Recent comments in /f/askscience

urzu_seven t1_j4zbbyc wrote

FYI the difference in "." and "," isn't a Europe/US difference. The UK also uses the decimal point "." as do most English speaking countries along with former British colonies such as India and Pakistan. Additionally Most of East Asia also uses the decimal point, including China, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia. Indonesia and Vietnam are the exceptions in that region. Most of Central America and the Caribbean does too, with Cuba and the Dominican Republic being exceptions (plus a few of the smaller islands and overseas territories of European countries).

Additionally, due largely to English's influence on their development, most major computer languages use the decimal point (and don't use thousand's separators at all). Some computers and programs CAN handle input as text that uses the decimal comma, but its not universal.

Long story short though, in English you're better off using the decimal point to avoid confusion.

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SWithnell t1_j4zawjh wrote

Vaccines are usually delivered via the intramuscular route. It's all about how the vaccine is taken up by the body. Training focusses on the upper arm and thigh, though the upper arm is by far the most convenient. There are other benefits - there are comparatively few nerves in the upper arm muscle, which is why people often feel very little. Those that refute that, well you just got unlucky and the vaccinator hit a nerve. If the vaccinator hits the bone (usually a lack of muscle tissue) you would not know.

The exception is some people (eg young children) may have vaccines delivered through the nose as a spray or drops. This is also linked to efficacy of delivery.

There are always exceptions, but delivering a vaccine other than the intramuscular route would not be a licenced use of the product. So yes, there are legal reasons too!

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L0cked4fun t1_j4zal5q wrote

Gonna hop on the top comment early to let people know not to let them jab your shoulder. I am taller than the person giving me my flu shot and it resulted in a weird angle that lead to them piercing my rotator cuff. Ended up with 2 months of rehab before the pain subsided.

I realized they cleaned a place high on my arm, but no one ever warns people to make sure it's in the deltoid* and not higher. Edit: wrong muscle

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gwmccull t1_j4z7shg wrote

BCG is not given intramuscularly, it is given intradermaly. From what I remember, an intradermal injection is given by inserting the needle into the first few layers of skin and then the injection is made in a pocket within the skin. Sometimes I think they will even insert the needle and then lift it to help form the pocket

If BCG is given subcutaneously (below the skin) then it can be dangerous to the patient

So it makes sense then that BCG could be given on the foot since it’s within the skin and not the muscle

Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BCG_vaccine

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deadcommand t1_j4z4aeh wrote

So this hits the pitfall many fall into of thinking evolution is a thing you choose. It’s not. Mutations, most of random, happen and the ones that are useful in some way, or at least not actively detrimental, get passed on.

The reality is that science still doesn’t really have good answers when it comes to how a species’ chromosome is divided up. Hell, there’s a lot about our own genetics that we still don’t understand. For example, introns are something of a mystery. We know what they are, we know what happens with them. But why? Still not sure.

So the answer to your question basically comes down to “we’re not entirely sure.”

Not satisfying, I know, but that’s science. The more you know, the more you realize you don’t know.

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