• Question: do you think ebola is one of the worst disease?

    Asked by joshie to Barbara, Matt, Ravinder, Sophie, Tristan on 17 Mar 2015. This question was also asked by bantaclaus, haseeb ahmed.
    • Photo: Matthew Moore

      Matthew Moore answered on 17 Mar 2015:

      It depends how you define worst! It’s really not a good way to go if that’s what you mean! There is a few ways to approach this:

      –Most lives
      -The disease that claims the most life however is heart disease (7.4million deaths) worldwide and accounts for 3/10 deaths!
      -After that are respiratory diseases and infections of the lungs such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD).
      -HIV/AIDS is pretty high up on the list too (1.5million deaths) though diabetes from Western countries is now rivalling that.
      (figures per year)

      –Diseases most likely to kill you when you get them
      -Prion diseases (mad cow disease etc) are 100% going to kill you.
      -African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) will 100% kill you.
      -Plague, caused by a bacteria called Yersinia pestis
      -Smallpox
      -Rabies (once symptoms present)

      Smallpox gets a special mention because while most people in the developed world are vaccinated many remain unvaccinated in some countries, indeed some people in the UK are against vaccines (because they don’t know what they’re talking about). Smallpox is particularly grissly and (while it depends on the person) it wouldn’t be a good way to go whatsoever. Symptoms including being covered in a raised rash from head to toe, these lesions become full with pus and are deeply embedded in the skin.

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