Ebola outbreak, and other potential epidemics

[Mean Mr Mustard]

About wearing personal protection:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/abby-norm ... 98486.html

Rather puts the achievement (or luck?) of this brave student nurse with her bin bags, wellies and raincoat into perspective...

http://www.thestar.com.my/Lifestyle/Fam ... -and-wins/

[biffvernon]

Liberia is one of the world's biggest producers of natural rubber. The rubber is used to make motor-car tyres and latex gloves. There is no shortage of motor car tyres in Britain but there is a desperate shortage of latex gloves in Liberia. Why?

http://theconversation.com/why-ebola-wa ... care-33114

[jonny2mad]

About wearing personal protection:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/abby-norm ... 98486.html

Rather puts the achievement (or luck?) of this brave student nurse with her bin bags, wellies and raincoat into perspective...

http://www.thestar.com.my/Lifestyle/Fam ... -and-wins/

Brave girl I hope she has a great rest of her life she deserves it

[madibe]

Looks like if you have been to Africa and have the flu... well you are screwed (down for a month):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-29673678

Mind. It may be something nasty, or even indeed the dreaded Ebola.

But my point being, as we enter the flu season, how can a handle be kept on all feverish, vomiting or 'upset-guts' occurrences? Any of them could be flu and any one of them could be more serious.

What is the plan for when lots of people present themselves with vomiting symptoms? Or running a high temperature?

Interesting times.

[PS_RalphW]

The cruise ship story is getting bizarre. The ship has been refused docking in mexico and Belize in case it is harbouring Ebola. The health worker concerned is in isolation and no it showing symptoms, and is close to the end of the incubation period range. Clearly the US's reputation for reckless incompetence over this disease has gone before them.

[boisdevie]

Looks like if you have been to Africa and have the flu... well you are screwed (down for a month):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-29673678

Mind. It may be something nasty, or even indeed the dreaded Ebola.

But my point being, as we enter the flu season, how can a handle be kept on all feverish, vomiting or 'upset-guts' occurrences? Any of them could be flu and any one of them could be more serious.

What is the plan for when lots of people present themselves with vomiting symptoms? Or running a high temperature?

Interesting times.

Sound of nail being hit on head. Especially in the US this could tip their healthcare system over the edge. And since they f***ed it up so well at the start you can be sure they'll try to cover themselves by going too far the other way.

[Mean Mr Mustard]

The 99999 worried flu sufferers will be quickly managed simply by confirming they've not been to West Africa. The remaining case will be a corporate mucus trooper* who laughs in the face of mere sniffles and goes nowhere near a Doctor. He didn't know he was third in the line of an EVD transmission, and symptomatic while handshaking dozens of sales prospects over three days at his corporate seminar. Which he didn't like to admit to straight away, while he was still lucid, as it might have damaged the firms' reputation and his career, while still resenting the time he's wasting spent in hospital...

* http://wordspy.com/words/mucustrooper.asp

This virus thrives on denial, and why there are still outgoing flights from Freetown, Conakry and Monrovia for civilians is beyond me. Airline and military -run air bridges for medics only.

[biffvernon]

Interesting to see that some crazy ebola-scam denial websites seem to be emerging in the darker recesses of cyber-space.

[madibe]

Biff, the nutters are out in force

Some of them fundamental Christian, most right wing Americans. Ebola is a plot by Obama y'see and 'Obama-care' was just a way to fund the virus research. It is a way for the USA to get boots on the ground in Africa. Others say it is a way to dominate the global population and by taking an anti-viral you are giving yourself to the dark master himself.

Obviously.

Freck Me.

[mikepepler]

I've been thinking about what it would take for ebola to cause a problem in the UK, and I think it all comes down to how our health system copes. The rationale behind it not being a problem here is based on our advanced medicine, but if that system becomes stressed to the point that ebola patients either can't get into hospital, or can't be treated by people with the right level of training and equipment, then we're headed for trouble.

So, we know that the UK can cope with two ebola patients at once with almost zero risk, due to the excellent facilities at the Royal Free Hospital. We also know that several other major hospitals are ready to treat ebola patients, albeit with slightly less comprehensive isolation and probably slightly less well trained staff. So perhaps we can cope with 20 simultaneous cases, maybe 30? But what if we get to the point that we have 50, or 100?

There's not much slack in the NHS, either in hospitals or ambulance services. If we had 100 ebola patients, not only do you have a growing risk of infections of medical staff (simply due to numbers involved and lack of experienced staff), you also have huge resources tied up in looking after them. If every ambulance transporting a possible ebola case has to go for a deep clean afterwards, that keeps them off the road for a while. How long then before people decide to transport sick relatives to hospital in their own vehicles, as is happening in West Africa?

