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blackhawk from ims blackhawk? If so, fancy seeing you here!
to piggyback your idea of the half dozen or so homeless that you reference initiating an outbreak...i can just imagine them sitting on a corner panhandling and spreading infection very easily as people are simply trying to help them.
up in the PNW you've got an awful large transient population as well.
If Ebola "doesn't spread that easily where public hygiene is good" how is it that doctors that wear HAZMAT suits and take every precaution to avoid infection are developing the disease?
Spanish Flu killed more people than the Black Plague of Europe. Attempting to downplay the Ebola threat by comparing the two is like trying to downplay the danger of the 16 kiloton Hiroshima bomb by comparing it to a 40 megaton ICBM.
The reason why this Ebola outbreak seems "much more contagious" is because Ebola has historically affected remote areas of Africa with little to no infrastructure. As such, the Ebola victims dies long before they could be transported to a major urban center. Unfortunately, this time around it is affecting a major urban center and we are seeing the beginnings of what could potentially be a major pandemic if the outbreak is not contained ASAP.
Let's not fool ourselves... Ebola spreads by contact with bodily fluids (including saliva and mucus) of an infected person, and the initial stages of the disease mimic simple cold and flu symptoms. This means that should Ebola make it to North America, the average North American would not even consider Ebola infection as a possibility of their symptoms. They could easily sneeze and cough all over new victims for days before the disease progresses to the point that they become diagnosed, and by that time we could have a major epidemic on our hands. The reason flu spreads among kids so easily is for these exact reasons. Kids don't take precautions to avoid infection. They wipe their noses with their hands and touch doorknobs without washing and before you know it the entire class is sniffling. Unfortunately with Ebola, that sniffling translates into a death sentence for 70 to 90% of those who get infected.
Try some intellectual honesty. How many of those 627,000 malaria victims died in First World countries with easy access to anti-malarial treatments?
Interesting post. I, for one, want to know more about the non-approved investigational medicine the U.S. medical workers received. Let's all hope this can get to clinical trial ASAP!
I have an open mind about this outbreak but science is science. There is more than one virus that causes Ebola. (Just checked Medscape again about this). I need to read to learn which virus or combination of viruses has caused this outbreak. The type doesn't change treatment. However, incubation time or other may change based on the virus.
At this point, a Suadi has returned back to Saudi and died in a Saudi hospital. The WHO is considering which steps are next.
Anyone think it's strange there is a "top-secret" serum available ONLY to the two doctors who came back here? And that they're (guess what) already showing improvement?
Bingo! I had been thinking the same thing. Also, if this "top-secret" serum does work, why is it not being made in huge doses to give to those afflicted with Ebola in Africa? Also, if the Doctor was wearing the hazmat suit, HOW did he get it, if it is only spread through body fluids? I'm waiting for the answer on that.
I think there is a lot we're not being told about this. But I do hope I'm wrong about that.
Bingo! I had been thinking the same thing. Also, if this "top-secret" serum does work, why is it not being made in huge doses to give to those afflicted with Ebola in Africa? Also, if the Doctor was wearing the hazmat suit, HOW did he get it, if it is only spread through body fluids? I'm waiting for the answer on that.
I think there is a lot we're not being told about this. But I do hope I'm wrong about that.
Because you seem to have missed it:
Quote:
Originally Posted by ozgal
It wasn't a top secret serum. It has just never gone to clinical trials on human subjects before now but had proven promising on animal testing prior to this. It was cultivated from the antibodies from ebola infected mice and only exists in limited quantities right now because it was still in a pre-human testing phase.
I imagine that given the nature of what it's meant to actually combat, that even after gaining approval to test on humans, that it would be a impossible to actually test outside of situations like this.
This isn't a Hollywood movie set. Vaccines and treatments like this take an enormous amount of time and effort to create in reality, with (hopefully) a lot of testing. It is also expensive and time consuming to manufacture it in huge quantities.
