Ebola in America

[Meadmaker]

I specifically got a flu shot this year because of all the Ebola scare going around. I don't want to be going to the hospital with sever flu symptoms which they will be forced to treat as Ebola until confirmed otherwise.

I got a flu shot today, and while that thought had not crossed my mind, now that you point it out, I'm really glad I got the flu shot. I had never gotten one before, but this time I was working someplace that gave them for free, so I decided what the heck.

 

[Meadmaker]

The people in those countries will just go to a different country and fly out. Border security isn't that great in Africa.

Medical tests would require holding everyone for 21 days to ensure they weren't infected. The logistic on that are insane.

The solution is to contain and cure IN Africa and put out the hot spots as the appear elsewhere.

But fewer will be able to get out.

I'm no epidemiologist, and media information on Ebola is so bad that I feel like I have no real knowledge of it at all. However, it seems to me that when dealing with an infectious and deadly disease, travel restrictions seem like a very, very, good idea. Sure they aren't perfect, but they are better than nothing. Of course, that's just a "common sense" view, i.e. uninformed opinion based on other knowledge, which may or may not have any legitimate application to this one. Nevertheless, I am confident if you stop all flights out, there are some carriers of the disease who would have left, but end up not leaving. Would that actually slow the spread of the disease? That's where you need an epidemiologist.

On the second part of your statement, though, I have to agree 100%. If we want to prevent infection in the United States, the best way to do it is to cure, treat, and prevent as many cases as we possibly can in Africa.

I think it's time the United States and other developed nations took some drastic, severe, even unprecedented actions to contain Ebola in Africa. I think we should make this a top priority, and do whatever it takes, regardless of the howls of protest. Yes, yes, those guardians of freedom will howl like stuck pigs at what I would propose, but according to the World Health Organization, we can expect 5,000 cases a week in Africa by the end of the year. With that rate in Africa, is there any doubt that there will be cases in America, Europe, and elsewhere. This is not time to play nice. We should do whatever it takes to fight this disease, EVEN IF IT MEANS RAISING TAXES!

 

[Cl1mh4224rd]

There is a little difference. Weren't all of the other cases brought directly to a specific hospital and flown in on private flights.

Yes, but those people were also cared for by medical personnel. So far, no non-medical personnel in contact with any of victims have shown signs of having contracted the virus.

 

[Dan O.]

I suspect that inadequate training in how to use protective gear was behind the Health Service worker who came down with Ebola. I bet it is something that is not praticied or drilled very often. That needs to change. And the way is simple:have practices in how to safely don protective gear on a regular basis;drill,drill drill on the procedures until it's second nature.
Military, Police and Fire personnel over the world use that technique of constant drills for one good reason:IT works.

I was just thinking on the way home today that a useful exercise would be to don the protective gear, spray it with a UV dye or dust and then try to remove it. When you are done the lights can be turned off and a UV light turned on so everybody can see if you screwed up.

It might even be useful in the treatment centers to add the UV die to the disinfectant that they use spray down the suits before they are removed. That would help show any potential secondary traces escaping the quarantine area.

 

[Kestrel]

Is there a UV die that could be added to the patients IV that would make any fluids from the patient light up?

 

[rjh01]

Is there a UV die that could be added to the patients IV that would make any fluids from the patient light up?

It would have to be one which is harmless and does not degrade in the body.

 

[Dan O.]

We could genetically modify the Ebola to perform that function then insure that the modified strain is dominant.

 

[theprestige]

It's already been demonstrated with chocolate sauce.

I don't blame the hospital for failing to train and follow the right protocols. It's not reasonable for every random hospital in the US to be prepared to go Full Ebola at the drop of a hat. That's the CDC's job.

But I do blame the CDC for not flying in a team of specialists to ensure that the random hospital that caught a surprise case of Ebola did follow the right protocols from the start. The fact that only health workers have been infected so far is not an endorsement, but an indictment, of the CDC's strategy.

 

[shuize]

It's already been demonstrated with chocolate sauce.

I don't blame the hospital for failing to train and follow the right protocols. It's not reasonable for every random hospital in the US to be prepared to go Full Ebola at the drop of a hat. That's the CDC's job.

