Since this is the only Forum I ever use, and since nasty things that can pass from one person to another are of concern to people on this site, I'll post this here.
I've been getting aggravated by all the fear-mongering being done by certain news outlets (note, I DID NOT mention, say, Fox). And and now I'm actually worried by the polls that show that over half of Americans are afraid of getting it and believe that there will probably be a big Ebola outbreak in the US. So here are some actual FACTS, scientifically PROVEN facts, about the disease.
Ebola does have a death rate of about 50% of infected people.
Ebola is incredibly infectious.
Ebola is very, very hard to catch.
Do those last 2 seem to be contradictions? Yes, and that's what the fear-mongering news outlets, talk show hosts, etc. are using to spread fear. The two statements are NOT actually in any way contradictory, and here's why:
First, Ebola, unlike many virus diseases, such as Herpes or Hepatitis, cannot be spread between the time someone gets it and the time he becomes actually sick.
The virus does not begin to leave the infected person's body until after he actually gets sick.
Second, someone can only get Ebola by actual contact with a sick person's bodily fluids, meaning vomit, diarrhea, or blood. The virus is not airborne; it cannot be spread by people breathing air that a sick person has exhaled, like the flu can. There is not even any evidence that droplets expelled by sneezing can spread the disease.
So why do medical personnel treating Ebola patients wear that "space suit" protective gear? First, because they will be near people who are actually sick, and who can therefore spread the disease. Second, because those people will have projectile vomiting and explosive diarrhea, meaning that the vomit and diarrhea are actually expelled from the body with enough force to travel through the air. Anyone who's going to be near such patients is very likely to get hit by those fluids, and if they are not 100% protected from it contacting their bodies, might actually have it contact them.
So how did it spread so far in East Africa? Simple. A lot of people DID come in contact with sick people's bodily fluids. These are countries where the typical citizen is not well educated or sophisticated, and where there aren't many doctors or hospitals. When a relative got sick, he stayed at home and his family tended him, coming in contact with those fluids. Even more, when they died the typical death procedures involve people washing the body, again contacting those fluids. Then, not realizing the danger, many of those people spread the virus even further. If someone has Ebola on his hands and touches a doorknob, the virus can live up to 3 hours on that doorknob, waiting for the next person to touch it.
In the US, anyone who gets sick will go to a hospital, where he will be isolated and treated by people trained in isolation procedures.
So how did the nurses in Dallas get sick? First, even though the guy told them he'd been in Liberia, and had classic early Ebola symptoms, he was sent home with some antibiotics. That hospital was obviously not watching for Ebola cases. And by the way, at that point he was still not spreading the disease, because although he was sick he hadn't started vomiting or having diarrhea yet. When he came back, sicker and vomiting, then he was spreading the disease. And not being ready for Ebola, the people treating him were not trained in absolute isolation procedures. Ask any EMT, and you'll find out that even removing gloves without letting the outsides of the gloves, or anything that might be on the outsides, touch you is not a simple thing. You have to be trained in the proper way to do that. And removing total protective gear without anything that might be on it touching you is even more complicated. Although there has been no announcement that they found out exactly how those nurses got infected, the chances are that it was while improperly removing their protective equipment.
What about that nurse who took a commercial air flight? Well, what about her? She obviously had the virus, but she wasn't having symptoms yet, so she could not have actually infected anyone. Note that while they have been isolated and are being monitored, none of the 3 people who lived with the original man who became sick and then died have tested positive for the virus, much less become sick. These are people who actually lived with him while he had the virus, and were still living with him when he became so sick that he had to return to the hospital.
There will NOT be a large Ebola outbreak in the US. Children going to school with the children of someone who comes down with Ebola will NOT catch it. Nobody will catch it from medical personnel who treat Ebola patients.
Anyone who gets Ebola will get sick enough to go to a doctor some time before getting to the point of spreading the thing around. There is not a single hospital in this country, now, which will not recognize the early signs of Ebola. If someone comes in with those signs, which is still before he can spread the disease, he will be immediately isolated. One of the emergency teams of people trained to treat Ebola patients, which the Centers For Disease Control now have on standby, will be dispatched to the location, and the patient will be moved to one of several special Ebola treatment facilities.
