Nurse from Texas now has Ebola.
 

We need to stop this right now. No one in this world has immunity to this disease and there are no drugs to treat it once you have it and nothing to immunize you against it.

The president of the United States needs to put things in place to stop people from coming here from affected countries., not check their temperature after they get here.

This is a terrible disease. That being said more people live than die even if not seeking medical treatment. In other words there natural defenses are strong enough to beat this disease. But due to the high mortality rate it reminds me of the black plague. In order to stop the spread anyone who is exposed has to be isolated for a 21 day period. Since it could mutate to an airborne virus this makes it extremely dangerous if things get out of hand. I agree that we need to get in front of this immediately and do whatever it takes for the sake of humanity.

Gracie, as an R.N. who worked many years in trauma/emergency departments which the nature of this work put me in heavy exposure to bodily fluids of patients with AIDS, Hep C, etc, etc, and never contracted any of these infectious diseases or to my knowledge did any of my colleagues, so this nurse in Dallas contracting Ebola knowing full well what she was dealing with from a slight breach in protocol of protective clothing removal is very frightening to me.

This incident should be a huge wakeup call to the powers that be to rethink their disease control strategies because if more healthcare workers contract Ebola from having to care for increasing numbers of Ebola patients, this will collapse the US healthcare infrastructure.

Add to this that Ebola has a 90% death rate within days……nowhere near the threat of HIV positive and then AIDS developing over years, or hepatitis C and its consequences over time.

Political correctness is again in full bloom, with the gutless politicians being more afraid to limit travel from Liberia to here than they fear having the firemen-paramedics, hospital lab technicians, doctors and nurses who have to TREAT this horrible disease get exposed, suffer and die…..crippling our nation's entire healthcare system and public safety system when police and firemen are exposed.

We don't know everything that went into the decision not to limit travel from West Africa. I include myself so I can only guess but I'm sure that guessing wouldn't be appreciated among those who are strictly guided by emotion.

This has become an emotional issue based on out-of-control blind fear. And we all know that in these discussions, emotion trumps reason.

In the Sunday Daily Sun there was a lot of information about Ebola. The main thing I got from it, which I already knew, is that it is no more contagious than HIV/AIDS.

I personally don't want to live with HIV/AIDS or die from Ebola, so I will just continue my current lifestyle of not consuming the bodily fluids of others.

As far as health care workers being at risk, this has always been the case. I remember reading about the panic of some who accidentally stuck themselves with a needle that was possibly contaminated with the AIDs virus.

But the 90% death rate represents an emotional hurdle that many cannot overcome. Almost one million people die every year in the U.S. from heart disease, cancer, etc., the majority of which could have been prevented by lifestyle. Take responsibility for yourself and there's an excellent chance you'll be able to prevent all of the above.

Note: A careless nurse could just as well have killed a patient, how many times has that happened? Does anyone even care?

Two excellent posts. :bowdown:

VPL, you better start praying for when the day comes and it will when you require medical attention in a hospital setting that there are nurses available to take care of you and very possibly save your life.

Stop all air traffic from West Africa, stay out of Dallas also. I agree with Graciegirl we are not safe.

WHO: Ebola cases may soar; CDC: Team to help hospitals - CNN.com

World health organization says there could be 10,000 cases a week by December

Scarey stuff

Its very likely that Ebola would not have 70% death rate in the United States like it does in Liberia and Sierra Leone. We have much better supportive care available. However, I am highly suspicious of the claim that ebola is difficult to contract and that it does not live long outside of the body. The entire country watched men in hazmat suits cleaning inside and outside of the apartment where Thomas Eric Duncan stayed in Texas. Why did they take such precaution if the virus died quickly outside of the body. I'm not overly concerned about the risk of an outbreak in the United States ,but, I think there is a very good chance of more confirmed cases.

Now a 2nd health care worker in Dallas infected....