live, and vice versa. Dry aerosols are more stable than liquid aerosols. At high (90–95%) and low (20–30%) humidity, the rate of death of microbes in the air increases. Finally, the higher the air temperature, the more microbes are killed in a short time.

On the whole, this means that the best natural conditions for eliminating airborne disease outbreaks are daytime, warm sunny weather, wind, high solar activity, which in the northern hemisphere in mid-latitudes occurs after March 21.

You need to understand that in nature there are no “universal” and “most dangerous” viruses or bacteria, because of which it is necessary to quarantine entire cities or countries. Some microbes, for example, the plague pathogens, cause serious diseases, but they are unstable in the external environment, especially in the air. Others, for example, anthrax spores, are stable in the environment and cause serious illness, but are not transmitted from sick to healthy. Cholera, typhoid and dysentery are transmitted from sick to healthy, but do not live long in the air.

Therefore, out of 160 pathogenic microbes, military bacteriology identifies 32 of the most dangerous pathogens. Of these, the pathogens of smallpox, equine encephalomyelitis (western, eastern and Venezuelan), dengue fever, yellow fever, and psittacosis can be considered “combat” viruses, bacteria and fungi. Viruses that cause acute respiratory infections, i.e. adenoviruses, paramaxoviruses and coronaviruses, are not among these pathogens.

As I have already mentioned, the peculiarity of viruses and bacteria is that they can cause disease when ingested in negligible doses. In this respect, dangerous microbes are worse than all the most toxic chemicals.

Another feature of infectious diseases is their ability to spread epidemically, i.e. the ability to be transmitted from person to person through direct contact or through intermediate agents. This feature of the infection contributes to the fact that under favorable conditions, when the disease is not being fought, it can spread from the infection cluster to a larger area and cause a mass illness.

World economic crises contribute to the spread of infectious diseases. During the crisis of 1920, a major flu epidemic broke out. During the 1957 crisis, influenza covered a large territory of Asia for 2 months. In May, the disease spread to Africa and caused large outbreaks of the disease. In the summer, the flu spread to America and Australia, and in the fall, it reached Western and Central Europe. The root causes of both epidemics are similar: low living standards of the working masses, poor living conditions, malnutrition and poor nutrition, disgusting working conditions, lack of medical and sanitary prevention of influenza, lack and inaccessibility of medical care for the people, lack of funds for influenza research, for the production of vaccines and organization of anti-influenza work of the government. To put it simply, the main reason for the rapid spread of influenza in both cases was not nature, but capitalism, its inevitable features and consequences.

Infectious diseases have powerful psychological effects. Even a few victims of some contagion can cause terror and panic in society. There were instances when 3-4 cases of illness of dangerous diseases such as melioidosis, psittacosis or yellow fever caused disorganization and panic in large cities, and kept the population in constant fear.

Fear was also one of the reasons for the rapid spread of epidemics. A person does not see the enemy, does not feel it, but at the same time they imagine it everywhere around, and are afraid of getting sick and dying. That’s why people would try to escape from their city or village to another place where the disease had not yet occurred. Most often, those who were running away were already ill, but did not have any signs of illness yet. In this case, that person would get the symptoms of illness over at the new place, contaminating those around them and this way separate outbreaks of the disease merged into epidemics, which would cause great losses for the peoples of the world.

The bourgeoisie quickly learned to use this property of infectious diseases to their advantage. On the one hand, the capitalists and their governments can use an existing dangerous disease in order to increase the sale of goods, intensify police terror, attacks on workers’ organizations, etc. On the other hand, the authorities can invent an epidemic, stage an infectious outbreak with the help of the media, intelligence, and other state bodies – with the same goals as in the first case.

For instance, in 1947 in New York, there was a small outbreak of smallpox. 12 cases were registered, of which 2 were fatal. With a population of 7.5 million in New York at that time, the incidence of smallpox was 0.00016%. But at the same time, panic and fear were skillfully created. All city exits were blocked by the National Guard, rumors quickly spread about a sharp rise in prices and the disappearance of durable products and goods and the need for secondary vaccinations against smallpox.

