Shipboard virus
Nov. 19th, 2006 06:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zalenaI will admit that my s/f reading is a bit skimpy when it comes to deep space. I enjoy it, but I also find it deeply depressing. This latest news of cruise ships with viruses (you know the Norwalk virus or whatever its called that frequently has outbreaks on cruise ships) makes me think about why this kind of enclosed-space pressure is rarely present in s/f.
If we were talking about a sailing ships, infectious diseases were a problem then. Any time there is such a tightly enclosed system, it's very difficult to keep disease from spreading.
So, why is there not more s/f about enclosed spaces and infectious disease? Most of what I've read is about viruses from space infecting people on earth, not just your plain old, run-of-the-mill, nasty, shipboard virus. I mean the usual problems with viruses get a lot more complicated in Zero G (don't think I didn't ask about that as a little kid. My gpa who worked in aerospace, gave me an astronaut training manual rather than try to explain how astronauts went to the bathroom.)
Like I said, I could be wrong here, but it's just a thought. I also seem to be on a nautical kick these days.
If we were talking about a sailing ships, infectious diseases were a problem then. Any time there is such a tightly enclosed system, it's very difficult to keep disease from spreading.
So, why is there not more s/f about enclosed spaces and infectious disease? Most of what I've read is about viruses from space infecting people on earth, not just your plain old, run-of-the-mill, nasty, shipboard virus. I mean the usual problems with viruses get a lot more complicated in Zero G (don't think I didn't ask about that as a little kid. My gpa who worked in aerospace, gave me an astronaut training manual rather than try to explain how astronauts went to the bathroom.)
Like I said, I could be wrong here, but it's just a thought. I also seem to be on a nautical kick these days.
