Ebola

[Vitro]

Why is there so much worry and concern with Ebola? I haven't looked into this outbreak in great deal but my understanding is that a relatively small amount of people have been infected in almost a year, in an underdeveloped country with most likely inadequte facilities for dealing with outbreaks. Compared to other epidemics, the number is almost insignificant.

Is it just because the disease is extremely deadly once contracted with no current vaccine?

 

[Loublaze]

Why is there so much worry and concern with Ebola? I haven't looked into this outbreak in great deal but my understanding is that a relatively small amount of people have been infected in almost a year, in an underdeveloped country with most likely inadequte facilities for dealing with outbreaks. Compared to other epidemics, the number is almost insignificant.

Is it just because the disease is extremely deadly once contracted with no current vaccine?

Er you think? Quite obvious my man.

Im not worried.

 

[Shamwow]

Why is there so much worry and concern with Ebola? I haven't looked into this outbreak in great deal but my understanding is that a relatively small amount of people have been infected in almost a year, in an underdeveloped country with most likely inadequte facilities for dealing with outbreaks. Compared to other epidemics, the number is almost insignificant.

Is it just because the disease is extremely deadly once contracted with no current vaccine?

Probably that and the way it kills you (by bleeding from all the holes)

 

[Flamingo Purple]

Why is there so much worry and concern with Ebola? I haven't looked into this outbreak in great deal but my understanding is that a relatively small amount of people have been infected in almost a year, in an underdeveloped country with most likely inadequte facilities for dealing with outbreaks. Compared to other epidemics, the number is almost insignificant.

Is it just because the disease is extremely deadly once contracted with no current vaccine?

The amount it kills, the way it kills and the rate it is spreading are all factors into why it's getting so much attention.

 

[Loublaze]

The Liberian man (Mr. Duncan) who died in a Dallas hospital will be cremated. His situation was handled badly. A vaccine was only administered to him days after he was admitted. A police officer who entered his apartment now has Ebola and is due to recieve a blood transfusion from one of the doctors who were successfully treated for Ebola about a month ago. The victim's girlfriend, son and two of her nephews are being quarantined in the contaminated apartment where Mr. Duncan fell ill. They won't be allowed to leave until October 19. They spent a week in the apartment with sweat stained sheets and towels that Duncan used. They have just been moved to a private home.

 

[Ole'sbodyguard]

Why is there so much worry and concern with Ebola? I haven't looked into this outbreak in great deal but my understanding is that a relatively small amount of people have been infected in almost a year, in an underdeveloped country with most likely inadequte facilities for dealing with outbreaks. Compared to other epidemics, the number is almost insignificant.

Is it just because the disease is extremely deadly once contracted with no current vaccine?

It's worrying because if you contract you have a good chance of death. Some reports say 50% who contract the disease die, others have a higher. It's also the largest outbreak of the disease since it was discovered in the 70's with the death toll around 3500(I think it is higher now) and for the first time cases are arising out of Africa and in developed nations with Europe and the US diagnosing sufferers.

That's why people are concerned. It's the first time it is hitting the West and it is a killer.

 

[Ole'sbodyguard]

The Liberian man (Mr. Duncan) who died in a Dallas hospital will be cremated. His situation was handled badly. A vaccine was only administered to him days after he was admitted. A police officer who entered his apartment now has Ebola and is due to recieve a blood transfusion from one of the doctors who were successfully treated for Ebola about a month ago. The victim's girlfriend, son and two of her nephews are being quarantined in the contaminated apartment where Mr. Duncan fell ill. They won't be allowed to leave until October 19. They spent a week in the apartment with sweat stained sheets and towels that Duncan used. They have just been moved to a private home.

It sounds like the Spanish nurse also contracted Ebola because of the precautions that were taken after the missionary came back. The fact that the west are not taking the right precautions is a tad concerning when Nigeria had it nipped in the bud and well organised.

 

[Loublaze]

It sounds like the Spanish nurse also contracted Ebola because of the precautions that were taken after the missionary came back. The fact that the west are not taking the right precautions is a tad concerning when Nigeria had it nipped in the bud and well organised.

For once Nigeria and 'well organized' can be used in the same sentence!

You're right. I guess it comes from inexperience, the cases are very isolated in the west.

 

[Sir Matt]

It sounds like the Spanish nurse also contracted Ebola because of the precautions that were taken after the missionary came back. The fact that the west are not taking the right precautions is a tad concerning when Nigeria had it nipped in the bud and well organised.