If we get to the point that significant numbers of medical staff get infected, then we really have a problem, as we not only have extra cases, we also have fewer medics to deal with them. Again, exactly what is happening right now in West Africa.

The only solution is to deal with the outbreak in West Africa, but as we all know, the resources to do that have not yet been provided, and the requirement is growing faster than the pledges of support. We're left depending on a vaccine which doesn't yet exist to put a stop to it. But all other efforts to contain the virus should still be made, as they can at least slow the spread, even if they can't halt it.

Meanwhile, countries like the UK should be training all the front line medical personnel to be ready to rapidly and effectively deal with the cases that will pop up here. I'm not yet convinced that sufficient training is being given to all the staff who might be the first to encounter an ebola patient.

[jonny2mad]

I agree about western medicine being able to deal with small numbers but after a certain number not being able to cope at present .

I dont agree that the answer is stopping it in west africa because I cant see it just staying in west africa its too late for that, its going to spread to every failed state and we wont have the resources to deal with it .

If it gets into south and central america it will get into north america, what I would be doing is having less visitors and more quarantine, I would also start getting better protective clothing and training people in its use and decontamination. Setting up more special ebola hospitals might be a idea even in temporary buildings because you don't want to treat ebola patients with general patients.

[fuzzy]

Even if the UK could cope with a lot of Ebola, the cost will bankrupt us - because medicine, like the law, gets to name it's own price.

[mikepepler]

I agree Jonny that it is too late. I should have said the answer *was* to stop it in Africa. That doesn't mean we shouldn't keep trying though, as slowing it down buys more time for vaccine development.

And on costs, it must be having an impact already, especially in America with the transport disruptions and false alarms. Trouble is, to deliver the level of response required, false alarms are inevitable. But then people may start getting complacent after a while...

[biffvernon]

Dear World,

In just over six months, Ebola has managed to bring my country to a standstill. We have lost over 2,000 Liberians. Some are children struck down in the prime of their youth. Some were fathers, mothers, brothers or best friends. Many were brave health workers that risked their lives to save others, or simply offer victims comfort in their final moments.

There is no coincidence Ebola has taken hold in three fragile states – Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea – all battling to overcome the effects of interconnected wars. In Liberia, our civil war ended only eleven years ago. It destroyed our public infrastructure, crushed our economy and led to an exodus of educated professionals. A country that had some 3,000 qualified doctors at the start of the war was dependent by its end on barely three dozen. In the last few years, Liberia was bouncing back. We realized there was a long way to go, but the future was looking bright.

Now Ebola threatens to erase that hard work. Our economy was set to be larger and stronger this year, offering more jobs to Liberians and raising living standards. Ebola is not just a health crisis – across West Africa, a generation of young people risk being lost to an economic catastrophe as harvests are missed, markets are shut and borders are closed.

The virus has been able to spread so rapidly because of the insufficient strength of the emergency, medical and military services that remain under-resourced and without the preparedness to confront such a challenge. This would have been the case whether the confrontation was with Ebola, another infectious disease, or a natural disaster.

But one thing is clear. This is a fight in which the whole world has a stake. This disease respects no borders. The damage it is causing in West Africa, whether in public health, the economy or within communities – is already reverberating throughout the region and across the world.

The international reaction to this crisis was initially inconsistent and lacking in clear direction or urgency. Now finally, the world has woken up. The community of nations has realized they cannot simply pull up the drawbridge and wish this situation away.

This fight requires a commitment from every nation that has the capacity to help – whether that is with emergency funds, medical supplies or clinical expertise. I have every faith in our resilience as Liberians, and our capacity as global citizens, to face down this disease, beat it and rebuild. History has shown that when a people are at their darkest hour, humanity has an enviable ability to act with bravery, compassion and selflessness for the benefit of those most in need.

From governments to international organisations, financial institutions to NGOs, politicians to ordinary people on the street in any corner of the world, we all have a stake in the battle against Ebola. It is the duty of all of us, as global citizens, to send a message that we will not leave millions of West Africans to fend for themselves against an enemy that they do not know, and against whom they have little defence.

The time for talking or theorizing is over. Only concerted action will save my country, and our neighbours, from experiencing another national tragedy. The words of Henrik Ibsen have never been truer: “A thousand words leave not the same deep impression as does a single deed.

Yours sincerely,
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Liberian President

[andr2eea]

Hey guys, I'm a little new to this forum and I have a few questions.

How do you think Ebola affects the use in energy/oil trying to keep the numbers down?

What countries are putting in the most effort in reducing the spreading and how much energy are they using?

And last of all, is the energy used efficient with little waste?

Thanks!