EMERGENCY Podcast: HANTAVIRUS Spreads, New mRNA SHOTS Developing

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]the H virus. This is taking the world by storm over the last few days and there have been some very interesting developments. Of course, a sense of panic is being propagated in the mainstream media, but we really want to dive into the actual facts so that you understand what's going on because there has even been talk about lockdowns, believe it or not, and a new pandemic.

[00:00:23]And we also want to really talk about a new development with Madna working on an mRNA shot which the financial markets were very interested in. So let's get right to the facts because that's what we want you to understand. Dr. Ben, do you want to start off with a brief about Hanta virus itself? So this is actually a very rare virus. So there are only about 25 to 30 infections in the United States a year. This virus causes really two kinds of illnesses. It can cause a very bad lung pneumonia like disease that is extremely dangerous and actually 30 to 40% fatal. So you're talking about a very dangerous virus. It can also produce a hemorrhagic syndrome where people get very very ill and again has a very high mortality. It's usually spread through rodents and other small creatures. It can become aerosolized by the materials around these creatures. It is extremely rare that there is human to human spread, but there is one type of ha virus called the Andes virus that apparently can cause human to human spread. And that is what they're worried about right now on this cruise ship.

[00:01:41]>> That's so true, Ben. And it has such a big cardiovascular effect, too, that people probably aren't aware of. And it's really a capillary leak syndrome where really the blood vessels become extremely leaky and this is causes sudden fluid buildup in the lungs like you spoke about and also just in the in the blood vessels around the body. you get this profound blood pressure drop which can cause things like cardiogenic shock, heart failure and that's really a feared complication of this especially with the Andes antivirus which is so unusual in that it does have some rare persontoperson communication or spread.

[00:02:16]>> It does indeed and I think the first thing that everybody needs to understand is that this is nothing new. It's been around for forever. I remember learning about it in medical school as you said Dr. Ben it's extremely rare. I believe according to official statistics across the world there might be a few thousand cases in the United States 20 to 30 and it is spread through contact with rodents rats which is always horrible to think about but rat pee and droppings getting into contact with that it's important isn't it Dr. Ben and Dr. Peter for everyone to understand this is not like the pandemic where something is potentially spread by air contact. You have to have very close contact to get this particular illness. In certain environments obviously like an enclosed space like a cruise ship are also predisposed to this.

[00:03:06]>> Absolutely. It's a whole on a a cruise ship like a boat you have delayed air exchange in the boat as you said contained air and probably not proper ventilation and that's a big issue in this case as well. Exactly. Yeah. Dr. Ben, sorry, you go on.

[00:03:20]>> Yeah. I think the biggest fear here is the lethality of this disease. So, that is probably what's making the news and getting everybody excited. It is a very dangerous virus. But again, I think what you're seeing is a a lot of excitement from the media be because of the pandemic that we went through. And I think there's you see a lot of stories where they're trying to maybe imply that this could be similar to that. And I can't stress enough how different this virus is, how it spreads. And the the idea that it would be anything like that, I think, is pretty ridiculous.

[00:04:03]>> It is completely ridiculous. And let's think about what's happened here. You've got a cruise ship now, which is in Europe. Last I saw, Canary Islands, that area of uh the south of Spain, it's docked. And yeah, our hearts go out. I mean, tragically, a few people have died. It's a terrible illness. And there's not too much in the way for for treatment, is there? I mean, it's mainly supportive like a lot of viruses. You can't really do too much, can you? Once anybody has this infection, >> unfortunately, not. It's really sort of a 48 hour cliff. People can go from having really just non-specific symptoms like a a viral illness, a a fever, a cough, and then really you can progress quite rapidly within 48 hours to sort of a a critical care illness where you would normally require intensive care unit level of care due to shock.

[00:04:49]>> Yep. And my understanding is that those people who are who have been removed from their ship with significant infection symptoms, they are in the intensive care unit, which doesn't surprise me. But again, for the average person listening, this is not like a pandemic which will spread rapidly to thousands or millions of people, it's a very different type of infection and that has to be remembered. And I I want to also focus on the role of the media and what's going on because this brought back shall I use the term PTSD from the from the pandemic because I don't know where they find these people from but these doctors that are wielded out by the media they are always the doctors who are hyper anxious they're propagating this sense of extreme fear.

