World Health Organization: Latest Ebola Outbreak Moving Too Fast to Control

[Kyber]

So, on a scale of 1 to 10, how terrified should I be right now?

1.

It is likely to horribly kill lots of people in parts of Africa where people are being killed horribly in much greater numbers by other things already.

If the same number of people were being, say, hacked to death, it'd probably not make the news.

It's an awful thing at the bottom of a very long list of horrible things.

This.
Things like this only really happen in third world countries where there are little opportunities to keep up good hygiene and people don't understand the health dangers of touching a dead body. The medical help available, the state of medical equipment and knowledge also play a big role.

 

[Kenjitsuka]

"One example of this is people who choose not to go in isolation wards and seek professional medical aid in favor of receiving care at home from family members, which the disease can be transmitted to."

You should add that this is (amongst others) because some assholes spread rumors that the government will kill people with Ebola who show up at hospitals.

 

[Kyogissun]

Jesus fucking christ, the amount of people crying 'the end is nigh' is fucking ridiculous.

This virus isn't airborne, chill the fuck out. The amount of cases reported so far are also low, so please stop spreading stupid and implying this is a legitimate issue at the moment.

Start worrying when it really matters... When it begins appearing in major countries in multiples at the same time and spreading outward.

I mean fucking come on, you all have enough intelligence to operate a computer so you SHOULD be smart enough to know when you ACTUALLY need to start worrying.

 

[SinisterGehe]

So, on a scale of 1 to 10, how terrified should I be right now?

1. Unless you reside in Africa, like to lick and hang around infected people. Just like with the flu epidemics western civilization gets every few years. Wash your hands and mind the hygiene.

 

[Fsyco]

Before everyone freaks out (a bit late but eh), the only way you can contract this is if you decide to come into direct contact with the person's bodily fluids.

Wrong, there is strong evidence for aerosol transmission I.E microscopic particles of virus fluid spread through the atmosphere. It lodges in the nasal cavity and/or lungs and can infect the host from there, its still consider direct contact rather than "airborne" but the fact remains you can have an infected victim pass through an area exhaling the virus and someone can pass through a few minutes after the person has left and potentially catch the virus.

Source [http://www.nature.com/srep/2012/121115/srep00811/full/srep00811.html]

This research shows how separated animals where infected without direct physical contact and shows the lungs and nasal membranes as the initial point of infection.

Except that that's just one study, that result hasn't been reproduced, and nobody else seems to have observed this. As someone who is training to work in the field of science, this isn't exactly 'strong evidence'. It's a possible indication of something. 'Strong evidence' means that the result of a study has been reproduced. Remember back when people thought Mozart would make their babies smart, because a study found that listening to Mozart instead of silence made you score better on a test, even though no study could actually show that Mozart made you smarter? It's the same principle. "One study produced a result" is not "strong evidence".

How the fuck do enough people come in to contact with the bodily fluids of corpses to the point a virus outbreak spreads via this method. The hell is going on in these countries? >_>

In the countries affected, ill people are cared for mainly at home, and not in hospitals, which are often basic compared to hospitals elsewhere. Contact with the individual's saliva, vomit, or other excretion is a huge possibility. This is also coupled with the notion that many with the disease will rather submit to the care of their family, and not go to a doctor. According to the Beeb, the number of infected is under-reported. Furthermore, general ignorance about the disease and it's transmission contributes to people being infected.

CAPTCHA: "I can fix it". No I can't! I study Immunology, but I ain't got no cure.

In addition to this, there's also the fact that many people believe Ebola is some kind of witchcraft. There's also reports of people 'liberating' Ebola patients from medical facilities, which increases the spread of the disease. Also, alot of African hospitals don't have the proper sanitary conditions to contain the outbreak.

And we're dealing with the Zaire variant, where it drops down to 50-60% mortality, provided that you're receiving proper care.

Except there is no cure or treatment available, the most they can do is pain management.

We have the know-how to make a cure and/or vaccine, and there's plans to field an experimental vaccine in September. It just hasn't been done until now because the disease was so rare and only afflicted poor, rural areas that nobody invested any money into making one.

 

[J Tyran]

Before everyone freaks out (a bit late but eh), the only way you can contract this is if you decide to come into direct contact with the person's bodily fluids.

Wrong, there is strong evidence for aerosol transmission I.E microscopic particles of virus fluid spread through the atmosphere. It lodges in the nasal cavity and/or lungs and can infect the host from there, its still consider direct contact rather than "airborne" but the fact remains you can have an infected victim pass through an area exhaling the virus and someone can pass through a few minutes after the person has left and potentially catch the virus.

