Ebola scaremongering?

The Funktopus said:
What would make Ebola even more scarier than it already is would be if it were to become less virulent. The only reason these outbreaks flare up, then die down so quickly is because it debilitates and then kills it's victims before they have the chance to spread it to that far.
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That and it becoming airborne would get me ******** myself :(
 
Boycey0211 said:
Indeed the worry could be unwarranted, but how many are doing Ebola research anyway?

I read a link someone posted last week of an autobiography by a Russian bioweapons rat, most of it seemed made up, as if they were doing almost pointless research with antibiotic treatable bacteria.

I call BS all round!
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I read that too some parts were great but it dragged on so long it didn't seem overly believable.

As far as I know only the so called teir 1 labs are allowed to use/store ebola(couple hundred I think) but that doesn't mean there aren't other people playing with it. I don't know about active research but I doubt they'd ever release that sort of information.
 
Art said:
You mean the Biosafety Levels? BSL 4 labs are the ones which handle the really nasty things, BSL 1 labs handle organisms which are essentially harmless.
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Yes that's the one thank you :)

You mean the movies aren't based on fact? :eek: (how am I supposed to survive the zombie apocalypse now? :().

It sounds like this is your area of study? What do you think?

Goberpiles316 said:
You would think that at some stage some disease will appear they will hit a lot of us.
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Maybe its my paranoia/somewhat sick mind but I do agree on that point. We create our own superbugs(antibiotics abuse), we pack as many people into small areas as possible(housing crisis, immigration), slowly nullify our ability to fight back(nhs budget cuts, over subscribed GPs). Almost perfect conditions for something unexpected to take us by the balls be it natural or terrorism.

Edit: or maybe its my ignorance.
 
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Weirdly wiki is reporting a 62% mortality rate currently in west Africa;

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_West_Africa_Ebola_outbreak

Obviously not real time. I'm not sure if that means this ebola is a less lethal variant(I assume there's variants) or people who are infected have yet to reach mortality. In which case I feel horrible for them and wish there was something I could do.

I hate speaking so blasé about people's lives but its difficult to explain/converse about what's happening otherwise :(
 
al4x said:
But isn't ebola particular virulent as well?
I don't know the numbers but I thought it very much was
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Afaik its direct contact with infected blood, secretion, bodily fluids and organs(not an average person issue). I assume any of those would also be an issue via transfer ie walls, toilets and so on. I believe its contact with open wounds rather than it seeps into the skin.

Edit: apparently men can still transfer the virus through their semen 7 weeks after recovering;

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/
 
Xordium said:
Because they often don't trust medical staff. When I worked in Central Africa that was one of the real problems. My wife spent ages over there when she was in MSF and that was one of their key goals - building trust.
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I didn't realise that was the case.

Do you know why they don't? (Google isn't being too helpful in this case).
 
Well apparently there's dozens of infected unaccounted for in Sierra Leone.

According to health ministry data and officials, dozens of people confirmed by laboratory tests to have Ebola are now unaccounted for in Sierra Leone, where the majority of cases have been recorded in the country's east.
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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...ra-leone-hunts-kidnapped-patient-9630359.html
(Same link as above).

That it managed to get on an aeroplane at all is worrying(I know long incubation period). If it were up to me if ground all flights in/out except for medical reasons.
 
Xordium said:
Well in fairness I have seen many people pass in many not so nice ways. By far the worse I have consistently seen is disseminated intravascular coagulation and ebola causes that. Just to cheer you up. :p
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Yay and there was me thinking it was a mild flu :D.

"disseminated intravascular coagulation" really doesn't sound as bad as "widespread blood clotting resulting in multiple organ death"

I do honestly wish there was someway I could help out those infected. I'm pretty sure I'd just add to the body count :(.
 
scorza said:
Spill the beans, on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being in hardly any pain to 10 being the worst pain imaginable, how much pain would you say someone dying of Ebole in a competent medical facility i.e. with access to all the drugs they want, be in?
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From a ignorant viewpoint(ie mine). Id say 9 or 10 but too high to care.
 
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