US Will Screen Air Passengers for Signs of Ebola. Will It Work? • Hacker News Board

Re: US Will Screen Air Passengers for Signs of Ebola. Will It Work?

#21

Post by emodendroket » Thu, Oct 09, 2014, 5:56 PM UTC

worklogin wrote: post #3

Vivtek wrote: post #2

Of course it will -- there is no terrorism any more, after all. Real answer: this is nothing more than security theater. The effective way to fight disease would be health care, and that's the one measure the United States will never take to fight any disease.

>The effective way to fight disease would be health care, and that's the one measure the United States will never take to fight any disease. What are you trying to say? That the US doesn't do health research? That the US doesn't have the best medical care in the world? That we haven't yet invented the magical cure to Ebola and shipped it to West Africa? Or are you trying to politicize a virus discussion into somethin…

But access would seem to be an important dimension to any effort to stop the spread of a pandemic, since pathogens do not discriminate by insured status.

Re: US Will Screen Air Passengers for Signs of Ebola. Will It Work?

#22

Post by k-mcgrady » Thu, Oct 09, 2014, 5:59 PM UTC

dublinben wrote: post #18

devindotcom wrote: post #11

For anyone thinking of glibly and irrelevantly pointing out the ineffective nature of TSA checkpoints, this is rather a more limited and intelligent program: "At the five US airports that receive most passengers from the three countries where Ebola is circulating, passengers will be singled out on the basis of their travel records; interviewed by means of a questionnaire; and have their temperature taken, to see if t…

It's just as much security theater as TSA checkpoints. IR thermometers are pretty inaccurate[0] and not good at catching Ebola.[1] You can also just pop and Ibuprofen an lie your way through.[2] [0] http://scienceblogs.com/effectmeasure/2008/06/25/why-fever-s... [1] https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2014/08/theres-really-... [2] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/03/ebola-airport-scree...

>> "You can also just pop and Ibuprofen and lie your way through"

Why would anyone do that?

Re: US Will Screen Air Passengers for Signs of Ebola. Will It Work?

#23

Post by tindrlabs » Thu, Oct 09, 2014, 5:59 PM UTC

So what's the long term policy / law that will come out of Ebola testing via the TSA? Since these activities never go away they just become unquestionable policy.

Long term maybe it's finger print scanning, blood, saliva.

Re: US Will Screen Air Passengers for Signs of Ebola. Will It Work?

#24

Post by 7Figures2Commas » Thu, Oct 09, 2014, 6:04 PM UTC

[deleted] wrote: post #10

worklogin wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The effective way to fight disease would be health care, and that's the one measure the United States will never take to fight any disease. What are you trying to say? That the US doesn't do health research? That the US doesn't have the best medical care in the world? That we haven't yet invented the magical cure to Ebola and shipped it to West Africa? Or are you trying to politicize a virus discussion into somethin…

[deleted]

> We have an experimental treatment, and there are questions as to why it was used on two doctors flown back from Africa, but not on the patient in Dallas.

What are you implying?

The Dallas patient was given an experimental treatment, brincidofovir. This is the same drug that is reportedly being given to the NBC cameraman who was infected. There are other experimental treatments, including ZMapp and TKM-Ebola, that have been used.

One report[1] suggested that TKM-Ebola was not given to the Dallas patient because of concerns that it could have made his condition worse, and ZMapp wasn't an option because there are no more supplies of it[2].

Furthermore, according to this article[3], "All non-human primate work done with any of the experimental treatments from any company have never extended beyond treatment four days post-infection." The Dallas patient was apparently 19 days into his infection when he presented.

There is no evidence at this point that the experimental treatment you were referring to (ZMapp) "cured" the doctor and nurse flown back from Africa. To that point, the Spanish priest who was given ZMapp died.

[1] http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/06/thomas-...

[2] http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2014/1007/Why-didn-t-Texas-Ebol...

[3] http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidkroll/2014/10/08/dallas-ebo...

Re: US Will Screen Air Passengers for Signs of Ebola. Will It Work?

#25

Post by stonemetal » Thu, Oct 09, 2014, 6:08 PM UTC

Of course it won't work. It wouldn't have prevented the incident it is a reaction to. Why would anyone think it would prevent any future incident similar to the first one?

Re: US Will Screen Air Passengers for Signs of Ebola. Will It Work?

