Worst Ever Ebola Outbreak Second American Infected
HotGirl
2014-08-05
Views 256
3 Basic Reasons You Shouldn't Freak Out About Ebola
One Ebola patient is in an Atlanta hospital, and another is on her way there from Liberia for treatment. Meanwhile in New York, a patient who recently traveled to a West African country was being tested on Monday after exhibiting Ebola-like symptoms. Doctors said the man's illness was likely something else, but the case still raised concerns about the virus.
But you shouldn’t freak out about Ebola. Here are three reasons why.
Ebola is not an airborne virus
Despite fearmongering in some corners of the media (we’re looking at your imaginary infected-plane scenario, Fox News), Ebola isn’t transmitted by airborne particles.
The virus is transmitted to new victims — oftentimes the very people caring for the sick patient — who contract the virus through blood, waste or vomit.
“This is not an airborne virus,” Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, wrote in an email Friday to the presidents of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast.
“Transmission requires close contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, also after death. Apart from this specific situation, the general public is not at high risk of infection by the Ebola virus.”
Dr. Bruce Ribner, an infectious disease specialist who is treating the American patient in Atlanta, likened the spread of Ebola to that of HIV or Hepatitis C, viruses that doctors know how to deal with.
Ebola will not spread like wildfire
While the CDC and WHO have acknowledged it’s fully possible for someone to travel through West Africa, contract Ebola and then return home to, say, New York City, it’s unlikely that'll lead to an outbreak on American shores.
“The CDC has concluded that there is no significant risk in the United States from the current Ebola outbreak,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in a briefing last week.
“And while it is unlikely that the disease would spread if the virus were detected in the United States,” he said, “the CDC is taking action to alert healthcare workers in the U.S. and remind them how to isolate and test suspected patients while following strict infection control procedures.”
The reason: American health care is well-equipped to handle any Ebola patients who may reach our shores.
“Ebola is a virus that can be stopped and not spread in hospitals. The stakes are higher, but it’s easily inactivated with typical hospital disinfectants," CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden told CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta this past weekend. The hospitals with specialized containment wards, like Atlanta’s Emory Hospital, are expertly controlled, featuring measures like specialized air handling and an intercom for patients to communicate with guests.
"There is always the possibility that someone with an infectious disease can enter the United States," CDC spokeswoman Barbara Reynolds said Monday. "The public health concern is whether it would spread, and, if so, how quickly.'"
It’s not always fatal
There is no cure for Ebola. There is no vaccine, either.
But that doesn’t mean you’re doomed to die if you get it.
Doctors use “supportive care” to help patients fight Ebola. That means they aim to keep patients' immune systems strong enough to defeat the virus, and give them medicine, antibiotics and fluids to fight it.
"We do have some evidence that early detection of cases and early implementation of supportive therapy increases the chances of survival,” the WHO’s Chan says.
While you'll often hear that Ebola has a 90% fatality rate, the latest outbreak has killed only 55% of those who have contracted it, according to the WHO's latest numbers issued Monday.
And that rate will likely be lower for patients in American hospitals. "When you see estimates of 60% and 80% mortality, realize that this is occurring in a health care system that does not operate as our health care system functions," Ribner said. "If these patients had the level of medical support that we are prepared to offer, the mortality rates would be much less."
In the words of the CDC, which tweeted on Friday as the death toll rose and two Americans were making their way home, “We cannot let fear of [the] unfamiliar overtake a reasoned approach to infectious disease control."
One Ebola patient is in an Atlanta hospital, and another is on her way there from Liberia for treatment. Meanwhile in New York, a patient who recently traveled to a West African country was being tested on Monday after exhibiting Ebola-like symptoms. Doctors said the man's illness was likely something else, but the case still raised concerns about the virus.
But you shouldn’t freak out about Ebola. Here are three reasons why.
Ebola is not an airborne virus
Despite fearmongering in some corners of the media (we’re looking at your imaginary infected-plane scenario, Fox News), Ebola isn’t transmitted by airborne particles.
The virus is transmitted to new victims — oftentimes the very people caring for the sick patient — who contract the virus through blood, waste or vomit.
“This is not an airborne virus,” Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, wrote in an email Friday to the presidents of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast.
“Transmission requires close contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, also after death. Apart from this specific situation, the general public is not at high risk of infection by the Ebola virus.”
Dr. Bruce Ribner, an infectious disease specialist who is treating the American patient in Atlanta, likened the spread of Ebola to that of HIV or Hepatitis C, viruses that doctors know how to deal with.
Ebola will not spread like wildfire
While the CDC and WHO have acknowledged it’s fully possible for someone to travel through West Africa, contract Ebola and then return home to, say, New York City, it’s unlikely that'll lead to an outbreak on American shores.
“The CDC has concluded that there is no significant risk in the United States from the current Ebola outbreak,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in a briefing last week.
“And while it is unlikely that the disease would spread if the virus were detected in the United States,” he said, “the CDC is taking action to alert healthcare workers in the U.S. and remind them how to isolate and test suspected patients while following strict infection control procedures.”
The reason: American health care is well-equipped to handle any Ebola patients who may reach our shores.
“Ebola is a virus that can be stopped and not spread in hospitals. The stakes are higher, but it’s easily inactivated with typical hospital disinfectants," CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden told CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta this past weekend. The hospitals with specialized containment wards, like Atlanta’s Emory Hospital, are expertly controlled, featuring measures like specialized air handling and an intercom for patients to communicate with guests.
"There is always the possibility that someone with an infectious disease can enter the United States," CDC spokeswoman Barbara Reynolds said Monday. "The public health concern is whether it would spread, and, if so, how quickly.'"
It’s not always fatal
There is no cure for Ebola. There is no vaccine, either.
But that doesn’t mean you’re doomed to die if you get it.
Doctors use “supportive care” to help patients fight Ebola. That means they aim to keep patients' immune systems strong enough to defeat the virus, and give them medicine, antibiotics and fluids to fight it.
"We do have some evidence that early detection of cases and early implementation of supportive therapy increases the chances of survival,” the WHO’s Chan says.
While you'll often hear that Ebola has a 90% fatality rate, the latest outbreak has killed only 55% of those who have contracted it, according to the WHO's latest numbers issued Monday.
And that rate will likely be lower for patients in American hospitals. "When you see estimates of 60% and 80% mortality, realize that this is occurring in a health care system that does not operate as our health care system functions," Ribner said. "If these patients had the level of medical support that we are prepared to offer, the mortality rates would be much less."
In the words of the CDC, which tweeted on Friday as the death toll rose and two Americans were making their way home, “We cannot let fear of [the] unfamiliar overtake a reasoned approach to infectious disease control."
Report form
RELATED VIDEOS
