Ebola

[Danishfurniturelover]

I think people should be scared, I'm terrified

At first I was afraid I was petrified but I grew strong, do you think I would crumble(loveeeeee crumble) do you think I will lay down and die? no not I, I will survive.

 

[Baleforce]

Mmm crumble, rhubarb, custard

only devon knows

 

[milo]

I think people should be scared, I'm terrified

You do a hundred things every day that are more likely to kill you than Ebola.

The current outbreak is a serious cause for concern but it is not out of control yet and can be contained and beaten if we get the right measures in place quickly.

If you are genuinely concerned I would recommend reading this FAQ on the NHS website that answers most questions and explains why the risks of contracting the disease outside west Africa are low

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/ebola-virus/pages/ebola-virus.aspx

 

[Baleforce]

I'm not worried about me getting it, I'm worried about it becoming a global crisis, im worried about the fact that the WHO have dropped the ball so badly, this is the worst outbreak of Ebola ever, it started months ago and the response hasn't been adequate at any point, the estimate is over 10,000 dead, a transmission rate of 1:2 that is showing no sign of slowing down, we need to throw everything we have at this as the graph could still go either way

this is a couple of weeks old but it's still worth a read

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/national/2014/10/04/how-ebola-sped-out-of-control/

 

[metalgear]

If they can't quarantine everyone, I think they should at least quarantine health care professionals. At least that doctor returning to the US, it feels as if not enough has been done, and for someone handling ebola patients directly I can't help but feel that it was careless or irresponsible to have a wait and see approach.

 

[markysimmo]

Utterly ridiculous what SL are saying here, its Australia's choice what they do

Sierra Leone has condemned Australia's decision to suspend entry visas for people from Ebola-affected countries in West Africa as "counterproductive" and "discriminatory".

The move has also been criticised by Amnesty International.

And UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said travel restrictions will severely curtail efforts to beat Ebola.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison: "These measures include temporarily suspending our immigration programme... from EBV affected countries"

Nearly 5,000 people have died from the virus, the vast majority of them in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea

 

[milo]

I'd agree that it is Australia's choice what they do Mark but I would also agree with with SL and Amnesty that it is likely to be counter-productive.

 

[Baleforce]

its only temporary, and it's only from affected countries, it's not gonna stop aid workers and supplies going in

 

[milo]

It is a political decision rather than one based on scientific evidence. I can understand why they have made it but it will do little or nothing to protect Australians.

 

[SteveAWOL]

we don't know what the risk is yet, it's the first time its been in the wild outside of Africa in humans, there are enough differences between zaire and Reston in monkeys that with the different climate its a reasonable enough concern that infection patterns may differ in humans as well

this is all new, nothing can be assumed so nothing should be risked

Perhaps the Premier League should adopt the same approach as suggested by the Rostov manager, what with the risk of infection that African players returning from the ACN could pose :-k

@Metro_Sport: Rostov manager: 'I won't sign black players in January in case Ebola spreads': http://ow.ly/DF28w

If they can't quarantine everyone, I think they should at least quarantine health care professionals. At least that doctor returning to the US, it feels as if not enough has been done, and for someone handling ebola patients directly I can't help but feel that it was careless or irresponsible to have a wait and see approach.

All this political scaremongering over the threat of a disease that has emerged from Africa, it's almost like being back in the 1980s.

Ebola and politics: Mumbo gumbo | The Economist

ON SUNDAY scientists and physicians from around the world will be descending on New Orleans for the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH), the world's leading convention on tropical diseases. The auspiciously timed gathering will include a number of high-profile sessions about Ebola, which promise to aid efforts to contain the disease. So it seems rather odd that an e-mail sent to participants only days before the event warned that anyone who has travelled to Ebola-affected countries within the past 21 days should best stay away.

...This is only the latest—and perhaps most egregious—example of “Ebolanoia”, an approach to the disease that prioritises paranoia and politics over medicine and science. In this case the very experts who may have the most wisdom to impart about Ebola are now the ones who are least likely to attend the convention.

...America was consumed by similar fears in 1987, when anxiety over AIDS led officials to add the virus to the list of diseases that could prevent a traveller from gaining a visa. HIV screening became mandatory for all visa applicants over 14 years old.

...As Ebola rages in three countries, it threatens its neighbours and countries with vast urban populations such as Nigeria, China and India. As long as this is true, America will never be safe. The only way to make America safe is to focus every possible effort on stamping out the plague at source. Creating new fences and barriers—and punishing the very doctors who are doing the most necessary work—is not only foolish, but also counterproductive.