#26

Post by pasbesoin » Thu, Oct 09, 2014, 6:13 PM UTC

k-mcgrady wrote: post #22

dublinben wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just as much security theater as TSA checkpoints. IR thermometers are pretty inaccurate[0] and not good at catching Ebola.[1] You can also just pop and Ibuprofen an lie your way through.[2] [0] http://scienceblogs.com/effectmeasure/2008/06/25/why-fever-s... [1] https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2014/08/theres-really-... [2] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/03/ebola-airport-scree...

>> "You can also just pop and Ibuprofen and lie your way through" Why would anyone do that?

To indulge in a bit of perhaps undeserved paranoia: What were/are the messages coming from the treatment and outcome of the patient in Texas?

On the one hand, a highly fatal disease and typical, systemic mishandling. On the other, an indication that travelling to the U.S. won't save you.

I have no evidence that the latter message was deliberately manufactured (implying all sorts of terrible things). But I'm certain there were and are people in positions of authority thinking about this.

Re: US Will Screen Air Passengers for Signs of Ebola. Will It Work?

#27

Post by civilian » Thu, Oct 09, 2014, 6:14 PM UTC

k-mcgrady wrote: post #22

dublinben wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just as much security theater as TSA checkpoints. IR thermometers are pretty inaccurate[0] and not good at catching Ebola.[1] You can also just pop and Ibuprofen an lie your way through.[2] [0] http://scienceblogs.com/effectmeasure/2008/06/25/why-fever-s... [1] https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2014/08/theres-really-... [2] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/03/ebola-airport-scree...

>> "You can also just pop and Ibuprofen and lie your way through" Why would anyone do that?

Because you think you just have the flu, not ebola, and you don't want to waste time with some dumb checkpoint. You want to get home to see your family and finish this god-awful and way-too-long business trip.

Re: US Will Screen Air Passengers for Signs of Ebola. Will It Work?

#28

Post by CapitalistCartr » Thu, Oct 09, 2014, 6:14 PM UTC

k-mcgrady wrote: post #22

dublinben wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just as much security theater as TSA checkpoints. IR thermometers are pretty inaccurate[0] and not good at catching Ebola.[1] You can also just pop and Ibuprofen an lie your way through.[2] [0] http://scienceblogs.com/effectmeasure/2008/06/25/why-fever-s... [1] https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2014/08/theres-really-... [2] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/03/ebola-airport-scree...

>> "You can also just pop and Ibuprofen and lie your way through" Why would anyone do that?

To get into the country. Far better to be in the USA or Western Europe with Ebola than Africa. Besides, everyone thinks, "Maybe it's nothing serious; maybe it's just a cold."

Re: US Will Screen Air Passengers for Signs of Ebola. Will It Work?

#29

Post by cnvogel » Thu, Oct 09, 2014, 6:14 PM UTC

k-mcgrady wrote: post #22

dublinben wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just as much security theater as TSA checkpoints. IR thermometers are pretty inaccurate[0] and not good at catching Ebola.[1] You can also just pop and Ibuprofen an lie your way through.[2] [0] http://scienceblogs.com/effectmeasure/2008/06/25/why-fever-s... [1] https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2014/08/theres-really-... [2] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/03/ebola-airport-scree...

>> "You can also just pop and Ibuprofen and lie your way through" Why would anyone do that?

To not be hassled at the airport? The last time I checked, airports aren't actually known as the places where people expect reasonable and fair treatment.

And having read an article about Eric Duncan in the German "Stern" about how his case had been mis-handled by the U.S. agencies, I cannot blame anyone trying to take it into his own hands, even if I can see why this could be even more irresponsible.

Article, in German: http://www.stern.de/gesundheit/thomas-eric-duncan-erster-ebo...

Re: US Will Screen Air Passengers for Signs of Ebola. Will It Work?

#30

Post by danielweber » Thu, Oct 09, 2014, 6:15 PM UTC

k-mcgrady wrote: post #22

dublinben wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just as much security theater as TSA checkpoints. IR thermometers are pretty inaccurate[0] and not good at catching Ebola.[1] You can also just pop and Ibuprofen an lie your way through.[2] [0] http://scienceblogs.com/effectmeasure/2008/06/25/why-fever-s... [1] https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2014/08/theres-really-... [2] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/03/ebola-airport-scree...

>> "You can also just pop and Ibuprofen and lie your way through" Why would anyone do that?

So they wouldn't be isolated, or worse: denied entry.

Measures and countermeasures were both used back in the days of Ellis Island.

In the modern world, you probably need a different game theory.