Ebola virus outbreak

WakeUp

ProfessorPlum wrote: »

That's grand. But do you see how implausible it is that governments have orchestrated a campaign of misinformation regarding the spread of ebola, given almost everything we know about it had been gained by researchers and widely published. Any gaps or errors in our knowledge at this point are due to our lack of experience of this disease, and not a campaign of misinformation.

I dont think governments fully understand this outbreak yet or are completely sure what is going on. so I would agree in what you are saying about a lack of knowledge of the situation as things stand.

littlemac1980

ceadaoin. wrote: »

The second person diagnosed with ebola took a flight the day before being diagnosed and passengers on that flight have been asked to contact the CDC. Hopefully the person wasn't symptomatic on the flight, otherwise this could get very bad.



http://www.cnbc.com/id/102078863

The reports suggest that the person wasn't symptomatic at the time, but you'd have to be genuinely concerned, and wonder were there other symptoms present before the fever that caused the person to be admitted the day after they flew from Ohio.

So much for monitoring those who had contact with or treated Mr. Duncan. This particular person was obviously not so concerned and flew right across the country within the incubation period.

It's all very messy! Very very messy indeed.

EDit

Tbh, this is the real tester for how contagious this disease is. So far, the transmission appears to be exclusively from highly symptomatic patients (ie, those excreting copious amounts of virus-laden vomit and faeces) to those caring for them (who, despite being in protective gear are literally swimming in this vomit and faeces). Now we have an apparently asymptomatic patient sitting on a plane with over 100 other folks. If someone else gets it under those circumstances, the authorities will have no choice but to consider severe travel restrictions.

wexie

EDit wrote: »

If someone else gets it under those circumstances, the authorities will have no choice but to consider severe travel restrictions.

At which stage I (in my most humble opinion) predict widespread panic and plenty of self righteous redneck preppers on Yootoob saying they had it right all along y'all.

EDit

wexie wrote: »

At which stage I (in my most humble opinion) predict widespread panic and plenty of self righteous redneck preppers on Yootoob saying they had it right all along y'all.

True. I'm not religious at all, but I am praying to all gods and false idols that no-one else on that plane gets it. The panic would be massive.

Peist2007

Canis Lupus wrote: »

No.... no it's not unless you're trying to suggest witholding information is not a deliberate act???



Yah, thanks

Nope they are completely different things. I cannot be arsed teaching you the ins and outs of the english language. Going by your logic people have been deliberately misinformed by every government that ever existed. You'll need to take that to the CT forum

ceadaoin.

ProfessorPlum wrote: »

That's grand. But do you see how implausible it is that governments have orchestrated a campaign of misinformation regarding the spread of ebola, given almost everything we know about it had been gained by researchers and widely published. Any gaps or errors in our knowledge at this point are due to our lack of experience of this disease, and not a campaign of misinformation.

I don't think I'd go so far as to say they are orchestrating a campaign of disinformation, but they are certainly downplaying it slightly to avoid causing panic, in my opinion. When the first case was diagnosed in the US, the rhetoric was very much that it is impossible to catch ebola without direct prolonged contact with an infected individual. People thought you practically had to pour ebola vomit into an open wound or kiss a dead body to get it. The only reason it spread in Africa was due to burial practices and poor hygiene conditions etc. Yet, the research about it possibly being transmitted by the aerosol route and by surface contamination was freely available online. Most people don't look up medical papers, they listen to what the news says. I have noticed that now they are saying 'close contact' and touching surfaces may lead to infection which is a bit different from when all this started happening.

Peist2007

wexie wrote: »

At which stage I (in my most humble opinion) predict widespread panic and plenty of self righteous redneck preppers on Yootoob saying they had it right all along y'all.

I would think that a symptomatic person on a plane with 100 people would be expected to spread this disease even with what we know now. Wouldnt mean the thing is gone airborne. Just as highly contagious as people feared

wildefalcon

Crane wrote: »

Does anyone have any idea where we might read an intelligent and measured forum discussion of this outbreak? On boards.ie or elsewhere? Every few days (as stated above) the airborne, doomsday etc scenarios get rebooted in this thread, perhaps by people just opportunistically clicking on the thread rather than following it properly. Makes for a pretty frustrating read - neither 'side' (pessimistic vs optimistic outcome of the outbreak) gets a proper airing as a result.

This particular forum is "After Hours", a forum where intelligent and measured discussion is very much frowned upon.

ceadaoin.

Peist2007 wrote: »

I would think that a symptomatic person on a plane with 100 people would be expected to spread this disease even with what we know now. Wouldnt mean the thing is gone airborne. Just as highly contagious as people feared

Yes I'd imagine if they vomited or had diarrhea in the plane bathroom it would be pretty contaminated, especially if they didn't wash their hands properly. Anyone using that bathroom would be at risk.

ProfessorPlum

ceadaoin. wrote: »

I don't think I'd go so far as to say they are orchestrating a campaign of disinformation, but they are certainly downplaying it slightly to avoid causing panic, in my opinion. When the first case was diagnosed in the US, the rhetoric was very much that it is impossible to catch ebola without direct prolonged contact with an infected individual. People thought you practically had to pour ebola vomit into an open wound or kiss a dead body to get it. The only reason it spread in Africa was due to burial practices and poor hygiene conditions etc. Yet, the research about it possibly being transmitted by the aerosol route and by surface contamination was freely available online. Most people don't look up medical papers, they listen to what the news says. I have noticed that now they are saying 'close contact' and touching surfaces may lead to infection which is a bit different from when all this started happening.

