# What would you do differently for the next pandemic? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 25, 2025, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-differently-for-the-next-pandemic/1016073 "2025-03-25T06:13:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-differently-for-the-next-pandemic/1016073/41 "2025-03-28T19:06:28Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > Really? I thought pretty early on, the science was converging on airborne transmission, mostly in enclosed spaces, and that fomites weren’t a big deal. This is what the WHO was posting: [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/kHDVqMC.jpeg "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/kHDVqMC) Very nearly the opposite of the truth, confidently made. Quoting an earlier post I made on the subject: > [@Hand hygiene helps prevent COVID spread - not](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-hygiene-helps-prevent-covid-spread-not/1003788/23): > > The WHO screwed up quite badly. It took them _two years_ to admit COVID was airborne–well past the time where the evidence was incontrovertible. A few months can be blamed on early uncertainty. Not years. This tweet aged quite badly: > > The reason is a 60-year-old dogma they held that there were basically just two categories of non-contact transmission: droplets larger than 5 microns that fall out of the air rapidly, and small particles that can hang around for hours. But not only is reality not that binary, the 5-micron figure is just flat-out wrong, conflating two different figures from an ancient paper (the droplet threshold was supposed to be 100 microns). > > In spite of all the obvious evidence, both empirical and theoretical, it took the WHO immense pressure to cave. And even at that, it was only in April of _this year_ that the WHO actually redefined airborne transmission to be evidence-based. They could have done this decades earlier had they been more receptive to earlier reports that the dogma had been violated. It’s true that communication was also bad. That’s not a scientific failure like with the WHO but communication is a key part of their job. And public policy was also way behind, banning outdoor gatherings even when it was clear they weren’t a large threat, and so on. Thanks for the birthday wishes. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-differently-for-the-next-pandemic/1016073/42 "2025-03-28T19:17:58Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > I still have my covid-era bidet… one of the best investments I’ve ever made. My brain may be foggy and my respiratory system may be in tatters, but at least I’ll have the cleanest arse in the apocalypse. Us too. Not only that, it’s waaarm when I sit down. I got it cause wifey wanted it, but I’d never go back. We did fine during the pandemic. Probably wouldn’t do much different. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-differently-for-the-next-pandemic/1016073/43 "2025-03-28T19:24:01Z")
My behavior wouldn’t need to change much from the last time we had a pandemic. However, I would maintain a greater degree of skepticism about the “science” being distributed - not because I believe in science any less, but because Trump is systematically destroying our research institutions and public health system. It’s going to be really hard for them to respond to crises with drastically reduced resources and actively malignant government oversight. That assumes the next pandemic comes while we’re still being affected by his policies, of course. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-differently-for-the-next-pandemic/1016073/44 "2025-03-28T19:59:29Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > They’re saying the CFR for bird flu is likely 30% Which they are saying that? So far cases _identified_ in the United States have been mild with one fatality. The biggest problem is not knowing how big the n is. There is some number of mild cases that are not being identified. One just has to guess if that is in the dozens, the hundreds, the thousands? ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-differently-for-the-next-pandemic/1016073/45 "2025-03-28T20:31:28Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > That assumes the next pandemic comes while we’re still being affected by his policies, of course. Sadly, we’ll be affected long after he is gone because he has sown so much (false) distrust ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-differently-for-the-next-pandemic/1016073/46 "2025-03-28T20:48:52Z")
> [@Apodder](#): > > I guess the only thing I’d do differently is see more of my parents, who were truly stuck inside and fearful because of being +/- 80yo with health issues. I was afraid of bringing it home to them but in retrospect I could have found a way to be present. My mom died of covid, so i won’t do anything differently next time. But the one thing I’d do differently if i could do it over is spend more in-person time with her. She never got much out of zoom, etc. And the isolation was terrible for her. I buy toilet paper by the case (started doing so before the pandemic) and keep both masks and hand sanitizer around. I think i did an appropriate amount of stockpiling (mostly rice and beans, flour, some canned fish and fruit, and ultra-pasteurized milk. Oh, and some dried fruit. I’d do that again if i could. > [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Our health institutions did a pretty bad job at quickly identifying the main transmission vectors and putting focus on those specifically. That will likely be the same as well, which means playing it safe and treating all vectors as risky. But there are limits to that. Although there were publicly available research papers that made it clear it was airborne quite early. I was _so_ pissed at the CDC for pushing the “six foot” rule instead of masking and improved ventilation. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-differently-for-the-next-pandemic/1016073/47 "2025-03-28T20:53:09Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Although there were publicly available research papers that made it clear it was airborne quite early. I was _so_ pissed at the CDC for pushing the “six foot” rule instead of masking and improved ventilation. Yeah, to be more accurate I should probably say they did a bad job at quickly reaching an accurate internal consensus. They all had people that understood things early on. But that knowledge didn’t percolate through the bureaucracy quickly. And so they made a lot of bad public recommendations even when the internal knowledge was there. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-differently-for-the-next-pandemic/1016073/48 "2025-03-28T21:56:35Z")
