We haven’t even managed to wipe out polio, and that is a cheap, lifelong vaccine.
replynot only that, people are explicitly trying to bring back measles, and succeeding at it
replyIf we gave every living human on the planet the polio vaccine as soon as they were able to receive it, it would still exist in the wild somewhere.
replyIf new generations are not also given the vaccine, it will eventually return.
Probably the same with HIV, although I could see it being somewhat more difficult for that to make a resurgence. If we inoculated the entire human race against it, it could possibly eradicate HIV for several generations, if not permanently.
Humans are the only reservoir for polio, so that’s not true. We could theoretically wipe out polio just like smallpox because there are no animal reservoirs.
reply>if PrEP had come out in the 80s when public hysteria was at an all-time high
replyYou mean the time the US admin was intentionally neglecting the epidemic because "it's a gay disease"? Why do you think Reagan would have done anything to ensure such a medication was easily available?