There is no chance of a US Ebola outbreak. There is no medical reason to stop people from the countries with outbreaks from coming to the US. Nobody who has symptoms will be allowed to get on a fight to the US. If someone who has the virus but isn't yet sick comes here, he will not be any kind of a danger until he actually gets sick, and even then not until he gets sick enough to be vomiting and having uncontrollable diarrhea. And long before he gets that sick, he will have been recognized as an Ebola case and handled so that when he DOES get that sick he won't be able to infect anyone.
I've been getting aggravated by all the fear-mongering being done by certain news outlets (note, I DID NOT mention, say, Fox). And and now I'm actually worried by the polls that show that over half of Americans are afraid of getting it and believe that there will probably be a big Ebola outbreak in the US. So here are some actual FACTS, scientifically PROVEN facts, about the disease.
Ebola does have a death rate of about 50% of infected people.
Ebola is incredibly infectious.
Ebola is very, very hard to catch.
Do those last 2 seem to be contradictions? Yes, and that's what the fear-mongering news outlets, talk show hosts, etc. are using to spread fear. The two statements are NOT actually in any way contradictory, and here's why:
First, Ebola, unlike many virus diseases, such as Herpes or Hepatitis, cannot be spread between the time someone gets it and the time he becomes actually sick.
The virus does not begin to leave the infected person's body until after he actually gets sick.
Second, someone can only get Ebola by actual contact with a sick person's bodily fluids, meaning vomit, diarrhea, or blood. The virus is not airborne; it cannot be spread by people breathing air that a sick person has exhaled, like the flu can. There is not even any evidence that droplets expelled by sneezing can spread the disease.
So why do medical personnel treating Ebola patients wear that "space suit" protective gear? First, because they will be near people who are actually sick, and who can therefore spread the disease. Second, because those people will have projectile vomiting and explosive diarrhea, meaning that the vomit and diarrhea are actually expelled from the body with enough force to travel through the air. Anyone who's going to be near such patients is very likely to get hit by those fluids, and if they are not 100% protected from it contacting their bodies, might actually have it contact them.
So how did it spread so far in East Africa? Simple. A lot of people DID come in contact with sick people's bodily fluids. These are countries where the typical citizen is not well educated or sophisticated, and where there aren't many doctors or hospitals. When a relative got sick, he stayed at home and his family tended him, coming in contact with those fluids. Even more, when they died the typical death procedures involve people washing the body, again contacting those fluids. Then, not realizing the danger, many of those people spread the virus even further. If someone has Ebola on his hands and touches a doorknob, the virus can live up to 3 hours on that doorknob, waiting for the next person to touch it.
In the US, anyone who gets sick will go to a hospital, where he will be isolated and treated by people trained in isolation procedures.
So how did the nurses in Dallas get sick? First, even though the guy told them he'd been in Liberia, and had classic early Ebola symptoms, he was sent home with some antibiotics. That hospital was obviously not watching for Ebola cases. And by the way, at that point he was still not spreading the disease, because although he was sick he hadn't started vomiting or having diarrhea yet. When he came back, sicker and vomiting, then he was spreading the disease. And not being ready for Ebola, the people treating him were not trained in absolute isolation procedures. Ask any EMT, and you'll find out that even removing gloves without letting the outsides of the gloves, or anything that might be on the outsides, touch you is not a simple thing. You have to be trained in the proper way to do that. And removing total protective gear without anything that might be on it touching you is even more complicated. Although there has been no announcement that they found out exactly how those nurses got infected, the chances are that it was while improperly removing their protective equipment.
What about that nurse who took a commercial air flight? Well, what about her? She obviously had the virus, but she wasn't having symptoms yet, so she could not have actually infected anyone. Note that while they have been isolated and are being monitored, none of the 3 people who lived with the original man who became sick and then died have tested positive for the virus, much less become sick. These are people who actually lived with him while he had the virus, and were still living with him when he became so sick that he had to return to the hospital.
There will NOT be a large Ebola outbreak in the US. Children going to school with the children of someone who comes down with Ebola will NOT catch it. Nobody will catch it from medical personnel who treat Ebola patients.
