--- Julia Thompson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > "Robert J. Chassell" wrote: > > > Perhaps continually releasing new microbes will > >have the effect; but I > > think the novel employs some literary > >exaggeration. Is it not true > > that in practice, in a closed community, you don't > >get colds, not > > after the beginning? When he was in the navy, > Fred spent months under > > water in a nuclear submarine. He said that after > >a short time, no one caught any more colds. > > Once everyone is exposed to all the available > microbes and dealt with > them, if no new microbes are introduced, that's it. > Right?
Pretty much. If the isolated community were suddenly placed under a tremendous stress, a few people's immune systems would probably experience a decline in efficiency, and the person would get sick with whatever opportunistic microbes were hanging about. > I guess the opposite of a submarine would be a > toddler room in a day-care center.... <LOL> All my teacher friends complained of coming down with cold after cold the first several years of work; now they have immune systems of steel! Debbi Quite Unhygienic Maru ;) __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search http://shopping.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
