Ebola cases pass 2k as crisis escalates • Hacker News Board

Re: Ebola cases pass 2k as crisis escalates

#31

Post by mod_stretch » Wed, Jun 05, 2019, 2:53 PM UTC

sixQuarks wrote: post #8

The internet was supposed to create an educated society with information at your fingertips, instead we got fake news and echo chambers spreading extreme thinking We have huge groups of actively ignorant people supporting the growth of climate change, anti-vaccination, and a host of other dangerous actions. Now those fighting Ebola outbreaks are getting attacked. I hope I’m wrong, but it looks like rationality is fas…

You're correct. There are some painful ways to right our course, but it's unlikely we'll implement them. - Take money out of politics and media, completely. - Responsible reproduction policies.

Re: Ebola cases pass 2k as crisis escalates

#32

Post by Kiro » Wed, Jun 05, 2019, 2:53 PM UTC

docker_up wrote: post #3

The fact this is going to spread worldwide is inevitable. I honestly think we need to prevent people from this area of the world from coming to the US until they get this under control, this is simply unacceptable from a global standpoint.

Do you think HN is contained to the US or are you just ignorant?

Re: Ebola cases pass 2k as crisis escalates

#33

Post by duxup » Wed, Jun 05, 2019, 2:53 PM UTC

fredgrott wrote: post #12

seems like a role of UN troops to maintain peace so that WHO workers can do their jobs

Problem is you need the locals to cooperate, not just comply for a short period of time due to force.

I suspect mass use of force would work (let's just assume we had unlimited troops or something crazy).... but only for a while.

For a health situation like this you need buy in from the locals to change how they handle things longer term or it might pop up again.

Re: Ebola cases pass 2k as crisis escalates

#34

Post by sixQuarks » Wed, Jun 05, 2019, 2:56 PM UTC

Gene_Parmesan wrote: post #30

sixQuarks wrote: post #8

The internet was supposed to create an educated society with information at your fingertips, instead we got fake news and echo chambers spreading extreme thinking We have huge groups of actively ignorant people supporting the growth of climate change, anti-vaccination, and a host of other dangerous actions. Now those fighting Ebola outbreaks are getting attacked. I hope I’m wrong, but it looks like rationality is fas…

Rationality never existed. Humans are fundamentally irrational actors, and the 'news' has always been about tribalism and fear-mongering. You are unknowingly falling victim to the age-old condition called "going-to-hell-in-a-handbasket-ism," where once you reach a certain age and level of experience with the world, you realize the world isn't how you want it to be and never will be; you become disillusioned; and you…

Yes, this is definitely the other perspective I consider, however I’ve never been one to disparage “new generations”

Re: Ebola cases pass 2k as crisis escalates

#35

Post by thenipper » Wed, Jun 05, 2019, 2:59 PM UTC

waynecochran wrote: post #28

Could someone explain the graph used in the article where the y-axis is labeled as "cumulative" -- does this mean that each bin includes the sums from the previous bins? If so, then this will always be a non-decreasing graph. Ebola outbreaks are horrible, but it doesn't do any good to use stupid graphs like this to make it look worse than it is.

If they're using the same data source I am at work it's because that is what the ministry of health for the DRC is releasing daily. They don't track active cases but rather cumulative cases in a health zone.

Re: Ebola cases pass 2k as crisis escalates

#36

Post by duxup » Wed, Jun 05, 2019, 3:00 PM UTC

docker_up wrote: post #3

The fact this is going to spread worldwide is inevitable. I honestly think we need to prevent people from this area of the world from coming to the US until they get this under control, this is simply unacceptable from a global standpoint.

Ebola as it is now isn't a very risky disease in the first world. It's ability to spread is pretty limited considering first world sanitation and medical care.

I suspect every first world country could handle an outbreak on their own and eliminate the disease in their own country in short order.

Basic healthcare practices that any hospital could handle are enough to deal with ebola.

We see it spread in places where there isn't basic healthcare and chaos that limits the ability for health workers to deal with it.

Re: Ebola cases pass 2k as crisis escalates

#37

Post by DisposibleHero » Wed, Jun 05, 2019, 3:04 PM UTC

It's interesting to note how we can have consensus on 2,000 individual cases being called a true crisis, but we still cannot agree ~76,000 monthly border crossing[1] is a true crisis.

Perhaps it's because Ebola is deadly and it's easy to remain ignorant of the humanitarian crisis plaguing many of those 76,000 monthly refugee/asylum seekers... both before and after crossing. Perhaps it's because we all fear catching Ebola from an airport or shopping mall, but none of us fear catching "run-for-your-life-itus", or have to wonder how we'll feed, clothe, and shelter ourselves in a brand new country where we don't speak the dominant language or understand the culture, but we know it's safer than where we came from?

Or perhaps it's simply because it's not a political punching bag issue? ... that's probably the real truth neither "side" wants to admit.

Ebola isn't going to run rampant through the US - we have a great medical system that wouldn't be trying to treat patients in a field in the middle of a war zone. We should lend all the support we can to DRC to help prevent the spread of this terrible virus - not out of fear of it spreading to our home nation, but out of compassion to the people of the DRC.

At the same time, we should really step back from our trenches and objectively examine our own domestic problems - not through the lenses of political ideology, but through the lens of a decent human being.

(ya, this is a throwaway... advocating we stop being political about our own domestic crisis is sure to attract a lot of negativity, unfortunately).

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/05/us/border-crossing-increa...

Re: Ebola cases pass 2k as crisis escalates

#38

Post by i_am_nomad » Wed, Jun 05, 2019, 3:06 PM UTC

To those of you worried about a global outbreak: USAMRIID is closing in on a highly effective (near 100%) treatment for Ebola. So far it is 100% successful in macaques, which is a good animal model for the disease in humans. The project lead spoke to my research group - his talk about Ebola, and some of the cultural and geographic challenges in fighting it, was fascinating.

Re: Ebola cases pass 2k as crisis escalates

#39

Post by choult » Wed, Jun 05, 2019, 3:07 PM UTC

DisposibleHero wrote: post #37

It's interesting to note how we can have consensus on 2,000 individual cases being called a true crisis, but we still cannot agree ~76,000 monthly border crossing[1] is a true crisis. Perhaps it's because Ebola is deadly and it's easy to remain ignorant of the humanitarian crisis plaguing many of those 76,000 monthly refugee/asylum seekers... both before and after crossing. Perhaps it's because we all fear catching E…

> Ebola isn't going to run rampant through the US

This insular, isolationist attitude is precisely what is currently eroding the United States' soft power in the world today.

Re: Ebola cases pass 2k as crisis escalates

#40

Post by duxup » Wed, Jun 05, 2019, 3:08 PM UTC

lostlogin wrote: post #5

docker_up wrote: post #3

The fact this is going to spread worldwide is inevitable. I honestly think we need to prevent people from this area of the world from coming to the US until they get this under control, this is simply unacceptable from a global standpoint.

> I honestly think we need to prevent people from this area of the world from coming to the US... ...this is simply unacceptable from a global standpoint. I’m guessing you’re in the US? What about the rest of us?

>What about the rest of us?

Well right or wrong anyone in the first world is probabbly doesn't need to worry about ebola generally.

Still I get your point about just mentioning one country.