Mostly I’d do the same thing. But it would be fun to have a plague doctor mask to wear to work (with a spot to put an N95 filter rather than the herbs and spices used back in the day 😜). ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-differently-for-the-next-pandemic/1016073/49 "2025-03-28T22:00:04Z")
I bought a plague doctor mask for Halloween a couple of years ago. It’s _really_ hard to see out of that sucker. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-differently-for-the-next-pandemic/1016073/50 "2025-03-28T23:49:16Z")
And the damage to the monitoring and response systems, to the research in progress to prepare for future threats, to the international coordinated efforts of shared information, will not be undone quickly. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-differently-for-the-next-pandemic/1016073/51 "2025-03-29T00:09:09Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Sadly, we’ll be affected long after he is gone Indeed. Given that I am 66, I expect that what he’s doing will have an impact in many areas for the rest of my lifetime, even if I make it to 95. Good lord, what a depressing thought. 😧 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-differently-for-the-next-pandemic/1016073/52 "2025-03-29T01:03:25Z")
I too am 66. I have no expectation of outliving the trump era. I will outlive him almost for sure. But the wreckage will live on a century after he is dust. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-differently-for-the-next-pandemic/1016073/53 "2025-04-01T14:37:56Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > I had good friends panning a wedding near Milan What were they doing? standing outside and making mean comments about the bridal couture, and choice of groom? Seriously, this may be my favorite typo ever. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-differently-for-the-next-pandemic/1016073/54 "2025-04-01T14:46:01Z")
My parents had a house built to specification when I was in kindergarten. They put a bidet in their bathroom. Not even sure where they got one in 1972. But it was hard-wired. My mother got a toenail fungus when they were a bitch to get rid of (before the oral med), and ended up using the bidet more to soak her feet than anything. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-differently-for-the-next-pandemic/1016073/55 "2025-04-01T15:03:26Z")
In South Africa, our less-than-beloved Health Minister banned alcohol and cigarettes, because both cause “people to socialise”. Prices went up through the roof, but illegally smuggled Zimbabwean cigarettes started flooding the market. Wine was available on the black market, if you knew a person, wine farms, after all, make money from selling wine. So next pandemic, I will stockpile cigarettes and booze, and make a profit out of government stupidity. (We did not have a toilet paper shortage here, not sure what that fear was about in the USA) ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-differently-for-the-next-pandemic/1016073/56 "2025-04-01T15:24:28Z")
So my understanding is there are several things that may help prevent the spread of infection that I’d do differently now that I didn’t know about before. For one thing, I’d have masks in storage because there was a mask storage when covid started. Also, gargling with a mouthwash containing [cetylpyridinium chloride](https://www.irsicaixa.es/en/cpc-mouthwashes-shown-humans-break-membrane-sars-cov-2-and-reduce-amount-active-virus-saliva) like Crest Pro Health before going out can help create an anti-microbial barrier in your mouth that helps prevent respiratory infections from taking hold. There are also oral probiotics/prebiotics that supposedly help make it harder for respiratory infections to take hold if they get in your mouth, as well as nasal sprays that do the same thing for protecting your nasal cavity. I would’ve used those before I went outside the house if I could do it all over again. Also I wouldn’t go on a cruise. Thats how I got covid the first time, which caused long covid symptoms. They even made everyone on the cruise take a covid test before the cruise and you had to test negative to be allowed onboard. Despite that, I still caught covid. I don’t know why I let my SIL talk me into going on that. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-differently-for-the-next-pandemic/1016073/57 "2025-04-01T18:45:43Z")
All those antibacterial precautions are nice. Unless the pandemic is viral. Which is sure the way to bet. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-differently-for-the-next-pandemic/1016073/58 "2025-04-01T20:44:05Z")
I was going to make a crack about “that’s what they want you to think” and then I realized the crazies don’t need any more encouragement, even in joke form. And now I’m depressed. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-differently-for-the-next-pandemic/1016073/59 "2025-04-02T12:13:05Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > I had good friends panning a wedding > [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Well, it’s easy to criticize… > [@RivkahChaya](#): > > What were they doing? standing outside and making mean comments about the bridal couture, and choice of groom? > > Seriously, this may be my favorite typo ever. See..post a quick message and go out of town for a few days, and come back to find your typos! 😃 Personally, I like picturing them panning as in panning for gold.. At the wedding. I’m not sure what they were looking for, though! ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-differently-for-the-next-pandemic/1016073/60 "2025-04-02T12:22:40Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > Personally, I like picturing them panning as in panning for gold.. At the wedding. And now I’m picturing them holding the entire venue up to their eyes and slowly moving it sideways. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-differently-for-the-next-pandemic/1016073.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-differently-for-the-next-pandemic/1016073.md?page=4)