But nobody thought that, did they. And any information released by governments has been along the lines of the known research. Of course government are going to try and keep the situation calm and panic free. That's part of good management of the situation.

wexie

ProfessorPlum wrote: »

Of course government are going to try and keep the situation calm and panic free. That's part of good management of the situation.

I would imagine it's probably a thin line between supplying enough information to keep the populace well informed and causing an outright panic.

Canis Lupus

Peist2007 wrote: »

I would think that a symptomatic person on a plane with 100 people would be expected to spread this disease even with what we know now. Wouldnt mean the thing is gone airborne. Just as highly contagious as people feared

Sounds like it has :pac::pac::pac:

Creative Juices

EDit wrote: »

Tbh, this is the real tester for how contagious this disease is. So far, the transmission appears to be exclusively from highly symptomatic patients (ie, those excreting copious amounts of virus-laden vomit and faeces) to those caring for them (who, despite being in protective gear are literally swimming in this vomit and faeces). Now we have an apparently asymptomatic patient sitting on a plane with over 100 other folks. If someone else gets it under those circumstances, the authorities will have no choice but to consider severe travel restrictions.

Great post. I was never too concerned when US/Spanish health care workers were contracting ebola because they were heavily exposed to infected bodily fluids and it was a wake up call on using the correct protocols at all times. I also think those health care workers will get the appropriate and timely treatment and survive for the most part. As you say, if the other scenario presents itself with minimal bodily fluid exposure, things may need to change.

Stheno

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/us/texas-nurse-with-ebola-took-flight-with-132-on-board-1.1964256


Sounds like it was a bit chaotic when the guy from Liberia was in hospital in Texas, doesn't sound good at all

National Nurses United said the nurses treating him worked for days without proper protective gear and faced constantly changing protocols.

Nurses were forced to use medical tape to secure openings in their flimsy garments, worried that their necks and heads were exposed as they cared for the patient, said Deborah Burger of the union.

She convened a conference call with reporters to relay what she said were concerns raised by nurses at the hospital.

Among the nurses’ allegations was that the Ebola patient’s lab samples were allowed to travel through the hospital’s pneumatic tubes, opening the possibility of contaminating the specimen delivery system.

The nurses also alleged that hazardous waste was allowed to pile up to the ceiling.

littlemac1980

Cork radio - Red fm just reported someone in N. Ireland being tested for Ebola. No other source as yet.

Edit : Radio Kerry website just now reported she tested negative.

LuckyLloyd

Obama meeting with his cabinet specifically on Ebola per the New York Times.

Personally think it goes one of two ways from here:

- There is a huge rolling up of the sleeves by the International community culminating in a mass coordinated medical / military effort in West Africa that suppresses the virus effectively over the next six months;
- This thing gets out ahead of the international community and causes very severe consequences globally;

I'm not seeing middle ground.

Stheno

I was just reading that the plane the infected nurse was on did an additional three flights before it was taken out and decontaminated

crannglas

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Obama meeting with his cabinet specifically on Ebola per the New York Times.

Personally think it goes one of two ways from here:

- There is a huge rolling up of the sleeves by the International community culminating in a mass coordinated medical / military effort in West Africa that suppresses the virus effectively over the next six months;
- This thing gets out ahead of the international community and causes very severe consequences globally;

I'm not seeing middle ground.

I am thinking world war z here.

ceadaoin.

Any individual under monitoring for ebola will no longer be allowed to travel by commercial airline. Seems pretty obvious! I guess they didn't think that anyone would do that knowing they could possibly have been exposed to ebola. Apparently the nurse visited a college campus in Ohio and some people there are now under monitoring also.

She is also being transferred to Emory. Hopefully all new cases will be transferred to specialised facilities to prevent further infections. If that is done then it will 'stop it in it's tracks' like they said they would do.

josip

littlemac1980 wrote: »

Cork radio - Red fm just reported someone in N. Ireland being tested for Ebola. No other source as yet.

Edit : Radio Kerry website just now reported she tested negative.

Cork people are fast but Kerry people are way ahead

sashafierce

This post has been deleted.

Peist2007

Canis Lupus wrote: »

Sounds like it has :pac::pac::pac:

Yep dont bother dealing with any points raised. You arent able to

asteroids over berlin

Efforts are ramping up, it is actually difficult enough to catch it, however, the virus getting into first world countries such as the states, europe etc, could have serious implications, simply because the wealthy travel more, such as that daft girl in the usa, however the wealthy are well equipped to suppress it though but there will be a good lot of fatalities too, however unfortunately a lot of people are thick as bricks these days and only care about numero uno, so perhaps it might get out of control!!

bodhrandude

sashafierce wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

I don't think there is one as yet, but from that doctor's account a few pages back, plenty of rehydration and balancing of body salts is one way to counteract the disease, but I suppose it depends on what strain and how badly you are infected,

ceadaoin.

The second nurse was symptomatic when she flew back to Dallas, having had a low grade fever whilst on the plane. I really hope a fever was the extent of her symptoms

Seriously, a health care professional who recently treated an ebola patient, has a colleague who has been diagnosed with ebola and is now registering a fever should really know better than to get on a plane.


http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/health/2014/10/15/second-dallas-hospital-worker-diagnosed-ebola/17290677/

catrat12

How scared should we be in Ireland

My name is URL

catrat12 wrote: »

How scared should we be in Ireland

Not at all. At least not presently.

Even if there was a small outbreak here there'd be little sense in worrying too much about it. If people in your town / village etc get it then it might be time to start worrying.

Lucy and Harry

Does Ireland have anti aircraft guns?For the greater good and survival of the Irish species.

I knew I would be alive for the end of the earth.

Andy-Pandy

My cats have been bringing home phesants and rabbits recently, I was getting angry at them but now I'm thinking they will keep me fed in the up coming appocolypse.