To be fair, it was the first case of Ebola in the US when it happened. Obviously the response should have been better, but it has largely improved since then. Still, the case in the US has likely sparked a big change in response and preparation for Ebola in the future. It will probably spur investment in drugs that combat it or prevent it.

The Liberian man (Mr. Duncan) who died in a Dallas hospital will be cremated. His situation was handled badly. A vaccine was only administered to him days after he was admitted. A police officer who entered his apartment now has Ebola and is due to recieve a blood transfusion from one of the doctors who were successfully treated for Ebola about a month ago. The victim's girlfriend, son and two of her nephews are being quarantined in the contaminated apartment where Mr. Duncan fell ill. They won't be allowed to leave until October 19. They spent a week in the apartment with sweat stained sheets and towels that Duncan used. They have just been moved to a private home.

The virus, according to http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/lab-bio/res/psds-ftss/ebola-eng.php, does not survive very long at room temperature. The girlfriend would likely be the most susceptible since she would have cared for him rather than the kids.

 

[Loublaze]

To be fair, it was the first case of Ebola in the US when it happened. Obviously the response should have been better, but it has largely improved since then. Still, the case in the US has likely sparked a big change in response and preparation for Ebola in the future. It will probably spur investment in drugs that combat it or prevent it.



The virus, according to http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/lab-bio/res/psds-ftss/ebola-eng.php, does not survive very long at room temperature. The girlfriend would likely be the most susceptible since she would have cared for him rather than the kids.

I get that, but its kind of strange how the officer who went into his apartment got Ebola.

 

[Sir Matt]

I get that, but its kind of strange how the officer who went into his apartment got Ebola.

He didn't. http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/10/09/6188006/deputy-showing-no-signs-of-ebola.html

 

[Loublaze]

He didn't. http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/10/09/6188006/deputy-showing-no-signs-of-ebola.html

Thats good news

 

[barros]

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/09/health/ebola-duncan-death-cause/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Jesse Jackson on the case, he must see a big pay day for him or one of his family members in this.

I read somewhere if is not an US citizen then US can send the person back to their country and if they don't then they will try to treat the person but they are not responsible

 

[Kill 'em all]

The main concern for me is if this outbreak allows the ebola virus into a form that allows airborne transmission. The longer it keeps spreading, the greater the chances that it will evolve into something which we can't control.

 

[TwoSheds]

First time it's hit the major cities rather than just little hick backwaters as well isn't it?

 

[Arruda]

It's very unlikely, if possible at all, that Ebola becomes "airborne". You can easily find articles of so-called "experts" fearing it though. Then you look at the justification and it's generic crap.

It has a relatively stable genetic structure (for a virus), and never a virus changed it's mode of transmission, I think. Flu might be an exception, but it's a very particular virus in the way it reproduces and how it's prone to change.

 

[JustAFan]

The main concern for me is if this outbreak allows the ebola virus into a form that allows airborne transmission. The longer it keeps spreading, the greater the chances that it will evolve into something which we can't control.

Of course as it mutates it could also become less lethal, the scaremongers in the news media don't mention that

 

[JustAFan]

I read somewhere if is not an US citizen then US can send the person back to their country and if they don't then they will try to treat the person but they are not responsible

Not heard this and certainly no attempt was made to put this guy back on a jet

 

[DatIrishFella]

Of course as it mutates it could also become less lethal, the scaremongers in the news media don't mention that

The odds of it becoming airborne are minuscule, like, really minuscule. I'd be much more worried about influenza mutating and becoming resistant to our last line of medication.

 

[ryansgirl]

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/09/health/ebola-duncan-death-cause/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Jesse Jackson on the case, he must see a big pay day for him or one of his family members in this.

I understand Jesse Jackson is championing this because the unfortunate man Duncan was African and his African relatives live in the USA. However, he is politicising this and is wrong.

The hospital that Duncan went to is a private one, substantially expensive and no matter how much anyone thinks that anybody should be allowed free treatment immediately at a hospital because of their lack of finances, it can't work that way in reality. Duncan was not a US citizen, not sure if he had a green card but he may have been a US resident. Legally Jesse Jackson can't make a case against the hospital or the state of Texas or the USA.

If somebody who is not a citizen turns up to visit relatives in a country then that does not entitle them to have immediate medical attention especially when Duncan's symptoms were by normal and reasonable standards apparently non threatening. He had a high fever, it could have been flu.

