2014 Global Ebola Outbreak

[terry78]

Ebola everywhere.

 

[Anita18]

Ebola everywhere.

That's the reasoning my MIL used to get my husband to cancel his trip to Seattle just now. He was looking forward to that trip too, but he says he'll never hear the end of it from his mom if he actually did go.

 

[Marvolo]

Its not in Seattle, and Seattle isnt exactly a hub for West African travelers. Honestly his chances of getting it are likely the same whether he is in Seattle or at your place of residence. But ya know how mothers are about their baby boys.

 

[Golgo-13]

A Texas health care worker who provided hospital care for the now deceased Mr. Duncan has tested positive for the virus.

Not surprising; however i'm curious if Mr.Duncan was symptomatic while in contact with this worker. If not, this would punch hole in all the claims that you can't get it from a patient who isn't symptomatic, even if they have the virus in their body….

 

[Anita18]

Its not in Seattle, and Seattle isnt exactly a hub for West African travelers. Honestly his chances of getting it are likely the same whether he is in Seattle or at your place of residence. But ya know how mothers are about their baby boys.

That's the thing - he wouldn't even be flying out of LAX! But yeah, my MIL is rather paranoid about extremely-unlikely-but-horrifying things, so....yeah.

Not surprising; however i'm curious if Mr.Duncan was symptomatic while in contact with this worker. If not, this would punch hole in all the claims that you can't get it from a patient who isn't symptomatic, even if they have the virus in their body….

Um, given that he was at the hospital in the first place where this person worked, I'd say he was feeling pretty s***ty.

Most people don't go to the ER lightly.

I also find it significant that the 3 people who lived with Mr. Duncan while he was becoming sick, have not fallen ill yet. If they come out of the 3 weeks quarantine period healthy and without Ebola, that's a HUGE sign that just being around someone with Ebola, or even touching their sweat, won't guarantee transmission.

The incubation period length likely depends on how much virus you get when you contract it, so the fact the healthcare worker has shown a fever less than a week in means they were in contact with his blood.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Not surprising; however i'm curious if Mr.Duncan was symptomatic while in contact with this worker. If not, this would punch hole in all the claims that you can't get it from a patient who isn't symptomatic, even if they have the virus in their body….

He was symptomatic when he was released from the hospital apparently. I still don't buy the notion that one has to be visibly sick though.

 

[Anita18]

He was symptomatic when he was released from the hospital apparently. I still don't buy the notion that one has to be visibly sick though.

You have to be sick enough to have a fever.

I repeat, none of the people Duncan LIVED WITH have fallen ill yet.

And just as I suspected, the nurse who got it in Dallas was in "extensive contact" with him during his hospitalization, after he arrived very very very sick. And there was a "breach in protocol" with the protective gear, which explains how she got it despite wearing it.

My guess? She touched her face or eyes before taking everything off. I worked in a lab, I know you're not supposed to do that kind of stuff when you're wearing gloves.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/12/health/ebola/index.html?sr=fb101214Ebola615aVODtopLink

 

[Marvolo]

Given our natural almost unconscious constant touching of our eyes mouth and nose it's not surprising that she made that mistake. It's a mistake that will probably happen again. We get an itch on our nose we scratch it without thinking. We get something in our eye we rub it. We get tired we rub our eyes. We get frustrated we rub our hair and face. Etc etc. It's just engrained in us and it's a thing that's hard to catch and break. This is why nurses need to really really really be watching out for each other. If a nurse sees another nurse reaching up to touch her face she needs to stop her immediately. This situation requires a lot of oversight and team work.

And it's more crucial than ever that nurses not be overworked. Overworking them to the point of exhaustion makes nurses and hospital staff far more likely to make mistakes.

 

[Thundercrack85]

The irony is that in the time it's taken for two people to be infected by ebola, tenfold as many Americans have died as a result of car accidents, gun violence, etc.

 

[Marvolo]

While true those other things kill far more people, those other things aren't contagious, and they aren't a living organism that wants nothing more than to make you puke and **** your guts out while drown in your own blood.

 

[Thundercrack85]

I just think people need perspective. This is tragic, but this is not the plague.

This isn't even a pandemic. More people will die this year from the flu than this.

Hell more people will die trying to put something on their roof than from this.

 

[terry78]

Guns don't kill people, ebola kills people.

 

[Roose Bolton]

Ebola raped Elia Martell and killed her children.