[00:05:35]What is it gentlemen with this? Because people naturally I mean people who are not medically inclined who haven't got medical knowledge like we've been to medical school you'll see something like this and you will believe what people are telling you. Why do the media keep doing this? Because to me the role of a doctor is to be a calm head to be logical to calm people to reassure them.

[00:05:57]But that's not what we're seeing. What what is going on here? Well, I think it's it's the whole thing about eroded virus that kind of creates this fear because it kind of brings us back to sort of a plague style outbreak where suddenly it's going to be this uncontrolled spread and I think you know obviously social media and can amplify that but you see kind of these healthy young people who are otherwise doing well and collapse and it does bring back a lot of PTSD because I think people are looking back to the the previous pandemic where it started off with a few cases but again it's a completely different viral syndrome.

[00:06:31]I wouldn't forget that there are multiple news channels that did extraordinarily well during the pandemic and they did extraordinarily well continuing to talk about the virus, how dangerous it was, how many people were dying. So, I do think there are various channels out there that are waiting for things like this to get more views. I really do. I think that's part of the hype and they're always going to be able to find someone who is so anxious about this recurring that they're going to associate anything that happens like this and try to say, "Hey, this could in some way maybe end up being a pandemic like that." But if you look at the way this virus operates and how historically it has caused very small outbreaks that were very limited, it it would be in many ways crazy to think that this could turn into any kind of widespread pan tower.

[00:07:19]>> Yep. And I remember during the pandemic those counters on the media of deaths. I mean people who were not medically inclined who didn't understand that yes of course it's horrible but also during winter season even with the influenza virus. So many people pass away from that. It it's extraordinary especially at the extremes of age. And then they found out during the pandemic that the average age of death was in the well into the 80s. and it was higher than the life expectancy. So it was it was targeting mainly a certain group of people. But we have to say this, hirus is a bit different. It of course any virus is going to affect somebody with a weak immune system more. But it really does affect people who are otherwise healthy, doesn't it? It can if you come into close contact with that virus.

[00:08:10]>> Oh absolutely. No. It's a very dangerous virus. That that is clear. It is a very lethal virus. It can affect you whether you are chronically ill or whether you're a very healthy person. It can have a very high mortality rate. Again, the difference here, the main factor you have to think about is the ease of spread, the transmissibility. This is not a virus that spreads in any way like influenza or the SARS virus or any of those. It it is very different. It has very limited spreads in the past. I don't see it becoming in any way like like the other viruses we've seen.

[00:08:44]>> Well, I think it's rare enough that people don't know a whole lot about it.

[00:08:48]So, there is that kind of mystery there.

[00:08:49]And I think that's probably what people are feeding into and just some curiosity to unfortunately, you know, at the expense of some horrible deaths that's happened from it. But, you know, again, exposure to it and contracting it, I mean, it's just it's very it's very different and it's not, as you said, it's a it's a rare viral syndrome and and really prior past knowledge of it.

[00:09:10]You have to be sort of cleaning these heavily infested, you know, cabins, you know, sheds, attics, or barns that have rodent droppings in it and inhaling the aerosolized rodent urine or feces. And I think that is inherently a risk factor probably for some other viral syndromes as well. But you know again it's it's a lack of knowledge a lot of people have and the curiosity I think that'sing this >> that's it and that brings me nicely on to the next point which I was curious to get you you fine gentleman's opinion on and that is where this came from because I do think as you we've already touched upon people have this natural fear of rodents and rats and for good reason because they do spread infection nobody wants rats but if you look at the news from the cruise ships coming out at least what I was seeing they were emphasizing that this happened because tourists went to some area where they may have had some contact and then got back on the cruise ship. But I would contend that you can't be so sure about that because since ancient times, ships have been notorious for harboring rats.

[00:10:13]So there's a fair chance that there were rats on this ship already.

