The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same

Last night while reading Tara Smiths blog “Viral eradication and the evolution of smallpox” on Aetiology, I was struck by what an uphill struggle virus eradication is likely to be. Sure, we have within out grasp the capacity to eradicate certain viruses such as smallpox, measles, polio - as long as they meet the criteria Tara outlines in her post.

What’s may be naive is thinking that if we close down one evolutionary lineage, another is not going to arise to take it’s place.

So we eradicate smallpox, along comes monkeypox.
We eradicate polio, along comes enterovirus 70, or one of the coxsackie viruses.

Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose. The more things change, the moire they stay the same.