• Question: what is the deadlest thig known to man??????

    Asked by vorn20 to Adam, Joanna, Louise S, Louise W, Marcus on 16 Nov 2012.
    • Photo: Joanna Giles

      Joanna Giles answered on 16 Nov 2012:

      Hi Vorn, the malaria parasite is one of the biggest killers on the planet, killing 1 person every minute. This parasite is carried by the mosquito and infects the human blood to get to the liver and then reproduces in our livers – so perhaps the mosquito would be the biggest danger to man. Malaria has killed billions, killing 700,000 people in 2010 alone – so I think it could possibly be the most deadliest thing known to man! Especially as we don’t have any 100% guaranteed vaccine or treatments to it.

      Although I wouldn’t want to be stranded at sea with a hungry great white shark either!

    • Photo: Louise Stanley

      Louise Stanley answered on 16 Nov 2012:

      Hi,

      I think the deadliest thing in biology is probably a virus. Spanish Flu virus killed 50 million people between 1918 and 1920 (just after the first world war). That was 3% of the world population at the time and is probably one of the biggest natural disasters for humans ever.

      Ebola virus kills over 70% of people it infects and is probably the deadliest virus on the planet. Luckily for everyone else it is actually so deadly that infected people often can’t travel very far before they die so it doesn’t spread very much.

      The deadliest toxin in the world is produced by a bacteria and is called Botulinum toxin. 5 teaspoons of the toxin would be enough to kill everyone on the planet! But weirdly it is used in the beauty industry in very small amounts and is called BoTox! Tiny, tiny amounts are injected into the skin and they paralyze the muscles and stop wrinkles! Crazy people!

    • Photo: Louise Walkin

      Louise Walkin answered on 18 Nov 2012:

      I think anything that we cannot yet cure or manage is deadly, there are so many to mention! Whether they be diseases that we catch or are programmed into our genes, or even scary animals that we might be exposed to, I think it’s quite hard to say. Something that is deadly to one person might not even be scary to the next person!

    • Photo: Adam Paige

      Adam Paige answered on 19 Nov 2012:

      Daleks?

      To be serious, there are lots of very deadly infections and disorders. In the Western world heart disease and cancer are some of the biggest threats to health. In the developing world infectious disease is massively dangerous. If you meant deadliest creature rather than a virus, then mosquitos (malaria), tsetse fly (sleeping sickness) or the flea (bubonic plague) are likely to be the worst.

    • Photo: Marcus Wilson

      Marcus Wilson answered on 20 Nov 2012:

      the other disease mentioned above do kill lots of people, but Rabies is probably the most dangerous with about a 100% fatality rate, once you start showing symptoms (hydrophobia, deleria, paralysis, seisure).

      We havent alll been killed by rabies becaused we have a vaccine, if you take this after being bitten its very treatable. We also have lots of animal screening so its not usually a problem in developed countries, but is still a deadly disease in the third world.

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