 

[Anita18]

Given our natural almost unconscious constant touching of our eyes mouth and nose it's not surprising that she made that mistake. It's a mistake that will probably happen again. We get an itch on our nose we scratch it without thinking. We get something in our eye we rub it. We get tired we rub our eyes. We get frustrated we rub our hair and face. Etc etc. It's just engrained in us and it's a thing that's hard to catch and break. This is why nurses need to really really really be watching out for each other. If a nurse sees another nurse reaching up to touch her face she needs to stop her immediately. This situation requires a lot of oversight and team work.

And it's more crucial than ever that nurses not be overworked. Overworking them to the point of exhaustion makes nurses and hospital staff far more likely to make mistakes.

I touch my face all the damn time, but NEVER when I was wearing gloves in the lab. I did it once early on and then I got a mysterious itch on my face for a week. You learn quickly.

Not touching your face while taking off a protective suit, should be pretty easy to do. It's part of protocol. Washing your hands before and after seeing a patient is also protocol. But people take shortcuts, etc all the time. So not surprising, unfortunately.

One hopes that if anything comes out of this, if a breach of safety protocol starts affecting workers (and not just patients dying from medical errors), that those workers would start taking it more seriously.

 

[Superwoman Prime]

Even if it were the plague, I think Anita would still be in here explaining the situation and keeping everyone calm.

 

[Marvolo]

I just think people need perspective. This is tragic, but this is not the plague.

This isn't even a pandemic. More people will die this year from the flu than this.

Hell more people will die trying to put something on their roof than from this.

I know you're not trying to down play the loss of life so please don't think I'm accusing you of that, but every life lost to this thing is tragic. Whether it kills five Americans or a million, this is a horrible scary way to die, and up until now it wasn't something any American needed to worry about. And on top of that it's further exposing flaws and problems in our medical system. And to beat all the greedy bastards of this country are sensationalizing the thing to make a buck.

Plus, think of it like a serial killer running wild. A serial killer that can kill just by touching you. The average serial killer kills one maybe two. The successful ones get a handful of victims. Yet when a serial killer is on the loose people don't put it in perspective and think "Well, car crashes kill more people." That's just not how people behave and think. Anytime something beyond the status quo pops up or a new threat pops up humans will fear it to lesser or greater degrees of irrationality. That's just human and animal nature.

And I haven't said it yet, but thank you Anita for being a part of this thread. Your knowledge is very much appreciated.

 

[Red Mask]

Vigilance and proper education are the key.

 

[Anita18]

Even if it were the plague, I think Anita would still be in here explaining the situation and keeping everyone calm.

Yeah, if it's anything respiratory, I'll just stay inside and embrace my hermit ways, and you should too.

But barring that, washing your hands is always a good idea.

 

[Red Mask]

Liberia's health workers have had it. They're threatening to strike:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29591805

 

[Anita18]

And I haven't said it yet, but thank you Anita for being a part of this thread. Your knowledge is very much appreciated.

Liberia's health workers have had it. They're threatening to strike:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29591805

Kinda don't blame them. There's not enough resources and there's so many people dying and nothing they can really do for them. It's exhausting and scary.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

America should write a fat ass check to the Liberian healthcare workers.

It's in everyone's best interest to keep those health workers happy so they can slow down the spread somehow.

We spend billions every month fighting an endless supply of terrorist. Put that money to better use.

 

[Red Mask]

Well, Australia's Prime Minister refuses to send medical experts over there to help combat it. I think he's also cut down the amount of foreign aid too. No love there. I doubt Australia really has enough expertise anyway.

A businessman named Jerome Alman is campaigning for African Americans to donate to a fund that is supposed to help the poor people of Africa. I have doubts that's going to work. There are already many charities and industries that have their own programs to help people in Africa. You don't have to be black to donate to them. Some have very specific goals, like removing land mines. What Africans are demanding today is investment, which countries like China have given a lot of.

 

[Teelie]

I do think investing rather than throwing money at charities is the best way to help Africa. Charity is good for a short term resolution but it is not a long term solution.

 

[Destructus86]

Vigilance and proper education are the key.

True...but I also believe Ebola is not something to take likely. Many of our populations are all squeezed together in cities. Places like New York for example would be a fast breeding ground for the virus if someone had Ebola and didn't realize it. Dense populated areas make containment very difficult. I'm not freaked out...but the logic is sound if this event ever happened.

 

[BestGirl]

America should write a fat ass check to the Liberian healthcare workers.

It's in everyone's best interest to keep those health workers happy so they can slow down the spread somehow.

We spend billions every month fighting an endless supply of terrorist. Put that money to better use.

There is no amount of money you could offer health care workers that would make them willing to expose themselves to a vicious, almost-always-fatal, disease.

I've never been in a Liberian hospital but I imagine they're probably low quality and in desperate need of an overhaul. That's really where any money sent to Liberia ought to be going.