Anyone who gets Ebola will get sick enough to go to a doctor some time before getting to the point of spreading the thing around. There is not a single hospital in this country, now, which will not recognize the early signs of Ebola. If someone comes in with those signs, which is still before he can spread the disease, he will be immediately isolated. One of the emergency teams of people trained to treat Ebola patients, which the Centers For Disease Control now have on standby, will be dispatched to the location, and the patient will be moved to one of several special Ebola treatment facilities.
There is no chance of a US Ebola outbreak. There is no medical reason to stop people from the countries with outbreaks from coming to the US. Nobody who has symptoms will be allowed to get on a fight to the US. If someone who has the virus but isn't yet sick comes here, he will not be any kind of a danger until he actually gets sick, and even then not until he gets sick enough to be vomiting and having uncontrollable diarrhea. And long before he gets that sick, he will have been recognized as an Ebola case and handled so that when he DOES get that sick he won't be able to infect anyone.
Will someone please explain what this has to do with why we are on this site?
This would appear to be just as relevant as all the STD postings we keep reading on this site - probably more so since most of us have already made up our minds whether we do,or don't, use condoms and whether we do, or don't, get regular STD tests. Think some preachers just like preaching to the choir. At least this topic certainly makes more interesting reading.
And what makes this person an expert anyway?
expert, right! Not even close.
The second nurse to get Ebola had to travel to make arrangements for her wedding. When someone that rode on ether jet with her gets sick I may worry. Until then I will simply ignore the IDIOTS in broadcast.
What makes this person an "expert' is that first, he is a Nationally certified emergency medical person, who has to worry about infectious diseases, especially blood-borne ones, and second, unlike a whole lot of people, he pays attention to things like this, and does his own research, and doesn't rely on TV or Cable or Internet news programs or talk show hosts, and who obtains information from those who actually know what they are talking about, like the CDC, the WHO, the AMA, and various other reputable sources of medical information, and has known what there was to know about Ebola, its infectiousness, its death rate, and its transmission vectors, since shortly after the 2002 outbreak in the Republic of The Congo, long before the current outbreak in East Africa.
And what makes this relevant to this site are, first, the fact that everyone here has some level of concern about infectious diseases, and second, that over half of the US population, based on recent surveys, has irrational fears about this disease and believes that a serious outbreak in the US is likely, and that this is because the only "information" they have gotten has been from media sources which play up how dangerous it is and its high death rate, without explaining just how hard it is for someone to catch the disease. Additionally, these fears are made worse by pictures of doctors and nurses in "space suit" protective gear, which, again based in recent surveys, makes people think that if you aren't protected that well you're likely to get it. Pictures that aren't usually accompanied with an explanation that this kind of caution is ONLY necessary if you're in close contact with an Ebola patient who is vomiting and has diarrhea, and whose blood you have to draw for testing.
On this site we have a population of people who, because of their lifestyle, have to be a little more concerned about infectious diseases than do people living vanilla lives. Then we have the fact that most people in the US don't have any in-depth knowledge about the disease, they only know what they hear in the media, that it's a deadly disease that is incredibly infectious. Most don't know that it can't be caught even from a person who has it until that person is actually sick. So unless everyone on this site is so different from all other Americans that they get most of their information from places other than the media, it is only logical that there would be people on the site who are really worried about Ebola even though the chances they'll ever be in a position to catch it are incredibly small. Passing on actual proven information that can relieve those worries here is, therefore, very relevant.
And what makes this relevant to this site are, first, the fact that everyone here has some level of concern about infectious diseases, and second, that over half of the US population, based on recent surveys, has irrational fears about this disease and believes that a serious outbreak in the US is likely, and that this is because the only "information" they have gotten has been from media sources which play up how dangerous it is and its high death rate, without explaining just how hard it is for someone to catch the disease. Additionally, these fears are made worse by pictures of doctors and nurses in "space suit" protective gear, which, again based in recent surveys, makes people think that if you aren't protected that well you're likely to get it. Pictures that aren't usually accompanied with an explanation that this kind of caution is ONLY necessary if you're in close contact with an Ebola patient who is vomiting and has diarrhea, and whose blood you have to draw for testing.
