CDC confirms first Ebola case diagnosed in US • Hacker News Board

Re: CDC confirms first Ebola case diagnosed in US

#121

Post by Shivetya » Tue, Sep 30, 2014, 10:52 PM UTC

arrrg wrote: post #92

lee wrote: post #75

Am I one of the minorities who believe that this hype about Ebola is more sensationalism and news than an actual pandemic we should be fearful for? Let's take a lot at what we can agree on: * The number of cases of infected patients is fairly small. * The vector of transmission is fluid exchange, so that reduces its ability to spread. * The virus doesn't appear to lie dormant, and is only contagious when the patient…

The likelihood of any kind of pandemic is extremely low, sure. However, your dismissal of this epidemic and its impact is arrogant and disgusting. It’s still a disaster in the affected countries, with many knock-on effects. Also, it would have been better to spend more money earlier to prevent unnecessary deaths. This Ebola epidemic is actually something people hardly care about. Hardly anyone is donating, for exampl…

as far as donations are going, Time had a good breakout. There are many who have gone there, given money, and risked their lives. hint they aren't the type that frequent tech boards but posters here are quick to dismiss some of them for their religious convictions

Re: CDC confirms first Ebola case diagnosed in US

#122

Post by smacktoward » Tue, Sep 30, 2014, 10:53 PM UTC

frostmatthew wrote: post #104

arrrg wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The likelihood of any kind of pandemic is extremely low, sure. However, your dismissal of this epidemic and its impact is arrogant and disgusting. It’s still a disaster in the affected countries, with many knock-on effects. Also, it would have been better to spend more money earlier to prevent unnecessary deaths. This Ebola epidemic is actually something people hardly care about. Hardly anyone is donating, for exampl…

> Hardly anyone is donating, for example. It might be beneficial to provide a link to where people could/should donate.

Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders is the first organization that jumps to mind -- they've been helping to lead the response in Africa, more or less on a shoestring.

Their US donation page is here: https://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org/onetime.cfm

Folks in other countries can find their local donation pages here: http://www.msf.org/donate

EDIT - To give you a sense of how involved MSF has been in the Ebola response: "Since March 2014, 14 MSF staff members have become ill, among whom 8 have sadly passed away." (Source: http://www.msf.org/article/ebola-workers-risk-tragic-reality...)

There's a comprehensive rundown of their efforts to date to help contain Ebola across West Africa here: http://www.msf.org/article/ebola-crisis-update-sept-25th

Re: CDC confirms first Ebola case diagnosed in US

#123

Post by NearAP » Tue, Sep 30, 2014, 10:54 PM UTC

timr wrote: post #91

lee wrote: post #75

Am I one of the minorities who believe that this hype about Ebola is more sensationalism and news than an actual pandemic we should be fearful for? Let's take a lot at what we can agree on: * The number of cases of infected patients is fairly small. * The vector of transmission is fluid exchange, so that reduces its ability to spread. * The virus doesn't appear to lie dormant, and is only contagious when the patient…

Is the current media frenzy "sensationalism"? Yes. Is there a risk here? Yes, a small one. I understand, but am frustrated by, the number of people who keep repeating "it's not airborne", as if this is some kind of definitive argument that a virus cannot spread here. Something like 80% of cold/flu infections happen via "bodily fluids" -- people snot on a surface, someone else touches the surface, then touch their fac…

> Have you been to Africa recently..

Considering that there are still regular flights from African countries to the US, that would be a large number of people.

Maybe that screen should be applied only if you have developed a symptom like a high fever...?

Re: CDC confirms first Ebola case diagnosed in US

#124

Post by captainbenises » Tue, Sep 30, 2014, 10:54 PM UTC

Meanwhile, over 3000 dead in west africa.

Re: CDC confirms first Ebola case diagnosed in US

#125

Post by mikeash » Tue, Sep 30, 2014, 10:55 PM UTC

andrewchambers wrote: post #71

stephencanon wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if you had, they weren’t contagious at that point. Sigh.

Even if that is true, would you be happy about the unnecessary risk. Only after it already happened they confirm if it is safe. On a global safety issue it isn't a problem, but on an individual level, it is scary.

