I am more terrified by those news women's artificial appearances than by ebola, I gotta admit.
-12 for being honest? Keep them coming then.
CDC confirms first Ebola case diagnosed in US
231–240 of 302 posts
Re: CDC confirms first Ebola case diagnosed in US
#232Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is a great point. A free (or heavily socialised) health care system is probably better equipped to handle an outbreak than a fully privatised one, even if it has fewer total resources.
Why would a socialized healthcare system have fewer resources?
The USA spends more on health care than socialized healthcare countries do. Therefore, socialized healthcare systems have less money, and money is an important resource.
Re: CDC confirms first Ebola case diagnosed in US
#233This is a great semi formal interview with a local infectious disease specialist I heard on montana public radio yesterday that gives a rather unique view: http://mtpr.org/post/missoula-doctor-ebola-front-lines As he explains, Montana has one of the few labs in the country (actually in the small town I live in) where you can work on live ebola cultures so we have medical people trained to deal with ebola etc and some…
Not many BSL4 labs in the whole world: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosafety_level
And only 15 in the US planned or capable of operating at that level. At least a couple will only do BSL4 work if surge capacity is needed.
Re: CDC confirms first Ebola case diagnosed in US
#234Hi, I'm in the freaking-out crowd... Everyone with the "stay calm" attitude is lucky. This whole virus seems like such a "matter of time" situation. #1 finally showed up in the U.S. Do you really think it will just stay at 1? What are they doing with the beds he slept on, the towels he used after a shower, the glasses he drank out of? Did he go to a restaurant? A ball game? Who knows? How much time do we have until i…
Let me set your mind at ease: I was actually at the hospital in question all day today (disclaimer: non-medical personnel, just coincidence) and I was in more danger from the sushi at dinner than the Ebola in the ICU.
Yes, there is a small chance of a multifocal outbreak, though CDC has moved quickly to identify and isolate potential contacts. There is an infinitesimal but still nonzero chance of an honest-to-god epidemic. But medical institutions and the federal government have wargamed all sorts of epidemic scenarios in the decade and a half of OMG ANTHRAX/SMALLPOX/H-N-SOMETHING-SOMETHING panic we've endured.
Even in the (vanishingly unlikely) worst case scenario, state and local authorities have extremely expansive authorities to impose and enforce isolation and quarantines, violation of which (in Texas) is a third-degree felony. (CDC, under HHS delegation, can also impose quarantines to prevent interstate spread of disease, but generally this is left up to the state.) Dallas and surrounding communities could enforce a quarantine and let the outbreak burn out that way, although the economic cost would be enormous. But even mid-tier nations like Nigeria -- which spends per-capita 1% of what the US does on its health system, and which has what could be charitably described as a less-effective government -- have been able to stop Ebola cold with far less drastic action.
In truth, the greater threat comes from citizens who could mob doctors' offices and ERs, demanding nonexistent ZMAPP cocktails for garden-variety seasonal flu symptoms. Unsurprisingly, there's not much medical surge capacity in most hospitals, and beds and labs are in chronically short supply. Health system resource consumption by scared but non-sick patients is a far more likely cause of mortality than an Ebola outbreak.
Re: CDC confirms first Ebola case diagnosed in US
#235Am 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…
One thing the news stories never mention is that the death toll from malaria every day is comparable to the total deaths in this recent Ebola outbreak: http://www.malariaworld.org/lastweek
Since the Ebola outbreak is still growing exponentially, this also means that the death toll of the next three weeks alone will match the daily death toll of malaria, and if it continues to grow exponentially, Ebola will be killing more per day than malaria by around the end of the year.
Re: CDC confirms first Ebola case diagnosed in US
#236Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is true, but Its a Biosafety level 4 pathogen. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosafety_level So its "literally more dangerous".
That is because no approved treatment is available for ebola if zmap is effective it will be level 2 like malaria soon enough.
The Hemoraggic fevers are not likely ever to be considered similar to Malaria in objective risk. More likely to remain in the same league as Smallpox, which is still class 4.
Re: CDC confirms first Ebola case diagnosed in US
#237Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are you suggesting an ebola sneeze is a rare or harmless thing? That is the primary means of transmission.
I honestly did not know that. I thought that for a pathogen to be communicable by sneezing made it "airborne," and that Ebola was not. I can't immediately find a source for your claim that sneezing is the "primary means" of transmission - can you provide one?
>I thought that for a pathogen to be communicable by sneezing made it "airborne,"
You're not the first nor the last to be tripped up by that. Airborne means that the pathogen can survive for some time in extremely small droplets. If you are sitting right next to someone with a non-airborne pathogen you have two problems. First, you will be reached by bigger droplets. Second, virus in very small droplets will only be in that condition very briefly before reaching you, and wont have sufficient time to die.
http://www.pathogenperspectives.com/2014/08/debunking-airbor...
Re: CDC confirms first Ebola case diagnosed in US
#238Earlier quoted context omitted.
Part of the problem there is the perception that those diseases aren't serious (and in cases like chicken pox, this can even be somewhat true). No such perception exists with Ebola, I'd say.
As someone who's had an attack of shingles, saying that chicken pox isn't serious, is bullshit.
I hear you... I've been blessed with multiple recurrences of shingles within six months of one another. I'm one of the lucky recipients of that rarity.
Re: CDC confirms first Ebola case diagnosed in US
#239Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why would a socialized healthcare system have fewer resources?
The USA spends more on health care than socialized healthcare countries do. Therefore, socialized healthcare systems have less money, and money is an important resource.
The USA may spend more on health care, but how much of that money is wasted on overhead?
Insurance company execs are not likely to be treating Ebola :-)
Re: CDC confirms first Ebola case diagnosed in US
#240Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your expensive health care system may cause people to delay seeing a doctor, which means they might be symptomatic and spreading disease for a few days before being quarantined. A patient zero on a new york subway could infect a few people and they would be hard to trace. Although it's not probible it is scarier than "can't happen"
Do people in nations with socialized healthcare go to the doctor as soon as they develop a fever, or do they delay and see if it clears up on its own? I'm sure it's not the case for everyone, but when most people develop flu-like symptoms, they usually end up quarantining themselves for a few days while it resolves. If they can't do that, social etiquette dictates that they avoid physical contact and close proximity,…
For context, the current government in Australia is trying to bring in a minimum doctor visit fee (typically free currently). Their view is people go in too easily for things they should take an aspirin and wait a couple of days for.
I couldnt see any studies for this. The best data I found was a per capita doctor rate where countries with universal health tend (but not absolutly) to have more doctors per capita which 'may' indicate more visits assuming doctors are created by demand (loose I know): http://gamapserver.who.int/gho/interactive_charts/health_wor...