A 78 year old Akron resident passed away from complications from the West Nile virus in his system Tuesday. A 47 year old Akron resident is in the hospital with complications from the virus in his system. This is the first case of a fatality of this kind in Summit County since 2008 and the first reported case of the West Nile virus in the area since 2002. There is only so much local health officials can do since there is currently no cure for the West Nile virus discovered yet. While one can choose to shame our failing economy, our failing health care system, etc. etc., there is a root connecting this that makes it all the more concerning- our nation's decline of support for science and the progresses it develops. It would be unfair to say that the only scientific development people prefer is technological, but in the past decade, science has gotten a bad rap from government leaders to religious figureheads to ambitious politicians. Of course, the scientist will continue to develop what he or she can and discover what he or she will that may maintain life longer and possibly find a cure for diseases. Let's explore this through a movie, shall we?
The movie is 1936's The Story of Louis Pasteur starring Paul Muni, Josephine Hutchinson, and Anita Louise. Paul Muni, noted leading character actor, plays Louis Pasteur, who in the nineteen century, proposes scientific theories deemed "radical" by his peers, especially by Dr. Charbonnet, played by Fritz Leiber Sr. Nonetheless, Pasteur continues with his work. His first theory is that if doctors and surgeons clean their instruments, there is a less chance their patients will die. He discovered this while looking at sour wine and the microscopic organisms that thrive it, and noticing, that when heated, the microbes die. The scientific community of France scoffs and says the microbes are the disease and not the cause. At the time, 30,000 women died in childbirth due to dirty instruments in France. Pasteur takes his case all the way to the Emperor Napoleon III, played by Walter Kingsford, and they test Pasteur's theory on Empress Eugiene, played by Iphigenie Castiglione. Her baby survives. Several years later, France is now a republic, and Pasteur has a new challenge- a cure for rabies, and Pasteur goes back to microbes as the cause. Can he find a cure in time before France's animal population dies? Will his detractors win this time? Of course, if you read your history books, you would know the answer, but if you see this dramatic staging, it will hold your interests steady.
Louis Pasteur, amidst the detractors and public opinion, still continued with his work. Like many scientists today, amidst the speculation and the debates, they still continue their work to find better treatments, cures, and understandings of the human condition. Scientists do a public service for their work, but they can only continue to find what they need through through support of a populace who values their contributions.
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