EBOLA - So, do we really have nothing to worry about?
 

The news now says a nurse in Dallas who looked after Thomas Duncan has contracted Ebola.

This nurse had worn the proper full protection. But they say that despite the proper equipment being worn there may have been "a breach of protocol" in how the equipment was removed allowing tranfer from the protective clothing to the nurse's mouth.

What this says to me is that if a healthcare worker properly protected can contract Ebola, what chance does an unprotected member of the public have of being protected?

Of the 3,000 deaths so far from Ebola, over 300 were healthcare workers and it can only assumed that the majority of those contracted the illness despite taking adequate precautions.

I hope they are right in saying there is nothing for the public to worry about, but I for one am worried that this will grow exponentially to become a much worse threat than at present.

I can't help but think back to the SARS epidemic, when it was initially announced that health authorities were on top of things and that there was little to worry about and then it progressed and we had increasing numbers of deaths including healthcare workers.

You believe everything the government tells us?

From my limited knowledge, Ebola does seem hard to contract. It doesn't persist very long in the open environment and is easy to kill. However, history would suggest that we are "being managed" and not told the complete story, as you suggested. Unless you are an "insider", it is hard to tell what is really going on. Whenever someone tried to convince me that "all is well", I tend to believe the opposite.

A seemingly minor mistake in removing the protective wear was a terrible mistake. Personally, I doubt if the healthcare workers in Africa have the highest level of protective gear to wear. They make do with what is available.

Ebola is not an airborne virus. It is bodily fluids that spread it.

At least as far as we know - remember how it also would not make it to our shores? and no healthcare worker in the US would be at risk?

The problem is "we don't know", "what we don't know".

I really get.
Suspend all thought, and trust what the gov says. Nothing bad is happening anywhere.

You cannot be seriously saying ebola is hard to get...

It is hard to get. It dies quickly outside the body. You need a fluid exchange. We can disagree on the definition of "hard to get" but you need direct contact with an infected person and they not contagious until symptoms develop. It could be much easier to be infected.

All I can think of is Stephen King's book, "The Stand." Very scary stuff.

If you have ever read any books on contagious diseases and airplane travel you will know that once any infectious disease is transported by an infected person it spreads. Google " sneezing or coughing" and find data that shows how fast and far droplets from these actions are dispersed into a confined area.
Even recent movie scenarios have described in gruesome detail how fast and how unprepared we are for a pandemic of any nature. Movie scenario based on scientific data provided by the WHO and CDC.
Preparedness, means being able to isolate ( self quarantine) oneself and family for the duration until disease burns itself out. Food, water, needed MEDS and No person to person contact during the breakout in your area will hopefully prevent your contracting and spreading any disease.

Its so refreshing to hear from someone willing to take responsibility for themselves and not depending on the government to take care of them.

Besides airplanes, I would add stay away from cruise ships. Remember the 'poop cruise' last year when people were stuck out at sea with no power for several days? Just think what would have happened with Ebola running rampant.

Other places to stay away from would be hospitals, nursing homes, public swimming pools, public restrooms, and any crowded event. Keep taking your temperature periodically and report any sign of Ebola.

[QUOTE=janmcn;952017]Its so refreshing to hear from someone willing to take responsibility for themselves and not depending on the government to take care of them.

FYI - the primary purpose of our government it to protect us.

It is kind of amazing to see the politicians who have spoken out against having Federal government being too big are now saying there should be a "czar" in charge of the Ebola problem.

Personally, I think if a person has been in or traveled through any of the West African countries in the past 45 days, they should not be allowed entrance to the US for three months.

there is no way the government will tell the truth or the CDC.

The best info is to research for yourself and then develope your comfort based on what YOU KNOW and not what some government and media parrots WANT you to know.

If it in fact is only communicable from the bodily fluids of an infected individual then you should be able to determine your odds of that happening.

Wash your hands.
Don't touch your face.
And all the other usual precautions.

Then write to your lawmakers and POTUS demanding more stringent controls. For example England has banned certain people coming from the infected areas.
The USA has elected not to do so. (don't want to offend anybody or give a bad impression).

One country taking specific action to protect it's people.
The other taking the usual let's wait and see and not upset those passengers who want to come here.

Wait and see ONLY MEANS let's see how bad it gets before we THINK about doing something.

Wait and see = pending disaster!

NY Times -
What We’re Afraid to Say About Ebola
By MICHAEL T. OSTERHOLM
SEPTEMBER 11, 2014

...... "The second possibility is one that virologists are loath to discuss openly but are definitely considering in private: that an Ebola virus could mutate to become transmissible through the air. You can now get Ebola only through direct contact with bodily fluids. But viruses like Ebola are notoriously sloppy in replicating, meaning the virus entering one person may be genetically different from the virus entering the next. The current Ebola virus’s hyper-evolution is unprecedented; there has been more human-to-human transmission in the past four months than most likely occurred in the last 500 to 1,000 years. Each new infection represents trillions of throws of the genetic dice.

