An interesting hypothetical.

[bojackx]

First of all, I know this is almost definitely never going to ever happen, I thought it was quite an interesting moral dilemma anyway.

If there was a disease that:
- appears at random in random individuals
- is only detectable once this person is born and not in the womb
- is not inherited, but highly contagious
- does not affect the carrier at all, but anyone who catches it from a carrier develops a condition that has no cure, causes them immense pain throughout their life and causing them to die at around 40
- the people with the condition are not contagious, only the original carriers
- it occurs in about 1% of people

What do you think should be done with these people?

Kill them once they're confirmed to have it? Place them in a sanctuary full of other carriers? What do you think?

EDIT: Since a few people asked, I will clarify, the carriers cannot be affected by other carriers so won't ever catch the condition if they were all together somewhere.

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

If they are placed in a sancturary with others, then will the others develop symptoms?

I would also unfortunately kill them... it is the only humane thing to do! One life to save many... :/

 

[MetalMagpie]

Place them in a sanctuary of other carriers while science tries to devise a way to immunise everyone else. (After all, the original carriers are immune, so that's a start.)

 

[RustlessPotato]

They can live if they want to, leave their friends behind. Cuz their friends aren't sick and if they aren't sick for them we should be kind.

 

[Matt King]

can they give it to other "carriers" because if no surely just create areas just for them

 

[Blunderboy]

Place them in a sanctuary of other carriers while science tries to devise a way to immunise everyone else. (After all, the original carriers are immune, so that's a start.)

This. It's not really much of a dilema at all.

They can live if they want to, leave their friends behind. Cuz their friends aren't sick and if they aren't sick for them we should be kind.

This however is hilarious. Thank you strange potato man!

 

[Evil Smurf]

study the germ and save all the people!

 

[Olas]

Here's an idea.

I imagine it would work both ways, right?

 

[Wolf In A Bear Suit]

They can live if they want to, leave their friends behind. Cuz their friends aren't sick and if they aren't sick for them we should be kind.

Safety Dance eh? You sir are indeed a worthy adversary

 

[Adeptus Aspartem]

Hum, though i think humanity would just erease the problem by killing them.

Also.. imprison them for their whole life doesn't sound better at all. Also where would you put it? Who wants a camp/village full of highly contagious people next to him?
What would happen if some of them didn't want to be imprisoned and flee?

Sorry, but in that scenario the lives of the many outweigh the - i assume - few carries way to much as that i'd risk thousands of people to suffer immense pain and a horrible death.

 

[Thaliur]

First of all, I know this is almost definitely never going to ever happen, I thought it was quite an interesting moral dilemma anyway.

If there was a disease that:
- appears at random in random individuals
- is only detectable once this person is born and not in the womb
- is not inherited, but highly contagious
- does not affect the carrier at all, but anyone who catches it from a carrier develops a condition that has no cure, causes them immense pain throughout their life and causing them to die at around 40
- the people with the condition are not contagious, only the original carriers

What do you think should be done with these people?

Kill them once they're confirmed to have it? Place them in a sanctuary full of other carriers? What do you think?

Quarantine of course! Now where is that dilemma you mentioned?

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

Quarantine those infected ASAP. While in said quarantine take various samples and study the blood, cells, and other genetic makeup involving the disease. Get to know every detail of it so a cure could potentially be made

 

[manic_depressive13]

Nothing can really be done.

Creating quarantined areas to contain the carriers will lead to economic issues, issues of human rights and of course some of them may try to escape.

Killing them at birth (which I don't have any moral qualms with) would just result in a lot of home births because mothers will be afraid of losing their children.

Presuming there's no vaccine, the only thing to do is accept that these 'carriers' are the next stage of evolution. We do, after all, need a solution to over-population.

 

[itsthesheppy]

I'm not sure how any answer other than 'quarantine while we figure out a cure or preventive measure' could possibly be considered.

 

[Loonyyy]

They can live if they want to, leave their friends behind. Cuz their friends aren't sick and if they aren't sick for them we should be kind.

The best.

Unless it's genetically predictable, we're kinda screwed, they'd just keep popping up. Locking them up doesn't really help, since they're presumably always being born.

 

[shrekfan246]

Now hold on. So only the carriers, who don't actually sport the disease, are contagious? How is it supposed to be contracted in the first place? It would have to have some sort of beginning point, either being airborne or food-borne or something. But then would the people it infected be considered the carriers, thus able to infect others, or would they have the disease itself, thus being harmless to others? And if it's not contracted by some outside influence, how did it begin in the first place?

I find it logically difficult to reconcile the thought that a disease would just randomly appear in completely different locations of the world, at completely different times, with no relation other than the symptoms, even for a hypothetical situation.

Now, with that out of the way: If a carrier isn't affected by the disease, they can all be sectioned off with each other. But, given the stipulations put forth by the OP, then after enough time every person on the planet would become a carrier for the disease, and would thus be made immune to same disease.

 

[bojackx]

Now hold on. So only the carriers, who don't actually sport the disease, are contagious? How is it supposed to be contracted in the first place? It would have to have some sort of beginning point, either being airborne or food-borne or something. But then would the people it infected be considered the carriers, thus able to infect others, or would they have the disease itself, thus being harmless to others? And if it's not contracted by some outside influence, how did it begin in the first place?

I find it logically difficult to reconcile the thought that a disease would just randomly appear in completely different locations of the world, at completely different times, with no relation other than the symptoms, even for a hypothetical situation.

Now, with that out of the way: If a carrier isn't affected by the disease, they can all be sectioned off with each other. But, given the stipulations put forth by the OP, then after enough time every person on the planet would become a carrier for the disease, and would thus be made immune to same disease.

The carriers carry the condition which causes the pain and early death, but don't possess any symptoms, so I suppose they have a resistance to the disease they carry.

Also, as I said in the OP, those who catch the condition don't get the resistance, so not everyone would get immune to it, unless you mean everyone who doesn't carry it dies out.

Remember, it's only hypothetical.

 

[mirage202]

Quarantine for sure, no dilemma there.

The dilemma comes into play when having to decide if they should be poked, prodded and dissected as means to formulate a preventative cure for the rest of us.

 

[Eddie the head]

I'm not sure how any answer other than 'quarantine while we figure out a cure or preventive measure' could possibly be considered.

Well. . . No I can't think of one. I guess where those suites like the people form Star trek or the people form mass effect who probably stole that form star trek, who probably stole that form someone else, who probably stole that form someone else.

 

[Navvan]

Confinement/Sanctuary/Isolation would be the most humane route. Quarantines were developed for a reason a long time ago.