generating slowness

[ritaxis]

When I decided that epidemiology was going to be a major subthread in this section, I did not intend that I should have to study it. How did I discover that I needed to know more? I set out to assign a death rate for a made-up disease. I decided I should know what a shocking but plausible death rate would be. I discovered that I knew close to nothing about a subject I think about from time to time.

Grr. The premed in the house has not studied this much yet . . . oooh, I just realized I know an epidemiologist. I don't think of her as that, because I think of her as. . . the downstairs neighbor of my father.

Comments

[carbonel]

IIRC, anything over 5% death rate would be shocking but plausible. On the other hand, there were ones like plague that had much higher rates (as high as 50% to 85%, depending on type and vulnerability of population) and could wipe out entire villages.