But I do blame the CDC for not flying in a team of specialists to ensure that the random hospital that caught a surprise case of Ebola did follow the right protocols from the start. The fact that only health workers have been infected so far is not an endorsement, but an indictment, of the CDC's strategy.

I agree. But I still do not excuse that dumb nurse from getting on a plane shortly after direct contact with an "explosive" Ebola patient.

 

[Checkmite]

But I do blame the CDC for not flying in a team of specialists to ensure that the random hospital that caught a surprise case of Ebola did follow the right protocols from the start. The fact that only health workers have been infected so far is not an endorsement, but an indictment, of the CDC's strategy.

I have to disagree. That hospital and its health care workers had contact with the ebola patient twice before he was diagnosed; and obviously before he was diagnosed, their contact would not have included ebola treatment protocols. It's entirely possible that both of the infected workers contracted the disease before CDC (or anyone else) even knew they were dealing with an ebola case.

 

[Travis]

Get ready for a new ebola TV Series.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ebola-tv-series-works-lynda-741457?facebook_20141016

It seems that Ridley Scott was adapting The Hot Zone when all this blew up.

 

[catsmate]

Yes, but those people were also cared for by medical personnel. So far, no non-medical personnel in contact with any of victims have shown signs of having contracted the virus.

Generally by the time someone infected with EVD is contagious they're sick and hopefully have sought medical treatment.

Get ready for a new ebola TV Series.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ebola-tv-series-works-lynda-741457?facebook_20141016

It seems that Ridley Scott was adapting The Hot Zone when all this blew up.

An Ebola like virus featured in CSI recently.

 

[Ziggurat]

Shutting down any part of it will create panic and cause people to flee in all directions to all parts of Africa, as far as they can go.

Evidence?

 

[Kestrel]

It's already been demonstrated with chocolate sauce.

I don't blame the hospital for failing to train and follow the right protocols. It's not reasonable for every random hospital in the US to be prepared to go Full Ebola at the drop of a hat. That's the CDC's job.

But I do blame the CDC for not flying in a team of specialists to ensure that the random hospital that caught a surprise case of Ebola did follow the right protocols from the start. The fact that only health workers have been infected so far is not an endorsement, but an indictment, of the CDC's strategy.

If I understand correctly, the CDC can offer assistance and advice when requested. They do not have the authority to take over the care of any patient. Nor do they have a team of Ebola care specialists on standby. The CDC is an agency that does research and collects statistics.

 

[Dr. Keith]

If I understand correctly, the CDC can offer assistance and advice when requested. They do not have the authority to take over the care of any patient. Nor do they have a team of Ebola care specialists on standby. The CDC is an agency that does research and collects statistics.

No, I'm pretty sure it has a group of super genius young people managed by a grizzled old agent who has seen a lot things he'd rather forget. They have access to all the best gear and one of them is a hacker who can type faster than you can think. They have a private jet that is also a helicopter and it carries a classic corvette that is also a hovercraft and the good looking one can kill anybody but may actually be working for Ebola.

 

[Kestrel]

The Ebola scare is following a classic pattern. Protective measures to limit the spread of the disease generate fear in the general public. Authorities respond by expanding the protective measures. This generates even more fear in the general public. So how do we stop this positive feedback loop?

 

[phunk]

What they really need to do is begin drilling Hospital attendents daily in how to correctly put on the protective suits.

I think the bigger issue is how to correctly remove the suits after they're contaminated.

 

[rwguinn]

I think the bigger issue is how to correctly remove the suits after they're contaminated.

I think the biggest issue is getting the health care "professionals" to take the isolation issue seriously. One of the techs handling patient zero's specimens is on a cruise ship right now...

 

[Red Baron Farms]

The Ebola scare is following a classic pattern. Protective measures to limit the spread of the disease generate fear in the general public. Authorities respond by expanding the protective measures. This generates even more fear in the general public. So how do we stop this positive feedback loop?

Develop a vaccine.

 

[Kestrel]

Develop a vaccine.

A research program to develop a vaccine takes years, not weeks. There was an NIH funded program to do so that was making progress, but it was canceled due to budget cuts.