A research lab had a small amount of very expensive to produce serum that had only been tested on animals for the doctors to try while they were still in Africa. The Ethics board is already meeting to determine the ethics of giving them a non-approved and untested serum. There is nowhere and no one to produce massive amounts of this until now untested on humans and still unapproved serum.
Bingo! I had been thinking the same thing. Also, if this "top-secret" serum does work, why is it not being made in huge doses to give to those afflicted with Ebola in Africa? Also, if the Doctor was wearing the hazmat suit, HOW did he get it, if it is only spread through body fluids? I'm waiting for the answer on that.
I think there is a lot we're not being told about this. But I do hope I'm wrong about that.
Ozgal answered your first question.
As to how people who wear protective gear still get it:
"The yellow suit that MSF [Medecins Sans Frontieres] uses is [made of] a woven plastic fiber. And they throw a laminate on it. It's very fluid impervious. But to work, it has to be used in conjunction with a set of behaviors and procedures.
Where we see health care worker infections when the PPE is in place, [the worker] did something to override the PPE: They didn't wear it appropriately or contaminated their hands in the process of getting [the suit] off."
With the recent concern over Ebola patients arriving at US hospitals, the threat of epidemics, spread either by natural means or introduced by terroristic or other agenda-driven means has come up for discussion.
What seems to be overlooked is how easily any of these situations can be brought about; and one need only look at most major cities. Where would be the most logical place for a pandemic to originate?
The answer is that it could originate among a population that is already full of high-risk disease carriers and intermingles with the general population: in other words, the bums (or in PC parlance, the 'homeless').
It's not a difficult scenario to imagine at all. Municipal governments are unwilling to control this population---a population living in revolting sanitary conditions and infesting every public space used by the general population. For example, a terrorist could easily introduce a contagious pathogen among this vile group: they contaminate one another in the bum jungles and food banks, spread out over a city and contaminate normal people and move from city to city without being traced. It wouldn't take much more than half-dozen such intentional contaminations in cities with high bum populations to initiate a nationwide pandemic.
This situation isn't without historical precedent; the typhoid epidemics of the 1890s were spread across the US continent by 'transients'.
In light of the seriousness of the Ebola pandemic, maybe municipal governments should start considering whether their 'tolerance' may not have serious consequences.
Hey I know, instead of wringing your hands over the internet over some perceived epidemic, why don't you take some action yourself. Round up all those disease carrying homeless in your city & get rid of them. That should make you feel better.
Never said it was. But I betcha any number of people are scrambling to look it up. Fear sells...
Now. Because it seems that brevity and succinctness are actually no-nos on this Board, here are my additional words. I'm taken aback by the strength and virulence of the fear of Ebola, and the anger at the Establishment, that have been expressed in this thread.
I thought you were implying cholera was similar to ebola, hence my reply. As far as your comment above, that has nothing to do with my comments. Carry on.
I think you posted this link yesterday, if so, I apologize for ripping it off.
Setting for caring for Ebola patients in Africa.
Setting for caring for Ebola patients in the U.S.
How protective garments are prepared for re-use in Africa
How protective garments are prepared for.........well actually they get tossed into an autoclave to destroy any existing microorganisms....or they just get incinerated.
How arrogant. IF Ebola were to arrive in the US, it would kill at least as many people, perhaps more, than it is currently killing in Africa. Why? Because we are all still only people. White Americans have a longer history with tech than Africa and they still dole out the medical and tech resources to Africa with a miserly stinginess that borders on depraved indifference, but... when push comes to shove. You all aren't any smarter or better. You panic, you have superstitions and ignorance, and IF something like Ebola gets a toe-hold in the US it could do a lot of damage before being reigned in. I would advise any African Americans reading this to avoid travel for the foreseeable future. If you even sweat in public on a hot day you are dead meat if you are in or near an airport. That's how the US does national security. Plainclothes goons with shoot first, ask questions later orders. Low tech still works better in the profiteering 21st Century.
H
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