Source [http://www.nature.com/srep/2012/121115/srep00811/full/srep00811.html]

This research shows how separated animals where infected without direct physical contact and shows the lungs and nasal membranes as the initial point of infection.

Except that that's just one study, that result hasn't been reproduced.

Actually its two studies, the second expanded on the first and proved the route of infection was the airway as the samples show and uses nearly 20 other papers as a basis. Those samples are actually incontrovertible proof that some strains the Ebola virus can be caught through the repository system by itself, you might have a point if all they had to go on was a single example of an unknown transmission vector and they assumed aerosol distribution but it was a repeated observation backed up by tests and evidence. If you are studying science then you might want to think about how you study the research, the amount of studies comes second to the quality of the research. There can be a thousand papers on a subject and it can be almost worthless yet a single piece of scientific literature can define a field.

Further more its fairly recent research, there will undoubtedly be more to come.

 

[Fsyco]

Before everyone freaks out (a bit late but eh), the only way you can contract this is if you decide to come into direct contact with the person's bodily fluids.

Wrong, there is strong evidence for aerosol transmission I.E microscopic particles of virus fluid spread through the atmosphere. It lodges in the nasal cavity and/or lungs and can infect the host from there, its still consider direct contact rather than "airborne" but the fact remains you can have an infected victim pass through an area exhaling the virus and someone can pass through a few minutes after the person has left and potentially catch the virus.

Source [http://www.nature.com/srep/2012/121115/srep00811/full/srep00811.html]

This research shows how separated animals where infected without direct physical contact and shows the lungs and nasal membranes as the initial point of infection.

Except that that's just one study, that result hasn't been reproduced.

Actually its two studies, the second expanded on the first and proved the route of infection was the airway as the samples show and uses nearly 20 other papers as a basis. Those samples are actually incontrovertible proof that some strains the Ebola virus can be caught through the repository system by itself, you might have a point if all they had to go on was a single example of an unknown transmission vector and they assumed aerosol distribution but it was a repeated observation backed up by tests and evidence. If you are studying science then you might want to think about how you study the research, the amount of studies comes second to the quality of the research. There can be a thousand papers on a subject and it can be almost worthless yet a single piece of scientific literature can define a field.

Further more its fairly recent research, there will undoubtedly be more to come.

Fair enough. Medicine isn't even my intended field, so maybe I can't really judge the quality of these studies. I'd only ever heard about the one study that nobody ever linked to, and I assumed it was this one.

They still haven't demonstrated that humans can catch it this way, though. That's kind of the problem with animal testing, since 'close to humans' isn't 'humans', and experimenting on actual humans is generally frowned upon. Also, is this strain in the study the same strain as the current outbreak? And has anybody actually reported this occurring outside of a lab setting?

 

[MASTACHIEFPWN]

This isn't enough to worry me but it is enough for me to keep a close eye on. I am in a heavily populated area and if this thing escalates further, I am getting the hell out of dodge no matter what the circumstances. I have always known that I could die in a multitude of ways but I am not going to let "virus" be one of them.

Same, I'm in Britain and if it reaches here and David Cameron doesn't stop upping breaking promises and hating on UKIP to shut down all flights from Africa (which is likely knowing him) I'm dropping everything and fleeing to my grandparents in rural Wales. I'm not taking the risk, I'd rather have a temporary setback to my education and social liife than die a horrible, painful death from a virus that would almost certainly infect my close family too

There is a multitude of reasons that Ebola doesn't spread to developed countries. Most every developed country has quarantine stations in every major port of entry, and you can only spread the disease if you are symptomatic, and it is pretty clear that you are symptomatic when it is effecting you. In this outbreak, the vast majority of people who have contracted the disease have been family members of those infected and healthcare workers. Basic sanitary procedures of developed nations also makes it more difficult for it to spread.

 

[Fdzzaigl]

It's mostly a massive problem with the local cultural practices so it seems, namely washing and handling the dead.

In the regions of the Congo where the virus originated, tribal leaders actually developed rituals to quarantine the ill and make sure the dead got disposed off quickly. But when a virus like this spreads to regions that really aren't prepared for this kind of thing neither in mind or in equipment, you get horrible results.

Lets hope they get it under control soon.

 

[JoeCool385]

Weren't the Sydney Olympics over a decade ago? That's a slow outbreak.

(That's a reference to the original Rainbow Six game for you young 'uns.)

 

[shadowstriker86]

And America brings back 2 ppl to treat them. Not to be a dick but thats a pretty dam high risk.

Not really. Two people can be easily managed. The risk factor comes down almost entirely to competence of the people that are treating them. As long as they do everything by the book, and they don't have a reason not to, it will be fine.