As a result, in 10 days half-year stocks of consumer goods, medicines, clothes, etc. in the city were sold out, and the townspeople lined up in kilometer-long queues for vaccinations against smallpox. The owners of several large pharmaceutical companies have made huge profits from the sale of vaccines, serums, antibiotics and other drugs.

If we consider this example and the current actions of the authorities in the Russian Federation and other countries, then the motive for the intimidation of the masses is clearly visible. Through creating tension and viral panic, fear is sown among the masses, the will to fight for their rights and a dignified life gets suppressed, the entire organization of workers and laborers is hampered.

Efficiency

When the bourgeois governments started the coronavirus scam, they probably consulted people specializing in viruses and bacteriological weapons. The lie about the epidemic as a means to intimidate the working people and suppress the revolutionary movement was not chosen in vain. Our countrymen still have a bit of scientific knowledge left, and so the properties of a real epidemic are used as a psychological weapon against workers and laborers. But at the same time, the working people do not immediately understand that the epidemic is not real, but illusory, invented. The point of “understanding”, i.e. of political wisdom of the masses, may vary, and it gives the bourgeoisie a pause, an opportunity to “tighten the screws”, fool the masses, delay the beginning of mass demonstrations and riots.

The point is that every true epidemic has its relative effectiveness. The elements of this efficiency have been discussed above, and they are known and understood by many of our workers. But efficiency, i.e. the general danger of an epidemic is also estimated when comparing microbial contamination with a nuclear attack or an attack with chemical poisonous substances. These comparisons, allusions to them, scare the population and are used by the enemies of people to create fear, enhance obedience and suppress the will to resist.

In what way are the lies about infectious epidemics convenient to the followers of Joseph Goebbels?

They are convenient in that real epidemics have a large area of ​​direct damage. If a medium-power nuclear bomb directly affects about 60 km ²   of land, and a bomber with a strong poisoning substance can cover up to 180 km ²  in one sortie, then only 230 kg of biological material sprayed into the air can infect an area of ​​55,000 km ² . This means that two tubes of dangerous microbes are enough to quickly infect a large city.

This lethal property of biological weapons the bourgeoisie insidiously attributes to the usual seasonal increase in the incidence of acute respiratory infections. And since all viruses that cause acute respiratory infections (adenoviruses, coronaviruses and paramaxoviruses) really pose some danger to humans, governments in their demagogy have equated the danger of acute respiratory infections to plague or typhoid fever.

On average, the mortality rate of people in the lesion area after a nuclear explosion is 98%. When toxic substances are used, the damage rate in the lesion area is approximately 30%, while not all cases are fatal. And in case of using infectious material, the incidence of contamination in the area of the outbreak varies widely from 25 to 80%. At the same time, not all diseases end in death, but it is possible to scare people with a figure of 80%, at the same time attributing to acute respiratory infections and flu the mortality characteristic of plague or smallpox in the 17th century.

The bourgeoisie somewhat miscalculated the residual effect of epidemics. For example, after a nuclear strike, the lesion area is considered dangerous for six months, while on average an additional area of ​​1600 km ² is infected, which is also considered contaminated for six months. The effect of toxic substances in the lesion area lasts from 3 to 36 hours, depending on the type, landscape and weather conditions. When attacked by infectious microbes, the lesion area is dangerous on average for 8 days, if the epidemic has not spread.

8 days wouldn’t suit the fascists, so they decided to use the ability of acute respiratory infections to spread quickly. But having the ability to spread does not mean spreading and creating epidemics everywhere. Viruses weaken pretty quickly, but that is something people shouldn’t know about.

The danger of infectious microbes is also characterized by the time of immediate damaging effect. For a nuclear explosion, these are seconds, for toxic substances – from 8 seconds to 30 minutes. For epidemic microbes, this time ranges from 3-5 minutes to two weeks.

