Last month we nearly buried my friend's grandfather due to complications of respiratory pneumonia. He stayed indoors much of the time, and wasn't ill very often. But he was getting on a bit in regards to advancing age. My friend had a bacterial chest infection at the time, and was coughing, "sputtering" and sneezing continually. I suggested to my friend that he give the visit a break this time, considering his grandfather was, what I called, vulnerable. His immune system was not as strong as it used to be, and a chest infection could have a much more "taxing" effect on his body than that of a younger individuals.

My friend decided not to take my advice this time and chose to visit anyway. Needless to say, his grandfather caught his "bug" and became quite ill. When I heard that his breathing was becoming laboured, I suggested that they immediately bring him to the nearest hospital. They did, and just in time. He remained in intensive care for nearly a month, on IV antibiotics, etc. It wasn't a pleasant experience, as I'm sure he can attest, but he lived to tell the tale.

Everybody is fine and well now. Yet, there's a philosophical side to this story. Were the actions of my friend grossly negligent? Of course, he would say that he was only visiting his grandfather, and I know he meant well by visiting, since he loves his grandfather. However, the fact remains that he nearly killed the gentleman, because he was "made aware" that his infection could seriously devastate his grandfather's health. Yet, he visited him anyway.

In certain respects, most of us have actions to answer for in regards to harming others and even killing, despite being unaware of it at the time.

The diseases we carry and our individual "governing" of it, is quite a debatable issue. Our microbial flora (what resides on and inside of us) have the ability to seriously harm and and even kill. By closely interacting with others during "infectious periods," we are effectively exposing them to not only everything which we harbour, but what our immune system is engineering defenses to, while their immune systems haven't yet had this chance.

It may sound a bit far fetched, but through individual ignorance of our "own" microbiological world (bacteria, viruses, parasites, etc.,), we are failing to "govern" our bodily residents (microbes). As a result, we are spreading disease throughout the planet, effectively killing without liability.

What would your defense be if you were brought before a court, accused of murder? Evidence: You merely kissed them twenty years ago and your bacterial infection caused them to recently develop untreatable cancer? Would your defense be "that you were unaware that your kiss could kill them, because at the time you had nothing wrong with you. According to your notes, you were treated for an ulcer. Surely, a stomach ulcer could do no harm. However, in this case, it did. The ulcer was caused by Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium, which is transmitted via saliva. The chronic acidity caused by this bacteria caused repeated tissue damage and eventually triggered cancer of the esophagus. Having to answer for something of this nature would be quite shocking. Yet, it's entirely plausible, considering we have the technological means of personal "microbial assessment. What we don't have are the excuses for our actions. But that will soon change as we discuss...