On this site we have a population of people who, because of their lifestyle, have to be a little more concerned about infectious diseases than do people living vanilla lives. Then we have the fact that most people in the US don't have any in-depth knowledge about the disease, they only know what they hear in the media, that it's a deadly disease that is incredibly infectious. Most don't know that it can't be caught even from a person who has it until that person is actually sick. So unless everyone on this site is so different from all other Americans that they get most of their information from places other than the media, it is only logical that there would be people on the site who are really worried about Ebola even though the chances they'll ever be in a position to catch it are incredibly small. Passing on actual proven information that can relieve those worries here is, therefore, very relevant.
SIMPLEPLEASURES wrote:
expert, right! Not even close.
Yeah? Guess again. And then tell me one single thing that I said that is not in fact true.
Transmission of Ebola
It is thought that fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are natural Ebola virus hosts. Ebola is introduced into the human population through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals such as chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys, forest antelope and porcupines found ill or dead or in the rainforest.
Ebola then spreads through human-to-human transmission via direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials (e.g. bedding, clothing) contaminated with these fluids.
Health-care workers have frequently been infected while treating patients with suspected or confirmed EVD. This has occurred through close contact with patients when infection control precautions are not strictly practiced.
Burial ceremonies in which mourners have direct contact with the body of the deceased person can also play a role in the transmission of Ebola.
People remain infectious as long as their blood and body fluids, including semen and breast milk, contain the virus. Men who have recovered from the disease can still transmit the virus through their semen for up to 7 weeks after recovery from illness.
This was from World health organization (WHO)
so don't play with sweaty people lol
It is thought that fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are natural Ebola virus hosts. Ebola is introduced into the human population through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals such as chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys, forest antelope and porcupines found ill or dead or in the rainforest.
Ebola then spreads through human-to-human transmission via direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials (e.g. bedding, clothing) contaminated with these fluids.
Health-care workers have frequently been infected while treating patients with suspected or confirmed EVD. This has occurred through close contact with patients when infection control precautions are not strictly practiced.
Burial ceremonies in which mourners have direct contact with the body of the deceased person can also play a role in the transmission of Ebola.
People remain infectious as long as their blood and body fluids, including semen and breast milk, contain the virus. Men who have recovered from the disease can still transmit the virus through their semen for up to 7 weeks after recovery from illness.
This was from World health organization (WHO)
so don't play with sweaty people lol
SUGARSANDSPICE wrote:
The second nurse to get Ebola had to travel to make arrangements for her wedding. When someone that rode on ether jet with her gets sick I may worry. Until then I will simply ignore the IDIOTS in broadcast.
Exactly. She wasn't actually sick yet, and therefore she wasn't yet infectious. I'd be amazed if they hadn't reported it if she had been sick during that flight. I'd be equally amazed if she would have taken the trip if she had actually been sick already. It's just another attempt to scare people, to make people think that everyone on that plane may now have Ebola, and may have been spreading it themselves all over the country.
WHYNOTSAYHI wrote:
Transmission of Ebola
It is thought that fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are natural Ebola virus hosts. Ebola is introduced into the human population through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals such as chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys, forest antelope and porcupines found ill or dead or in the rainforest.
Ebola then spreads through human-to-human transmission via direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials (e.g. bedding, clothing) contaminated with these fluids.
Health-care workers have frequently been infected while treating patients with suspected or confirmed EVD. This has occurred through close contact with patients when infection control precautions are not strictly practiced.
Burial ceremonies in which mourners have direct contact with the body of the deceased person can also play a role in the transmission of Ebola.
People remain infectious as long as their blood and body fluids, including semen and breast milk, contain the virus. Men who have recovered from the disease can still transmit the virus through their semen for up to 7 weeks after recovery from illness.
This was from World health organization (WHO)
so don't play with sweaty people lol
All true. The main point, though, is that people have to be passing on bodily fluids to spread the disease. It isn't airborne, like the flu, and doesn't have a long latency period during which it can be passed on, like HIV or Herpes. Blood, diarrhea, semen, probably saliva, although there's not yet any evidence of it being passed by, say, someone sneezing. If there's the slightest break in the skin, even a tiny scrape that you didn't notice, and any of these fluids contact it, or the fluid contacts your eyes, the inside of your nose, or inside your mouth, you'll get the virus. But thanks to the media, lots of people think it can be spread by just being near someone from the minute that person has been infected, which is NOT true.