Medical staff in the US, just like every western country, are under increasing pressures as more people present to them without having health insurance. There is no such thing as 'free' medical care, somebody somewhere is paying for it. Hospital queues are long in most western hospitals and again a big part of this is those who pay for their health coverage will go to a private hospital and so they should if they pay the expensive premiums. But many more will go to the public system because they don't want to pay for private health insurance.

I've worked in countries not my own and I can tell you that even paying into these countries' health insurance schemes, public or private, never guaranteed me instant access to top medical care. I've paid a fortune in Japanese national health insurance for example yet if I had ever been hospitalised would have had to pay each day for meals, etc.

The big fees didn't even cover basics in the eventuality I had to stay in hospital there. Luckily that never happened but I can tell Americans and others that while the Japanese have access to a national healthcare system they pay ridiculously high prices for it. Even the students and unemployed have to pay into it.

In my own country all the bitching about waiting for medical attention, for operations etc is down to the fact that most of those who can afford private coverage if they are willing to prioritise their spending, refuse to get it. So they crowd out the public system where those who can't afford private coverage are the natural customers.

When you have health systems where some (including those of modest means with spending priorities that are future oriented and not consumption oriented) heavily subsidise the higher amount of people who don't pay much or don't pay at all - that's what you get. Pressure on health services. Mr Duncan was not a priority for logical reasons. Jesse Jackson should give some of his own considerable wealth to Mr Duncan's family.

 

[senorgregster]

I read somewhere if is not an US citizen then US can send the person back to their country and if they don't then they will try to treat the person but they are not responsible

Get different reading sources. they would never put someone with ebola symptoms back on a plane. Just not going to happen.

 

[senorgregster]

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/09/health/ebola-duncan-death-cause/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Jesse Jackson on the case, he must see a big pay day for him or one of his family members in this.

Just read this. The only piece that is concerning is the travel history being lost/missed by the docs. That is a massive feck up. All other differences were just because of the specific case. It's absurd to think the hospital sent an ebola patient back home because he was black and uninsured.

 

[Nitsche]

A Texas health worker who treated the guy who died has tested positive for Ebola. Another sloppy mistake like the nurse in Spain?

 

[Ole'sbodyguard]

A Texas health worker who treated the guy who died has tested positive for Ebola. Another sloppy mistake like the nurse in Spain?

Looks like it. According to the news article on BBC, a top federal health official has said that safety protocols had been breached.

 

[barros]

Get different reading sources. they would never put someone with ebola symptoms back on a plane. Just not going to happen.

Military airplane would be my guess

 

[JustAFan]

Military airplane would be my guess

Never heard if this happening care to share your sources?

 

[Whiteside1985]

Have the US of A declared a 'war on viruses' yet?

 

[JustAFan]

Have the US of A declared a 'war on viruses' yet?

No it's France's turn

 

[senorgregster]

No it's France's turn

They quit already. Those viruses are scary and this latest one actually makes you shit your pants.

 

[barros]

Never heard if this happening care to share your sources?

Never happened but they could do it if the health department decided, I will try to find that article to post here

 

[ryansgirl]

Just read this. The only piece that is concerning is the travel history being lost/missed by the docs. That is a massive feck up. All other differences were just because of the specific case. It's absurd to think the hospital sent an ebola patient back home because he was black and uninsured.

Put yourself in the hospital's position.

Texas is ground zero for illegal immigration into the US, the past six months or so (not to mention the floods of all kinds of illegal entrants for years) has seen a flood of children from South America sent by their parents to borderhop into Texas. These kids have diseases from TB to rotorvirus to forms of SARS and other serious infectious diseases. They are not the only ones with serious infectious diseases, adults who have come from Mexico as well as other countries have been entering the border illegally with their infectious diseases for years.

So the hospitals in Texas including those in Dallas have been under pressure for some years now not only by people presenting themselves with TB etc which had been eradicated in the US and other western countries by the 60s but presenting themselves without having any expectations of paying. Medical care is never free, others have to heavily subsidise those who don't pay. We can get all politically correct and say of course those who don't pay, can't pay and they should be given free care but the fact is health services cannot keep doing this and maintaining the desired standards.

Mr Duncan comes in, doesn't tell them he has taken a ride from Liberia/Brussels/Washington DC or wherever the other American city was because he knows he has a big chance of having Ebola. Dallas and other places in Texas have significant African populations who have migrated or been given refugee status - a non black hospital staff member wouldn't ask too many questions of an African man turning up to hospital for reasons of racial sensitivity.