>america
>competence

pick one

 

[Cpu46]

So, on a scale of 1 to 10, how terrified should I be right now?

In the 1st world, not very. Modern medical facilities will boost survival ratings, the virus can't survive past 30 minutes in sunlight, and it spreads via fluids only which makes it fairly easy to isolate and quarantine especially if the public takes the proper precautions.

The first world also has less infection vectors to worry about. A major problem in Africa is that game meat is considered a delicacy and some of the meat comes from animals that are infected but show no outward signs. It also spreads much further in the damp and shaded jungles than it could anywhere else.

 

[Ferisar]

And America brings back 2 ppl to treat them. Not to be a dick but thats a pretty dam high risk.

Not really. Two people can be easily managed. The risk factor comes down almost entirely to competence of the people that are treating them. As long as they do everything by the book, and they don't have a reason not to, it will be fine.

>america
>competence

pick one

Despite your admittedly funny poke, getting treated in the U.S. is hardly a bad thing compared to home medicine. Honestly, depending on where the treatment is, it's may be better than most other places in the world. Expensive, probably, but hey, if you've got the money for it, who cares?

OT:
Yeah well... That's not scary or anything.

:L

 

[Nemu]

And America brings back 2 ppl to treat them. Not to be a dick but thats a pretty dam high risk.

It's been in America before, in Reston, VA in 1990.

This disease has just fascinated me ever since I read the books Outbreak and The Hot Zone. It's such an efficient, grotesque killer. I'm glad they want to study the disease at the CDC, the more they study, in contained situations, the greater chance they can find a cure/antivirus. It sure beats studying exposed folks under mosquito netting in the bush, at least

 

[Product Placement]

And we're dealing with the Zaire variant, where it drops down to 50-60% mortality, provided that you're receiving proper care.

Except there is no cure or treatment available, the most they can do is pain management.

Well, I know but there are things they can do, to improve survivability, like giving them intravenous fluid to combat dehydration. There's a big difference between getting treated in a hospital versus trying to ride it out at your home, which is where the 60 - 90% difference comes in.

Besides, weren't you just saying why we shouldn't get so worked out about the virus? Why are you now pointing out that there's no cure for it?

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

We have the know-how to make a cure and/or vaccine, and there's plans to field an experimental vaccine in September. It just hasn't been done until now because the disease was so rare and only afflicted poor, rural areas that nobody invested any money into making one.

Really, bringing conspiracy garble to the table so soon?

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

...and cleaning up the various fluids the patient expels to avoid further skin decay. And providing optimal nutrition. And trying to bring down the fever. All of these will help stop someone from dying.

Ebola attacks more than just the skin, keeping it clean wont help. Given how fast it can kill, dietary intake and temperature management are more to keep them comfortable.

 

[lacktheknack]

...and cleaning up the various fluids the patient expels to avoid further skin decay. And providing optimal nutrition. And trying to bring down the fever. All of these will help stop someone from dying.

Ebola attacks more than just the skin, keeping it clean wont help. Given how fast it can kill, dietary intake and temperature management are more to keep them comfortable.

You misunderstand. Ebola is enough to deal with without an "Oh God There's Vomit Leaking Into My Abcess" standard infection. That's how cleaning away bodily fluids can help keep someone alive. Yes, even if they only have 48 hours to live. Infections via vomit/diarrhoea happen fast.

Also, you massively underestimate the effect of a sudden influx of vitamins and minerals can have on a sick person. It doesn't take days for your immune system to start using what you give it.

 

[Fsyco]

We have the know-how to make a cure and/or vaccine, and there's plans to field an experimental vaccine in September. It just hasn't been done until now because the disease was so rare and only afflicted poor, rural areas that nobody invested any money into making one.

Really, bringing conspiracy garble to the table so soon?

Hrm? This isn't conspiracy garble. Conspiracy garble would be that it was engineered by the Illuminati to kill the Africans, or that Obama is trying to bring it to the US to kill us all because he's an evil Kenyan terrorist.

I was reading an interview with somebody who was talking about how making an Ebola vaccine wouldn't be too hard, but because it's so rare, and hasn't really been much of a concern until now, nobody put any money into making a vaccine. It's the same reason I don't have Mountain Lion insurance. I totally get why there isn't one. I'm not saying it's evil, it's just how the world works.

 

[The Eupho Guy_v1legacy]

Hoo boy... methinks perhaps I should start looking at tickets to Madagascar.

I don't think that movie is in theaters anymore.

I think that was a reference to the flash game Pandemic 2, rather than the movie series. However, by this point it would be far too late for him to get there... No doubt President Madagascar has already SHUT. DOWN. EVERYTHING!!!