I did not mention the post-recovery thing, which is also true, because, at least in the US, anyone who gets Ebola and recovers (about 50% of the infected) is going to be keep quarantined until his virus load is eliminated by his immune system. And because the widespread fear seems to be about people who might have it, but aren't yet sick, spreading it, which, as a practical matter, just doesn't happen. I suppose that if someone was having sex with a carrier they could get it before the person gets sick, but how many Americans are having sex with newly arrived people from East Africa, and another question is how long does someone have to have it before he can spread it that way? Evidently it isn't as soon as he's infected, because, apparently, even the original guy's fiancee hasn't tested positive yet.
I dunno, if it starts procectiling vomit instead of what it's supposed to, your sex life might just suffer.
So the take away message is that we should avoid weird german scat fetish activities to remain safe from ebola. Sounds simple enough.
lol
IDCPL4FUN69 wrote:
So the take away message is that we should avoid weird german scat fetish activities to remain safe from ebola. Sounds simple enough.
I'd say only if the other person has recently arrived from East Africa. Other than that, do whatever you're into doing.
Actually, there is a takeaway. Unless you're a healthcare worker who runs into an Ebola patient, there just isn't much to worry about.
IDCPL4FUN69 wrote:
So the take away message is that we should avoid weird german scat fetish activities to remain safe from ebola. Sounds simple enough.
I'd say only if the other person has recently arrived from East Africa.
Actually, there is a takeaway. Unless you're a healthcare worker who runs into an Ebola patient, there just isn't much to worry about.
Actually most of it is centralized in West Africa, not that it matters. Personally I think it's hilarious to watch the near panicked reporting of many media types, especially some who identify themselves as doctors. If I was on the Board of Trustees of Duke I think I'd revoke Rand Paul's medical degree. Yeah I know he was only an eye doctor but hopefully he can read a scientific paper and knows at least a little about microbiology. You wanna worry? Put down the Twinkies and worry about how many Americans are killed each year by heart disease. Or start riding your bicycle since over 30,000 people who die each year in car crashes. Or from firearm violence (about 60% self inflicted). Worried about Ebola? Get a fucking flu shot because flu will kill FAR more people this winter than Ebola will. If there's a takeaway from the Ebola outbreak in the U.S. it's to go to a hospital like Emory rather than Texas Presbyterian in Dallas. 
I have noticed that the media outlets are all very busy telling us how terrible ebola is, but they are not telling us much about how to prevent it from spreading. They really aren't being very useful in my opinion. They are choosing to be part of the problem rather than part of the solution.
.
Who's up for a good old romp in the hay after reading this dreery forum. Is this really relevant to this site?
SECRETCOUPLE801 wrote:
Who's up for a good old romp in the hay after reading this dreery forum. Is this really relevant to this site?
I'm always up for a good romp in the hay.
FLJIM wrote:Us too!! Florida may be a little too far away though.SECRETCOUPLE801 wrote:
Who's up for a good old romp in the hay after reading this dreery forum. Is this really relevant to this site?
I'm always up for a good romp in the hay.
Sure, ya don't wanna hear about Ebola NOW, but what about when you go to the next Halloween party and start gettin' all frisky with that sexy zombie only to realize it's just some hot nurse with Ebola? Then whatcha gonna do bucko?!!? 
And remember...
EVILDOERS wrote:
Actually most of it is centralized in West Africa, not that it matters. Personally I think it's hilarious to watch the near panicked reporting of many media types, especially some who identify themselves as doctors. If I was on the Board of Trustees of Duke I think I'd revoke Rand Paul's medical degree. Yeah I know he was only an eye doctor but hopefully he can read a scientific paper and knows at least a little about microbiology. You wanna worry? Put down the Twinkies and worry about how many Americans are killed each year by heart disease. Or start riding your bicycle since over 30,000 people who die each year in car crashes. Or from firearm violence (about 60% self inflicted). Worried about Ebola? Get a fucking flu shot because flu will kill FAR more people this winter than Ebola will. If there's a takeaway from the Ebola outbreak in the U.S. it's to go to a hospital like Emory rather than Texas Presbyterian in Dallas.