All the Jesse Jackson race card playing conveniently overlooks the fact that the hospital staff would not have wanted to racially profile. From what is known they didn't know he had come from Liberia recently and that's why his symptoms were not thought to be from Ebola especially as the fever could have come from any number of flu strains for a start.

Jesse Jackson's threatening support for a lawsuit against the hospital on the grounds of supposed racial discrimination is simply racist dogwhistling on his part. Drugs to treat such severe diseases as Ebola are still in the developmental stage and are incredibly expensive.

If Mr Duncan had been an American citizen with actual health insurance as opposed to being a Liberian citizen who went to the US to get treated for free he would have got treated with the Zmapp drug just like the Americans who were brought home from Africa were.

 

[stretford_oslo]

Never heard if this happening care to share your sources?

The Norwegian woman who's with ebola was flown home in a small military plane of some sort.

 

[senorgregster]

The Norwegian woman who's with ebola was flown home in a small military plane of some sort.

I think he meant from the USA back to their home country. There's probably plenty of examples of flying sick people home on special flights.

 

[senorgregster]

Put yourself in the hospital's position.

Texas is ground zero for illegal immigration into the US, the past six months or so (not to mention the floods of all kinds of illegal entrants for years) has seen a flood of children from South America sent by their parents to borderhop into Texas. These kids have diseases from TB to rotorvirus to forms of SARS and other serious infectious diseases. They are not the only ones with serious infectious diseases, adults who have come from Mexico as well as other countries have been entering the border illegally with their infectious diseases for years.

So the hospitals in Texas including those in Dallas have been under pressure for some years now not only by people presenting themselves with TB etc which had been eradicated in the US and other western countries by the 60s but presenting themselves without having any expectations of paying. Medical care is never free, others have to heavily subsidise those who don't pay. We can get all politically correct and say of course those who don't pay, can't pay and they should be given free care but the fact is health services cannot keep doing this and maintaining the desired standards.

Mr Duncan comes in, doesn't tell them he has taken a ride from Liberia/Brussels/Washington DC or wherever the other American city was because he knows he has a big chance of having Ebola. Dallas and other places in Texas have significant African populations who have migrated or been given refugee status - a non black hospital staff member wouldn't ask too many questions of an African man turning up to hospital for reasons of racial sensitivity.

All the Jesse Jackson race card playing conveniently overlooks the fact that the hospital staff would not have wanted to racially profile. From what is known they didn't know he had come from Liberia recently and that's why his symptoms were not thought to be from Ebola especially as the fever could have come from any number of flu strains for a start.

Jesse Jackson's threatening support for a lawsuit against the hospital on the grounds of supposed racial discrimination is simply racist dogwhistling on his part. Drugs to treat such severe diseases as Ebola are still in the developmental stage and are incredibly expensive.

If Mr Duncan had been an American citizen with actual health insurance as opposed to being a Liberian citizen who went to the US to get treated for free he would have got treated with the Zmapp drug just like the Americans who were brought home from Africa were.

The link I was referencing stated the hospital had mixed messages on their knowledge of his travel. If someone knew that is a major feck up. Having seen the systems in place it doesn't surprise me the info was lost.

I disagree with your last 2 paragraphs. Again, there is 0 chance they would send an individual away knowing he has ebola. Once he came back in he got an expensive treatment which like all others is experimental. At this point it is impossible to say if one is better. Yes it took time but not because he was uninsured. It was because the hospital had no lead time whereas there was lead time in other cases. These treatments aren't just sitting on hospital shelves. Actually it sounds like the Norwegian nurse got the last dose of zmapp.

 

[JustAFan]

I think he meant from the USA back to their home country. There's probably plenty of examples of flying sick people home on special flights.

Yes I was asking about the US kicking people out as a poster suggested

 

[vidic blood & sand]

Apparently the Spanish nurse seems to be improving.

 

[evra]

Binge watching The Walking Dead and then reading speculation about an Ebola outbreak is enough to make you load up on canned goods and surgical masks.

 

[KanieKaned]

you'd need a bit more than just a surgical mask

 

[senorgregster]

Second Caregiver in Texas has ebola. Will be interesting to see how this happened and learn from it.

 

[711]

Maybe we should close our borders to anyone form Africa or the US for a year or two. Better safe than sorry.