Ebola is coming to kill us all but it's nothing to worry about
- Thread starter Locutus
- Start date
These errors need to be reported to the public. And what needs to be done is not to ban travel, sorry Loc, but what needs to be done is a top down focus on ensuring the protocols and proceedures in place are being reviewed and severely tightened. Because that is the sense of comfort that the public needs. It's not about banning travel or fearing nations or the people that come from them, that's the panicky reactionary kind of b.s. that we need to avoid at all costs. It doesn't help stem the flow of a contagion and more or less makes the situation even worse. But ignoring is not doing anyone any favours.
Why Didn't the Government Prioritize an Ebola Vaccine?
Bloomberg NewsVerified account @BloombergNews
In Karachi, the world’s third-densest megacity, “there is no facility to control infection”:
http://bloom.bg/1oeqldi
Bloomberg NewsVerified account @BloombergNews In Karachi, the world’s third-densest megacity, “there is no facility to control infection”:
http://bloom.bg/1oeqldi
You likely never will see it. You might read some stories here and there about the sorts of things they have to do now to keep control. But ultimately, you're not likely going to know about all of the mitigations that are being enacted. The finding of a few nurses who have become infected should be concerning. I suspect it will also be a huge 'lessons learned' presentation shared among the healthcare professionals.
Our society only works when you trust people are doing their part. There's no reason to lose our minds to conspiratorial thinking or project those concerns into something we see happening overseas. The simple fact that many people don't even understand that antibiotics will do nothing for a viral infection? I wouldn't expect there is much you could do or say to prevent them from panic. The media for the most part hasn't helped. While it might seem like a big deal that some nurses were out in public, the scrutiny and investigations that are being leveled against this, well for one they are already pinning down how many people they need to contact. In Africa, they don't even know how many cases there are, and how many there have been, let alone how many there will be. And honestly, given the level of understanding the public has, I don't think they should be telling people every single thing that they are doing. They need to keep it as general as possible to prevent people from going on runaway panic mode.
And here is the type of thing that the unwarranted fear produces, like I was hypothesizing about last night:
West Africans in Washington say they are being stigmatized because of Ebola fear - The Washington Post
West Africans here say they have been ostracized because of the fear generated by the illness. Some people refuse to shake their hands. A cough brings unwanted attention. Some have been asked to leave work and go home “to sit for a while,” Toweh said.
[my emphasis]Asking someone to go home from work simply because they once emigrated from Liberia? That's stupid, and I suspect it's only the beginning. It's along the lines of the ignorant theme that had Arabs targeted post 9/11. I'll make another prediction, in the middle of all of the politics, that we're going to see some of the xenophobes use this as a soap box to spread more hate. That's ultimately what has happened now. This message and the context has been lost to the politics of partisan mid-term elections.
It's nuts. I'm planning on going to visit my brother in the Netherlands over Christmas. I'm not terrified that I'm going to catch ebola in the airport, or on the flight. Until such time as something happens to actually change the risk significantly.
That is nuts (about asking someone to go home from work because they emigrated in the past :roll
and honestly, this whole issue wouldn't affect my holiday plans either. Sadly what I take away from the first parts of your post is what I pretty much knew already. Those prone to panic and seeing conspiracy everywhere have their support system (if encouraging the same can be construed as support that is) and those that like to live in complete and utter denial have their support system in place, within current society. Those of us who are more the type to say "Oh, hey, we just happened to notice a gaping hole in the boat, is anyone planning on addressing that?" are the ones who are more or less screwed. At least as far as having our concerns addressed.
Sometimes I almost wish I understood things a little less well, lol.
I'm not really familiar with the epidemiology of that outbreak. Given the source of the outbreak I wouldn't be surprised.
So you can see how it wouldn't be hard for the uneducated to take drastic measures?
I'm not saying that sending a specific group home is valid. But isn't without some flimsy support. Ebola not being nearly as contagious as SAR's.
The public needs to be kept apprised, not traumatised.
Needs to be, should be, won't be. Forget it. The conspiracy nuts and the hardline deniers have taken complete control of the asylum.
We'll need to start an underground organization with a newsletter to get the rational messages out. I'll be Vice President, because I want an executive title but I don't really want to have to do anything.
The agencies in charge haven't left a lot of options. The questions Loc posted the other day seemed fair. A little conspiratorial, but they peeked my curiosity, and reason I feel are valid.
The energy you spend trying to conserve energy is funny.We'll need to start an underground organization with a newsletter to get the rational messages out. I'll be Vice President, because I want an executive title but I don't really want to have to do anything.
There are some very valid questions that should be asked, of course. And the public does have a right to know a hell of a lot more, in more detail than we're being told. Panic is such a simple thing to disperse with just a little information.
If I can do so from the comfort of my livingroom, why not? Work smart, not hard, that's my motto!
Well some of it is out there. The CDC sent a team of epidemiologists to Dallas, they identified the individuals Duncan came into contact with, and they've been monitoring them. Forty-eight of them to be exact, and none have shown signs of infection.
A further 76 workers from the Texas Health Presbyterian hospital in Dallas are being monitored.
They have the travel records of those who traveled and worked on Vinson's flight, as well as the next 5 flights. They're following up with those as well.
See, this is information that they would not have had in Africa when the first cases started showing up, way back in December 2013. The scale of what is known in the US, and how quickly they have gathered that information, I mean it's really not comparable at all to Africa. Close to one year in Africa, versus a few weeks in the US.
Absolutely. They need only a slight push to jump off the cliff.
True.
Wise motto.
People will do drastic things, if they feel their life is in the balance.