Based on the type of microbe and the time of the lesion, medical, epidemic and quarantine measures are determined. Although there is no specific time of immediate elimination for all ARI viruses, and the time of elimination ranges from 8 hours to 3 days, the authorities immediately establish “self-isolation” for 2 weeks, and then extend this period. On what biological basis do they do this? There is no such biological basis.

A certain inconvenience for the authorities was that epidemics do not cause destruction in the lesion area. If during a nuclear strike the entire lesion area is completely destroyed, then in case of toxic substances or infectious materials, all or almost all inanimate material objects in the lesion area remain intact. If the bourgeoisie get one more chance to defend itself against revolution with an epidemic, then it should invent the kind of virus or bacterium that “eat” metal and concrete. Or declare ordinary rust an epidemic.

The danger of a contagious disease is determined by the difference in the degree of damage to people in the outbreak. For a nuclear strike, such differences are small; almost everyone perishes. When toxic substances are used, then, on the contrary, the differences in damage are great, ranging from death to feeling unwell for a couple of hours. The same applies to an epidemic contamination: depending on the specific circumstances, place and time, the damage ranges from death to light poisoning.

But in order to somehow justify fascist measures, price increases, lockouts and layoffs, one must not only attribute scary properties to regular ARIs, but also keep mum about all the differences in the degree of damage caused by them, and emphasize purely historical cases when ARIs usually only came as a complication of entirely different diseases.

In military, there is a specific amount of time, after which you can enter the lesion area. For a nuclear strike, this time is 3 to 6 months. In case of poisoning substances, you can enter the lesion area immediately, while wearing protective equipment. You can also enter the lesion area of microbial infection immediately, again, wearing protective equipment.

So, on one hand, the authorities are treating an ARI like a nuclear strike and are going to lock up workers in labor camps (“to quarantine”) for years to come. On the other hand, the bourgeoisie are using the need for protective equipment as an argument in favor of their fascist measures. But in a war situation, we are talking about the use of the strongest microbial agents within a specific territory, hence the need for protective equipment. When the authorities force healthy people to stay at home and wear masks outside in sunny weather, that is just pure fascism.

As for the available means of protection, in the event of a nuclear strike, it’s evacuation (if the targeted area of the strike is known beforehand), shelters and means of protection from radioactive dust. During an attack with poisoning substances, the means of protection include a gas mask, shelters and filters. In the event of an outbreak of an infectious disease, a gas mask, protective suits, air cleaning and immunization of people are used.

If the coronavirus is so dangerous, then why aren’t all residents of the arrested cities wearing a protective spacesuit? Masks do not trap viruses, therefore, it is necessary to distribute respirators made of special material. Air cleaning devices have not been installed in the working people’s houses; immunization based on science has not been carried out. There are no sanitary checkpoints or mass sanitation points; high quality antiviral drugs and shock doses of vitamins are not distributed among workers. The food is not improved. Everything is being done the other way around: workers are being fired, prices are rising, which means that food and living conditions for the masses will worsen, and there will be less and less medicine and medical care.

A sure sign that an epidemic is being simulated is when the authorities dump all the concerns about fighting it onto the population and use only the easiest and the cheapest measures, while the elimination of actual epidemics implies very expensive sanitary and medical measures.

The one thing that makes infectious diseases hard to match is the possibility of covertly using them against the labor. Using a nuclear strike is virtually impossible. Using toxic substances covertly is possible to some extent. It’s possible to organize real epidemics in workers’ suburbs, in centers of rebellion. And I should think with the aggravation of the class struggle, capitalists might try biological infection of certain regions.

That possibility must be borne in mind today. The coronavirus scam will surely develop when governments, having gained experience in “fighting” a fictitious epidemic, will decide to start a real biological war against the proletariat and other workers.

The difficulty of detecting and identifying infectious microbes plays into the hands of fascist governments. It is not difficult to detect a nuclear explosion and its consequences. Detecting toxic substances and their traces is quick and effective, although it can be technically difficult for certain types. But detecting biological contamination is difficult and time-consuming.