...Given what is at stake, it is wrong to prioritise any other perspective over the medical one. But with an election around the corner, long-term solutions are being sacrificed in favour of short-term pandering.

 

[Baleforce]

Yeah that's it mate, it's just racism

 

[the dza]

If they can't quarantine everyone, I think they should at least quarantine health care professionals. At least that doctor returning to the US, it feels as if not enough has been done, and for someone handling ebola patients directly I can't help but feel that it was careless or irresponsible to have a wait and see approach.

But this may prevent some healthcare workers from going to these countries when they would have otherwise. Less professionals to help at the source of the disease means that the disease will likely spread further -- and this is why these measures are seen as counter productive (by the scientists/medical professionals I've seen interviewed about it, anyway).

 

[metalgear]

SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) was one tenth of what ebola is in terms of its ability to kill, but it some cities to a standstill... Schools, banks, malls... Different disease, transmission and severity, I know but it's always better being safe than sorry I feel. Rather we err now and not see ebola take place in a modern city, as transmission rates are going to be far higher than rural Africa due the much higher population density.

 

[Baleforce]

right now the transit screening should catch anyone showing symptoms, the problem is that people might get through who show symptoms later on, if these people contact a doctor as soon as they start to feel unwell and get isolated properly it's all ok

however we all know what people are like when it comes to self diagnosis, it's just a headache, I'll be ok, I'll just go to the shops and get some Advil, aw, bit sneezy today but I work on a zero hour contract in target and have to pay the rent, no headache this morning though so I must be getting better, it'll be ok

 

[jts1882]

The difference is that Ebola kills nearly everyone who doesn't get early top quality treatment. A delay in treatment means death so that is quite an incentive to seek immediate help. The high death rate actually helps contain Ebola, as if it was less fatal people would take more risks.

People don't become infectious until exhibiting symptoms. It also seems that they are not that infectious in early stages of symptoms. None of the cases in the West have infected family members and house-mates in the period before they sought medical attention. The only infections have come from hands on treatment of patients. Once the symptoms are fully blown people become very infectious, but they are not in a state to travel.

 

[milo]

right now the transit screening should catch anyone showing symptoms, the problem is that people might get through who show symptoms later on, if these people contact a doctor as soon as they start to feel unwell and get isolated properly it's all ok

however we all know what people are like when it comes to self diagnosis, it's just a headache, I'll be ok, I'll just go to the shops and get some Advil, aw, bit sneezy today but I work on a zero hour contract in target and have to pay the rent, no headache this morning though so I must be getting better, it'll be ok

My understanding is that once you start displaying symptoms the onset of the disease is very fast. The symptoms are severe and people with the disease are bed ridden. This leaves a very small window where someone is infectious and at risk of infecting people outside their home. Where people are not living in crowded and insanitary conditions you will not get the disease spreading so quickly.

I am sceptical about the value of screening on arrival in countries because the symptoms are similar to several more common diseases. I think that there is a high risk of false positives. People can also have contracted the disease but not display symptoms for several weeks (more commonly days). This risks giving a false sense of security.

 

[SteveAWOL]

SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) was one tenth of what ebola is in terms of its ability to kill, but it some cities to a standstill... Schools, banks, malls... Different disease, transmission and severity, I know but it's always better being safe than sorry I feel. Rather we err now and not see ebola take place in a modern city, as transmission rates are going to be far higher than rural Africa due the much higher population density.

Transmission rates in a Western city will probably be much lower than in rural Africa due to the vastly superior healthcare and sanitation we have here.

Does Ebola Spread Faster in Cities? - CityLab

The virus is scary—yes—but it's really not all that contagious, explains NPR's Michaeleen Doucleff. Ebola has a low "R0" or "reproduction nought," which is the average number of people one sick person will infect. The Ebola virus is at 2 on that scale, the same as Hepatitis C.

...Something like the flu, which spreads through the air, is easily more contagious in cities. But Ebola spreads through close contact with bodily fluids. So "effective contact" in this case is likely to happen in very close quarters—with family members or roommates—and not people you're just bumping into on the street, Lewis says. If a family unit is bigger, as they sometimes are in more rural areas, an Ebola-infected person could actually spread it to more people than if they lived in a city.

Both the nurses who contracted Ebola whilst treating the patient from Liberia have made full recoveries and no one who was on board the flights they used in the weeks since have reported any symptoms.

Amber Vinson's discharge leaves one Ebola case in U.S. - CNN.com

About two weeks ago, Vinson became the second nurse from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas to get the virus while caring for Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian man who began showing Ebola symptoms after arriving in Texas and died of it there. She and Nina Pham -- the other Dallas nurse who was discharged from a National Institutes of Health facility in Maryland on Friday -- are differ from the handful of other U.S. Ebola cases in the United States because they caught the disease in America, rather than contracting it in West Africa.