Oops. My Bad. Can't tell East from West sometimes. But you did kinda make my point, this Ebola thing is not something Americans should be worrying about.
TMACA wrote:SIMPLEPLEASURES wrote:
expert, right! Not even close.
Yeah? Guess again. And then tell me one single thing that I said that is not in fact true.
You left out some facts, to prevent the spread of Ebola people in Africa have actually stopped shaking hands and hugging other people.
So don't hug or shake hands with anybody. Unless maybe you wrap yourselves in plastic first. Oh, and if someone coughs near you, you could get some leftover spit, which yes, can infect you.
Oh, and the flu? 10 to 30 thousand people die out of what, 50 million? a hundred million people infected every year? That's less than one of out of every 2000 people infected that will die, when compared to the one out of every 2 that ebola takes away. Death count is not the same thing as a death rate.
Another fact you failed to mention: The flu? You get pain meds to help you through the process of healing. Ebola? Your organs have been damaged so much that you can't take pain medication.
I'm not worried yet, but the way they've handled the last case seems incredibly stupid. A nurse with a fever was cleared to travel in a crowded plane, probably with kids on board who can touch anything and everything, and put it in their mouths without even thinking. And then walking through crowded airports all while people are traveling to all different parts of the country and the globe. If they don't stop handling things the way they handled that last case, then yes, it has quite the potential to become a serious problem.
And what world are you living in where you think everybody's going to go visit a doctor when they get sick? A doctor visit costs a LOT of money. A lot of people don't go until they know they're close to death. A lot of people can't afford insurance. I have more than enough friends who have walked around with broken bones because they couldn't afford to go see a doctor to get them taken care of. You have far too much faith in the U.S. health system. The only way to insure people infected with ebola will be caught before they become infectious will be to make it so anybody with flu-like symptoms can get tested for free.
I am not going to panic, but I would prefer that everything possible be done to keep a disease with a mortality rate over a thousand times worse than the flu, and capable of inflicting much more pain, under control. At least more than nothing, which is what was done with those nurses.
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/acip/clinical.htm And according to the CDC, the flu isn't usually airborne either. But it still spreads like wildfire every year.
DELICIOUSLYWET wrote:SUGARSANDSPICE wrote:
The second nurse to get Ebola had to travel to make arrangements for her wedding. When someone that rode on ether jet with her gets sick I may worry. Until then I will simply ignore the IDIOTS in broadcast.
Now don't go and piss off Gephardt. We don't want him doing a negative expose on us on KUTV.
The flu and ebola are just two of the STD's that we don't talk about. What sort of protection would you suggest we ware in the event we find out we are having sex with someone that has one of them?
No naked gun body condom jokes?
new update, you can get ebola by being within 3 feet or the same room as someone with ebola! http://theantimedia.org/cdc-admits-ebola-airborne/
new update, you can get ebola by being within 3 feet or the same room as someone with ebola! http://theantimedia.org/cdc-admits-ebola-airborne/
I'm not worried. I think that if Ebola comes to the U.S.(and makes it thru customs) that Jesus will send down heavenly medical cherubs with a holy vaccine (prolly a really expensive one that He'll give to big pharma to dispense) and cure us because as we all know Americans are God's holy chosen people and it's one thing for a whole bunch of people to die over somewhere that most of us couldn't find on a map if our lives depended on it and quite another for people here (well, except maybe for the people who live here that we don't really like) to get it. Have a little faith. I saw lots of pro football players saying little prayers in the end zone after touchdowns last Sunday and I'm pretty sure they were asking God for a cure for Ebola.
Don't EVEN get me started on drones. I heard there was a BIG coverup when an MQ-1 Predator shot a couple of Hellfires at a heavenly cherub mistaking it for a catapult launched jihadi. Jesus was SO pissed. President Obama had to promise Him that he would convert to Mormonism AND go on a mission as a guide on Temple Square as soon as he gets done running the country.