[00:10:17]>> I don't know. I'm sure they're going to figure it out eventually because it's such an important story. I could certainly see that happening within the the cruise ship that there could have been it could have been started on the cruise ship, but they did go to multiple places where it is known to exist this virus. So, it's a tough call. We'll find out or at least we very well should find out cuz I think it's important, but it's it's a very interesting question.

[00:10:42]>> It is. Yeah. Eventually, hopefully we will get there. And let's move on now to the next topic which has been a bit disturbing as far as I'm concerned and that is news that Madna is working on an mRNA shot and apparently have been for for some time. And what I found concerning, and I'm just going to I'm going to pull up some headlines here, is that you would think this would be a medical story, but all across the media, you can go, anybody's welcome to go on Google and check this out. They were looking at it all from the financial standpoint. So, I'm going to read you some headlines here. How hivirus made Madna a must own stock again from 2 days ago. Madna flags work on antivirus shots before the cruise outbreak. They said that they were already working on this.

[00:11:32]Why is Madna stock surging today? Panta virus. What to know? How the stocks how the stock of Madna has led to a bigger rally? Madna stock rises on positive data. I mean, positive data for potential efficacy. I mean, all of this these headlines here, they're looking at it from a financial standpoint. I mean, this is a human tragedy, but what is all of this? And I'm going to throw this out there because I'm sure our audience is interested as well. Like how would this work? Supposing an mRNA shot came out.

[00:12:01]Would they then say, "Oh, if you're going to go on a cruise ship, you should get the shot." Will they say you have to have it? If you're going to go on a cruise ship, will it be encouraged? Is this even feasible? What's the efficacy going to be? I mean, there's so many questions. And why are they doing mRNA?

[00:12:16]So, let's let's really discuss this. And it it's it's a it is something we have to ask questions about. This is very confusing to me as well because actually you can go to Madna's site and you can see which shots they're actively working on. They do post that and what's really odd is that many of the shots they're working on. Kind of makes sense there for viruses that are very widespread like RSV and it kind of makes sense why you'd create a shot for that at least from a business perspective. Why would you create a shot for a virus that is so rare like antivirus and why have you been working on it for the last few years? That is what is so confusing to me. It has these small outbreaks around the world that are very rare. Why be working on a shot for that? So that is really where I look at that. It's just it's a headscratcher. Well, yeah, it is scary, Ben, to talk about because are we heading towards a future where like every emerging virus creates now a pressure for like travel mandates and >> you know did the prior pandemic you know normalize the idea of having to have a shot in order to travel around the world.

[00:13:27]>> Exactly. And I would have thought if somebody had mentioned it years ago that this was a stuff of fantasy. But I think everybody out there who values autonomy, bodily autonomy, and has seen what has unfolded over the last few years. I will never forget I actually went to work in a hospital in New York which actually was hard hit at the beginning of the pandemic. And I will never forget working a day and taking care of patients, some patients who had the virus. And I was actually coming out of the hospital at the end of a very busy day. I was really hungry and I remember going across the street to a restaurant and I was denied entry to the restaurant because I didn't have a card. And I was thinking, what is this? I mean, how can you possibly call this science? I have been taking care of patients all days. I have super high antibbody levels myself because I'm testing them and you're denying me access. And it's a real question. And I think people have to raise these concerns from the beginning.

[00:14:27]Are we going to see a future where there will be enough hype about this that they will insist that anybody going to certain destinations or on cruise ships is going to have to receive a shot. I just can't imagine that would fly especially when the although you look at the pandemic and you wonder that being said as time went on I do think you saw a very aggressive backlash to that and I can't imagine when you look at the data behind the ha virus I don't think you could say in any way that it's a reasonable thing that you should get a shot against a virus that's this rare I mean to me it's it it sounds crazy so >> let's hope so and what about the efficacy might not be there I How would you realistically I mean aside from the fact that from a purely business perspective having a shot for a very rare illness even if it had a lot of efficacy how would that make sense from a commercial standpoint because these are financial companies they they have to have a bottom line reason to do things but also how would you test this I want to throw this out there to you if you have a shot which clearly they're testing how would you test it against this type of really rare virus would you give it to a bunch of people and then say go to this rodent area and see what happens. How would that even work?