Here the bourgeoisie and the fascist elite win in two ways. Firstly, when an epidemic is invented, it is difficult for workers to prove that scientifically, because all sophisticated laboratories and instruments are in the hands of the capitalists. All that remains is the logic of events and the absence of a large number of people with acute respiratory infections. Secondly, if fascist governments decide to pacify slaves with biological weapons, it will be difficult to prove the fact of the use of infectious diseases by the state, monopoly, or a group of capitalists.

Also, the use of nuclear or conventional weapons is likely to trigger reciprocal actions. The same applies to toxic substances. But if you secretly spread pathogens of infectious diseases, then the response strike either does not follow, or will follow with a great delay. Indeed, in hot pursuit, it is difficult to prove the fact of a biological attack from a specific source. Most microbes live 5-12 hours at night. During the day, in cloudy weather, this period is reduced, and on a sunny day, this period is measured in minutes (except for anthrax).

Damaging agents are characterized by the availability of remedies for the affected people. In case of significant radiation damage, such remedies are absent. In case of poisoning substances, there are treatments, but they are effective when used quickly. During the elimination of epidemics, remedies are available, but not with all infections.

The fact that there are no specific drugs against the viruses that cause influenza, and acute respiratory infections, is also used by the authorities to create fear, justify arrests and “quarantines”, layoffs, price increases, etc. As if, if this wasn’t done, Moscow and other cities would get flooded with the corpses of those killed by the coronavirus. After all, there is no cure for it, “self-isolation” is our only hope, we must shut down enterprises and institutions and disperse everyone from the streets.

Workers must also keep in mind the cost of production of a destructive agent as yet another indicator. The cost of nuclear weapons is extremely high. The cost of production of toxic substances is less, but also considerable. But the cost of producing infectious biological material is low and allows one to start mass production of it with little effort and money.

This is the case with the relative effectiveness of infectious diseases.

Aerosol

Medical “experts” justify fascism and the establishment of a police state by saying that the coronavirus spreads in the most dangerous way, in the form of an aerosol. The aerosol part is true. This method of spreading infectious microbes is the most effective. Because in this case lower doses of the virus are required in order to infect humans; the treatment is less effective (the virus penetrates deep into the body, immediately into the mucous membranes and into the blood); the disease spreads by air currents, from person to person during exhalation, i.e. quickly and abruptly.

But fine aerosols are immediately affected by the sun, temperature and humidity. The main influence on viral aerosols is exerted by wind and vertical air movements. The wind moves viral aerosols over the surface of the earth, and the stronger the wind, the faster the virus cloud dissipates: in this cloud, the concentration of microbes decreases to a weak and inactive one. In forests and ravines, a bacterial cloud lingers and creates long-term foci of infection, and in an open area or on a flat, well-ventilated area, this cloud quickly dissipates.

Longer preservation of the concentration of microbes is facilitated by inversion when there are no upward air currents. In this case, the lower air layers are heavier than the upper ones, so the aerosol cloud spreads along the ground until slowly losing concentration. This happens at night in cold weather and during light winds.

If convection occurs, for example, in cities, when the air currents are ascending, the infectious aerosol cloud rises and quickly dissipates. Convection is especially strong in warm sunny weather, and microbes are not only dispersed, but also destroyed by solar radiation.

This means, in particular, that the best conditions for the spread of a contagious disease are calm, cold, forest-covered lowlands.

Influenza and acute respiratory infections

Influenza and acute respiratory infections are acute infectious diseases in humans. Influenza is caused by a virus from the genus of orthomyxoviruses, which have types A, B, C, as well as many subtypes. Signs of the disease: general intoxication of the body and rapid spread from sick to healthy.

Viruses that cause acute respiratory infections quickly die in the external environment under the influence of sunlight and high temperatures. These viruses are not resistant to drying and disinfection. The flu virus can persist for several days in the mucus which a sick person sprays around when they sneeze and cough.