It's not an unnecessary risk, because "risk" requires there to be some chance of danger. Ebola isn't contagious until symptoms appear, thus there was no risk at that stage.

Re: CDC confirms first Ebola case diagnosed in US

#126

Post by Grazester » Tue, Sep 30, 2014, 10:56 PM UTC

I have always been a bit of a hypochondriac and I was worried about ebola spreading world wide in 1995 during the Zaire outbreak. I was 12 years old at the time and my classmates laughed at me. I just hope that I wouldn't have the last laugh(more like cry).

Re: CDC confirms first Ebola case diagnosed in US

#127

Post by dombili » Tue, Sep 30, 2014, 10:57 PM UTC

lee wrote: post #75

Am I one of the minorities who believe that this hype about Ebola is more sensationalism and news than an actual pandemic we should be fearful for? Let's take a lot at what we can agree on: * The number of cases of infected patients is fairly small. * The vector of transmission is fluid exchange, so that reduces its ability to spread. * The virus doesn't appear to lie dormant, and is only contagious when the patient…

Yes, exactly. I recommend this episode (https://overcast.fm/podcasts/episode/110040344176) of Stuff To Blow Your Mind if you want to learn what Ebola really is. It was very informative and easy to understand for someone like me who doesn't know anything about diseases/viruses.

Re: CDC confirms first Ebola case diagnosed in US

#128

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Sep 30, 2014, 10:57 PM UTC

nikolaj wrote: post #103

The headline variations are quite interesting: CNBC: First confirmed case of Ebola confirmed in the United States: CDC NYT: Airline Passenger With Ebola Is Under Treatment in Dallas BBC: First Ebola case diagnosed on US soil CNN: Ebola case is the first diagnosed in the U.S. FOX: EBOLA HITS AMERICA CDC identifies first case on US soil Obviously Fox takes the FUD crown, but I thought the NYT actually misrepresented it…

[deleted]

Re: CDC confirms first Ebola case diagnosed in US

#129

Post by enraged_camel » Tue, Sep 30, 2014, 10:58 PM UTC

djcapelis wrote: post #115

lee wrote: post #75

Am I one of the minorities who believe that this hype about Ebola is more sensationalism and news than an actual pandemic we should be fearful for? Let's take a lot at what we can agree on: * The number of cases of infected patients is fairly small. * The vector of transmission is fluid exchange, so that reduces its ability to spread. * The virus doesn't appear to lie dormant, and is only contagious when the patient…

> * The number of cases of infected patients is fairly small. This is no longer true. We have no idea how many people are infected anymore because Liberia has too many patients to even keep track. They're literally thousands of beds short and it's actively doubling. The CDC estimate is 100k-1.4m by the end of the year. > * The vector of transmission is fluid exchange, so that reduces its ability to spread. To some de…

>>The CDC estimate is 100k-1.4m by the end of the year.

No no, you see, the world has seven billion people, so 100k-1.4m is still a tiny portion and therefore it's all sensationalism!

/s

The fact of the matter is that the current ebola outbreak is a disaster of epic proportions. Whether it becomes a pandemic is irrelevant: it's already devastating several countries in Africa and is likely to move to other underdeveloped nations if not kept in check. Can you imagine what would happen if it started spreading in India?

Re: CDC confirms first Ebola case diagnosed in US

#130

Post by aeturnum » Tue, Sep 30, 2014, 10:58 PM UTC

tomelders wrote: post #95

I'm having a hard time accepting the "everyone should stop being stupid and stop panicking about Ebola" argument. To me, an uneducated observer, the problem only appears to be getting worse. And it has gotten significantly worse in spite of all the reassurances that it would not get worse. i think a lot of the vitriol aimed at people who are worried and a little freaked out by Ebola is unfair. People have lost their…

I think that it's totally appropriate to be alarmed by Ebola and the damage it's doing to the people and communities affected. It seems like people understand person concern, and are more trying to discourage un-informed reactions. I don't mean I know better - just that I'm not trained in public health and neither are most of the people who are being alarmist.

The WHO has encouraged the international community to react more strongly to ebola, and I certainly support that. However, I can still look askance at people with no expertise who think we should all be more frightened / upset / etc.