If certain mutations occurred, it would mean that just breathing would put one at risk of contracting Ebola. Infections could spread quickly to every part of the globe, as the H1N1 influenza virus did in 2009, after its birth in Mexico.

Why are public officials afraid to discuss this? They don’t want to be accused of screaming “Fire!” in a crowded theater — as I’m sure some will accuse me of doing. But the risk is real, and until we consider it, the world will not be prepared to do what is necessary to end the epidemic......"

Michael T. Osterholm is the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/12/op...out-ebola.html

So let us assume the risks are real. Future actions and plans are based on developing realistic expectations of what COULD happen or COULD go wrong.
Then developing a preventative action plan BEFORE things begin to ramp up and move quickly.

Waiting until it does become airborne......no not even airborn.....WAITING to see what the current strain does before executing a plan (executing assumes there is a plan).

Do not wait and see what the government will do (or more importantly not do)....educate oneself now and take appropriate steps to the best of one's ability/capability to protect yourself and your family.

Just remember in the event of an outbreak the usual medical treatment availability will not exist. The system will very quickly become overwhelmed.

Plan ahead as mucgh as is practical.

My motto has been to plan for the worse and hope for the best, good practice these days. I agree, the government will try to minimize the risk, most of our bureaucrats are now politicians(eg: IRS, HHS, NSA, etc.) and will spew the company line. Take care of yourself and try to build the immune system. Now I wonder how to handle he cruise already booked in December? Anyone have a hazmat suit?

Ebola is wide spread in Africa in large part because religious practices include family members bathing the deceased. They do this without gloves so the disease is transmitted rapidly through a country. While it is highly contagious, transmission on the magnitude seen in African countries is unlikely.

Limit airline travel from West Africa to this country until containment/treatment facilities are built there and here. Period.

An outbreak of dying and dead workers, or workers refusing to go to work amongst our biggest hospitals' doctors, nurses, techs, and paramedic-firefighters will debilitate our whole infrastructure, leading to chaos. It is the "perfect storm" brewing to take our nation down.

I think most who ".....have spoken out against having Federal government being too big" are referring to issues where individual states should and have traditionally taken charge...this is the growth opposed.

This case of Ebola, according to our constitution, if anyone cares, clearly falls into the preview of the federal government.

By the way, about a month ago, someone on here said....what can the federal government do.....I repeat...there are over 1300 visas involving folks in the critical areas. ONLY the President, I think he is the only one..will stand corrected if congress can also, but my understanding he is the only person that can prevent entry from those critical countries. I repeat what I said.....stop, at least those with the highest potential for bringing this virus into the USA.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNhnZZw38Og]Jon Stewart: Save Americans From Ebola & ISIS, But Not From Guns & Heart Disease (Pt 1) - YouTube[/ame]

Not sure what this sarcastic piece of comedy has to do with anything.

Ebola kills, maybe not all americans but quite a few other human beings and needs to be restricted.

ISIS kills, maybe not all americans (yet) but maybe we should not care about any human beings other than americans....isnt that how we got where we are, ie. ignoring the children being shot in the streets in Syria ?

Not sure what message to take here. Obviously you and he both think these are not serious issues and need to make your pol....cal point with sarcasm.

So, your feeling on Ebola which is the subject of this thread is NOT to close anyone out....no matter where they are from.

So, your feeling on ISIS and Ebola together is that.....searching for the right word...not sure whether to say "a network" or a "par.y" feels that these are not issues to be concerned about ( I only say that because the video was pretty straightforward on its presentation and drift).

Well, I disagree....I find both of them to be serious issues and not something I think is remotely funny at all !

Is this the message?
 

We have a lot to be worried about: heart disease, cancer, diabetes, alzheimer's. As for diseases, ebola is just the blackboard special of the day. For a little while, every time I opened my mail I worried about anthrax.

I do not see a need to panic about Ebola but definitely to take precautions. This should include restrictions on entry to US from travelers from or through West African countries.

More restrictions may be needed later.

5 people on a plane that landed in Boston exhibiting possible symptoms of Ebola. So now what do we do with the 5 and do the other passengers have to live on the plane for the next 21 days in case they also exhibit symptoms?

Also I'm curious - if I present myself to the ER with symptoms described as Ebola and state I have just returned from Africa does everyone go run and put on a hazmat suit and do they immediately begin disinfecting the ER where I have been sitting? Oh, and did I mention I felt too ill to drive myself so I took the bus or called a cab. And yes I did cough and spit during that transportation. Too many bizarre possibilities how this
can spread so isn't a no brainer to contain it in the country it is?

Well, this Ebola epidemic running unrestricted certainly has gotten Ukraine, Syria, ISIS, an Al Qaeda & Taliban-loving beheader in Oklahoma, and the next promised beheadings off the TV and computer screen…..a month before the elections.

A google search of 'news Alton Nolen Oklahoma beheading' brings up 191,000 results with the most recent article being October 1…..two weeks ago.