Inside a room, on different surfaces, viruses that cause acute respiratory infections persist for different periods of time. The influenza A virus lasts about 7-10 days on glass, 1-3 days on paper, 1-3 days on fabric, about a day on wood, 4-7 days on oil paint, and a week on linoleum. After regular sanitization with the use of chlorine preparations or hydrogen peroxide, up to 99% of all ARI viruses die.

Influenza viruses are mutable. It happens in 3 stages: the formation of a new species; the spread of this variety; disappearance with the appearance of another variety. But at the same time, all the basic properties of the influenza virus are preserved. As a rule, the emergence and spread of a new variant of the influenza A virus occurs every 2-3 years, the influenza B virus – every 4-5 years, which is accompanied by outbreaks of the disease in those areas where there are the best conditions for the spread of the virus.

Coronaviruses are a group of human viruses that cause acute respiratory infections. Coronaviruses are widespread, but they are not the main contributors to ARI outbreaks. The main share of diseases is caused by paramaxoviruses and adenoviruses. But the symptoms and nature of the disease caused by coronavirus are the same as when infected with influenza A and B viruses.

The main symptom of coronavirus infection are chills and a contagious runny nose. By 2010, more than 20 forms (strains) of coronavirus had been identified. Prevention and treatment measures for coronavirus infection are the same as for influenza. Aerosolized coronaviruses retain their infectious capacity from 2 to 24 hours, depending on specific conditions.

The source of infection in case of acute respiratory infections is the sick person. Patients are especially contagious in the early days of the disease. ARI is transmitted by airborne droplets. ARI begins acutely, 1-2 days after infection, with chills, headache, general malaise, weakness and fever up to 39-40 ^o C. Coughing and a runny nose often appear. The temperature lasts 3-5 days, after which it goes back to normal, and recovery begins.

In some cases, if a person is in unfavorable circumstances, has another serious illness, or if the body is weakened and the necessary treatment for influenza is not carried out, complications may arise in the form of pneumonia, middle ear, etc. In mild cases and in case of moderate acute respiratory infections, the disease usually ends with recovery.

The means of dealing with acute respiratory infections are quite simple. Prevention, maintenance of sanitation and hygiene, isolation and proper treatment of patients are needed. Contamination with influenza is helped by hypothermia, general exhaustion of the body and vitamin deficiency.

In addition to the main preventive measures against influenza and acute respiratory infections, the USSR used complex methods of disinfecting indoor air, namely: ultraviolet radiation; bactericidal vapors and aerosols containing disinfectants; air filtration through special materials; increased frequency of air exchange in the premises. The most effective was the UV method of air cleaning, as well as the use of bactericidal aerosols based on hydrogen peroxide.

Also, a special vaccine was used for prevention. It was introduced into the nasal cavity by instillation or spray. Vaccination managed to reduce the incidence by 2–3 times during the epidemic period (winter-spring).

For the treatment of influenza, aspirin, calcex, norsulfazole and antibiotics were used, which were fighting not with the viral infection itself, but with its negative consequences for the human body, caused by the actions of pathogenic microbes.

And never, during a fight against an epidemic of influenza and acute respiratory infections, did they quarantine the whole country at once; they did not lock healthy people in their homes.

***

An analysis of the current actions of the government clearly shows to everyone who hasn’t gone blind yet that this isn’t a fight against an epidemic, it’s the fight against the working people. The bourgeoisie is really afraid of epidemics and because of that they keep up the state medicine and sanitation. The recent actions of the authorities have clearly showed that in reality the bourgeoisie is not afraid of any epidemic today. The reason for this is simple: there is no epidemic. In 2018, the situation with acute respiratory infections was worse than now, but there was no hysteria and no mass arrests. Why? Because capitalists didn’t need them yet, the crisis had not yet reached extreme severity and had not put the bourgeoisie and its state in an unstable position. Today it happened, so the financial tycoons and their administration have undertaken the most extreme measures and commit all kinds of crimes in order to preserve their power and wealth. Staging an epidemic in these conditions became a convenient cover for their desire to establish a complete and open fascist dictatorship in the country.

Prepared by P. Vuitsyk