Vinson's diagnosis came amid a wave of national concern about the prospect Ebola could spread in the United States, especially after it became known she'd flown on two commercial flights after treating Duncan.

Yet there was no such alarm Tuesday. Instead, Emory University Hospital's Dr. Bruce Ribner declared Vinson "has recovered from her infection with Ebola virus, and she can return to ... her community and to her life" without any concerns about infecting anyone.

Which fits in with previous cases of people infected with Ebola not infecting any other passengers, in stark contrast to the far more virulent SARS.

Could The Ebola Outbreak Spread To Europe Or The U.S.? : Shots - Health News : NPR

After a person is infected with Ebola, symptoms could appear within two days — or take up to 21 days, Khan says. So a person infected in Guinea could hop on a plane and bring Ebola to, say, France or another international destination.

Even if that happens, the odds of fellow passengers catching the virus are extremely low, says Dr. Mark Gendreau, who specializes in aviation medicine at Lahey Medical Center in Peabody, Mass.

Several cases support this claim. In 1996, a Gabon man with clear symptoms of Ebola boarded a plane to Johannesburg to seek medical treatment. He had a fever above 105 degrees Fahrenheit and signs of internal bleeding. The man eventually made it to a hospital in South Africa. He did not infect anyone during his flight or other travels, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reported.

Why? Unlike SARS, Ebola doesn't pass easily from person to person. "Transmission requires very close contact with bodily fluids, like blood or mucus," Gendreau says. "You need prolonged contact with somebody."

 

[Baleforce]

I worry the perceived strength of Americas healthcare could lead to complacency, we've already seen in the case of Nina Pham that protocols are not strictly adhered to, she made 1 tiny tiny mistake and contracted the virus

we just don't have the experienced expertise outside of Africa to deal with this perfectly, we've never known anything like it

I agree that we should take the fight to the source but I don't see how that is mutually exclusive from a sensible containment policy, controlling who comes out has no effect on who goes in to help

 

[markysimmo]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30632453

The Ebola victim who is believed to have triggered the current outbreak - a two-year-old boy called Emile Ouamouno from Guinea - may have been infected by playing in a hollow tree housing a colony of bats, say scientists.

They made the connection on an expedition to the boy's village, Meliandou.

They took samples and chatted to locals to find out more about Ebola's source

Meliandou is a small village of 31 houses.

It sits deep within the Guinean forest region, surrounded by towering reeds and oil palm cultivations - these are believed to have attracted the fruit bats carrying the virus passed on to Emile.

During their four-week field trip in April 2014, Dr Fabian Leendertz and colleagues found a large tree stump situated about 50m from Emile's home.

Villagers reported that children used to play frequently in the hollow tree.

Emile - who died of Ebola in December 2013 - used to play there, according to his friends.

The villagers said that the tree burned on March 24, 2014 and that once the tree caught fire, there issued a "rain of bats"

A large number of these insectivorous free-tailed bats - Mops condylurus in Latin - were collected by the villagers for food, but disposed of the next day after a government-led ban on bushmeat consumption was announced.

While bushmeat is thought to be a possible source of Ebola, the scientists believe it didn't trigger the outbreak.

Instead, it was Emile's exposure to the bats and their droppings as he played with his friends in the hollowed tree.
Pest control

The scientists took and tested ash samples from the tree and found DNA traces that were a match for the animals.

While they were unable to test any of the bushmeat that the villagers had disposed of, they captured and tested any living bats they could find in and around Meliandou.

No Ebola could be detected in any of these hundred or so animals, however.

But previous tests show this species of bat can carry Ebola.

Dr Leendertz, from the Robert Poch Institute in Germany, and his colleagues say this must be a pretty rare occurrence though

Dr Leendertz said: "That is also obvious when you think about how many tonnes of bat meat is consumed every year.

"If more bats carried the virus, we would see outbreaks all the time."

He says it is vital to find out more about the bats.

"They have moved into human settlements. They do not just live in the trees but also under the roofs of houses in the villages.

"The Ebola virus must jump through colonies from bat to bat, so we need to know more."

But culling the animals is not the answer.

"We need to find ways to live together with the wildlife. These bats catch insects and pests, such as mosquitoes. They can eat about a quarter of their body weight in insects a day.

"Killing them would not be a solution. You would have more malaria."

 

[milo]

The previous outbreaks have been linked to bats, so this would not be a surprise