Hmmnnnnnn.....maybe there was more to the statement made a few weeks when a certain politician said certain things are "MANAGEABLE"!!!!:shrug:

OMG - I can't take it anymore.

Obama Orders Immediate Federal Action To Help Halt Spread Of Ebola

What? I thought it was not coming to the USA... I was relying on the gov to make ebola stay out...oh dear.

And it is so hard to get that professionally trained medical personnel get it taking their gloves off touching one wrist with the other glove.

I'm sorry but as a former Heathcare provider there is plenty to worry about. The basis of infection control is avoidance. Avoidance consists, among other things, of keeping a potentially infected population out of our country, while also making sure we are using appropriate protection in the event someone here develops symptoms. What our "leaders" and CDC are doing is practicing political correctness.

The CDC is behind the curve already and our hospitals, with a few exceptions are not prepared.

I'm recently retired but my friends still in the business suggest we could be in deep trouble.

[QUOTE=tuccillo;951997]It is hard to get. It dies quickly outside the body. You need a fluid exchange. We can disagree on the definition of "hard to get" but you need direct contact with an infected person and they not contagious until symptoms develop. It could be much easier to be infected.



The virus has survived for at least 21 days outside the body

[QUOTE=cologal;952517]
The newest evidence is that it can be spread by small aerosol particles. Coughs, Sneezes, spit, etc this is not a good sign.

I to am a recently retired healthcare professional and I agree as this first case has already shown. We haven't had a disease requiring this level of protective equipment. To me that is the problem.

Let's see. Aids started in Africa, Ebola started in Africa. How many millions have died of Aids. I am scared

Patient Zero for AIDS was a Canadian Flight Attendant....

False alarm... People from Middle East not West Africa.

This R.N. agrees with you!! What perplexes me about the entire Duncan case is that the only treatment for Ebola is supportive which includes oxygen to support the respiratory system, fluids and electrolytes to prevent dehydration, early anticoagulant therapy to prevent DIC, late procoagulant therapy to combat hemorrhage, and antibiotics to treat secondary bacterial and fungal infections. If a patient does not show early response to early treatment and then begin to deteoriate with the predictable outcome death, why on earth was Duncan invasively intubated and put on a vent, given hemodialysis, probably had an A-line, numerous IVs, a foley catheter, NG tube, etc, etc. ; more opportunities for fatally infectious body fluids to exit the body and infect another. I really wonder if these heroic measures were done to compensate for initially sending Duncan home the first go around, or were they trying to keep him alive to buy time in the hopes of getting some experimental drug or serum from Ebola survivor Dr. Brantly to adminster to him.

Before any ebola patient in Dallas, the malpractice lawyers are always readily available regardless of ability to pay for lawyering, to sue the pants off any hospital or medical provider. Facts like nobody having a grip on Ebola yet do not matter to plaintiffs looking for money and the lawyers who empower them.

And then there are the Race Hustlers, who incite non-thinking people into screaming racism on every single malady that occurs to them, because there is money to be gotten from those claims, and in the always-brewing "Reparations" we supposedly owe the present-day "victims".

"The family of Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person to die of Ebola on U.S. soil, joined the Rev. Jesse Jackson at his Rainbow Push headquarters to call foul on the treatment Mr. Duncan received.

They say the treatment Duncan received was at best ‘incompetent’ and at worst ‘racially motivated.’

Duncan passed away last week, but his mom and nephew spoke out at Rainbow Push’s weekly gathering today.

The family is asking why Duncan wasn’t moved to Emory University Hospital, where Dr. Kent Brantly and Dr. Nancy Writebol received life saving treatment for Ebola.

Duncan’s nephew now wants all of his uncle’s medical records, where he will have them reviewed by independent doctors and contagious disease experts.

However, doctors at Texas Presbyterian Hospital, where Duncan was treated, say their staff was ‘well-equipped’ to handle his case.

The whole ordeal has left Duncan’s mother heartbroken.

Family members say they are considering some form of legal action against the hospital where Duncan received treatment……"

Family of Thomas Eric Duncan says his death from Ebola is ‘racially motivated’ | WGN-TV

[QUOTE=murray607;95

I can't help but think back to the SARS epidemic, when it was initially announced that health authorities were on top of things and that there was little to worry about and then it progressed and we had increasing numbers of deaths including healthcare workers.[/QUOTE]

Just looked this up. Only eight people in the US got it and none died.
Over 8,000 got it globally.

Comparing a disease that ended and had 9% of infected people die, with Ebola expanding exponentially and killing around 90% of infected people, pooh-poohs the worst epidemic in modern times---the ebola virus that world epidemiology experts are predicting will infect 10,000 victims per week by December……the virus that infected a bright young critical care nurse carefully using full-body hazmat gear as trained, and how it happened is still undetermined.

(Not that the cause being undetermined would stop Washington and CDC leaders from placing the blame on the nurse--who had the guts and dedication to go into the front lines of the war zone as they are not doing.)