[00:15:41]>> Great question. And the other thing you got to think is this is probably not a stupid company, right? They do their homework. They do their research. If they're developing this shot, they must have a reason for it. They must have thought it through. So that makes me wonder. Well, there's a really a fine line between sort of preparing for a possible pandemic or really just this fear-driven commercialization which which again likely, you know, is a is a definite scenario where people get scared of this as we talked about the reasons why and and that, you know, will inherently drive sales. But it brings up a bigger question is just now does every emerging viral syndrome that comes out, does it get an mRNA platform attached to it? I mean it's such a quicker way of making the shot now compared to in the past and so is that going to be the situation now where every time there is some type of virus that there is going to be an mRNA shot de for that?

[00:16:36]>> It's a great question. You know the other thing to know about this virus as well is it's a it's a single stranded RNA virus. So it it mutates very quickly much like some of the other viruses in that category. So again, creating a shot that's going to be effective against this would be extraordinarily hard. And I think you'd run into the same thing you ran into before, especially with the pandemic, where you saw the shot being more and more ineffective as time went on.

[00:17:02]>> Yeah. And I'm sure it would cost billions as well to make a shot. And imagine investing that money into cleaner ships or putting effort into thinking where people go, other precautions in confined environments. So it's a very important discussion. I'm sure that you all watching have some thoughts as well. Please comment down below. Okay. Well, closing statements from each of us. We hope you've learned something. Dr. Ben, do you want to go first?

[00:17:26]>> This is a very dangerous virus, but it's not something I would lose sleep over.

[00:17:33]It is very rare. And actually, what's been proven to be the best treatment against viruses like this is sanitation.

[00:17:40]So cleaning areas regularly, not allowing infestations in certain areas has been proven to be the best way to prevent it. So hopefully that's where we'll focus our attention in our time.

[00:17:51]>> Great point, Ben. So really, as you know, is a is a bigger lesson here from these viral symptoms like antivirus. I mean, we talk about like the great threat to overall like human health, but it's really may not be this alone. It really is the worsening metabolic health we probably don't talk about. And it it's it's crazy how these kind of outbreaks get such big publicity and make such news where we have such other bigger issues going on in the in our world right now with regards to worsening metabolic health and and modern causes of inflammation.

[00:18:25]>> Yeah, very well said. Yeah, imagine we had this much focus and effort to overcome something when it comes to the metabolic health catastrophe that we have, the obesity epidemic, inflammation, insulin resistance, all of these diseases that are hitting people at a younger age. But yet, it's things like this that grab the international attention. It it is really bizarre and I would finish to echo a lot of those points. I do not think that this is anything you need to fear. Obviously, our hearts go out to anybody affected.

[00:18:54]This virus has been around for a long time. Avoiding contact with those bad potential areas where rodents have been would be the number one way to avoid this. And also take sensible precautions in confined environments. Take care of your metabolic health. Always make sure that you're sensible. Keep your guard up. Keep your guard up to everything else in general, including like we've mentioned everything you hear on the media, which frequently is designed to promote a sense of extreme anxiety. also not good for your health and also be suspicious even when you hear we've talked about some of these stories with medical developments always think well what's going on in the background is this something that I need to strongly consider other conflicts of interest it's very sad but as three doctors we strongly believe that it's good to do that we know that you're here because you are already sensible taking good care of your health and wellbeing we hope that you found this helpful please feel free to leave a comment down below We really enjoy hearing from you. Also, check in the links down below for our natural health and wellbeing store which we are very excited to be expanding.

[00:20:01]Ohighwwellness.com if you're in the USA, North America, ohighwwellness.co. If you're in the UK, Europe, and if you're in the UK, we're very excited by our partnership with Holland and Barrett, one of Europe's leading natural health brands. All those links down below. Take care. Keep going everyone and we'll speak in the next episode.