settle bet with DH

huntjul · July 2014

Are you aware of the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa? What should be done about it?

tashad18 · July 2014

There is a Dr. from Fort Worth who was there helping that has contracted the disease. I think help should be sent. Like @baconface said, it isn't a isolated issue because it can easily make the way around the globe.

https://www.star-telegram.com/2014/07/28/6001708/former-fort-worth-doctors-situation.html

BlessUrHeart29 · July 2014

baconface said:
We live in an interconnected world.... All it takes is a 747 and the outbreak is here. So yes, we should send assistance. And I am an NPR fan, so I am aware.

This.

deedee1017 · July 2014

I've heard of it and the doctor from the US who contracted it despite taking all necessary precautions. I think it's great for people to go on a mission and help if they so choose, but I'd have a hard time mandating people to go. There is only a 40% survival rate. That's tough. I do agree they need help because it can of course be brought here or anywhere else, but I'm not sure how I would go about it.

deedee1017 · July 2014

Sorry, the tablet eats my paragraphs.

Jalee85 · July 2014

I think that we should send help.

sfshorter · July 2014

My husband will be traveling to Africa in a few weeks, and though he won't be going to any of the outbreak areas, I'm still terrified of it. I feel like WHO and the US is probably already doing all they can do to help stop it.

deedee1017 · July 2014

@dknight413‌ yes, Dr. Kent Brantly is from Texas and has a wife and two kids. A second American missionary, Nancy Writebol who is in charge of detoxifying the protective suits has also contracted it.

deedee1017 · July 2014

@huntjul‌ what was the bet? Who wins?

huntjul · July 2014

breadandbutter07 said:

I heard about it yesterday, but I never thought about sending help... Is there really anything we/they/America can do? Besides sending over medication, it seems like we'd just be exposing more people. The thing we can "do" is test and quarantine individuals who have been exposed before allowing them to spread the disease further.

No meds are effective against it, so it's more a matter of sending expertise to limit spread and assist in the treatment (supportive care, not meds) to the affected folks.

deedee1017 said:

@huntjul‌ what was the bet? Who wins?

DH and I were debating about how much aid should be sent and how. He thinks we basically shouldn't send aid because it doesn't seem to be effective (poverty and disease remains) and I was trying to explain that they don't have the capacity to fix this without assistance--not to mention that it does have a risk albeit low of spreading outside the region. Naturally we both thought everyone would agree with our individual views.

elllaf · July 2014

There isn't really much you can do for it though. WHO states that outbreak cases have a fatality rate up to 90%.
Why risk more people than necessary?
The more physical "help" the greater chance there is for it to spread outside of the country..?
Send supplies for sure though. Even though there's no specific treatment for it, some do survive.

huntjul · July 2014

elllaf said:

There isn't really much you can do for it though. WHO states that outbreak cases have a fatality rate up to 90%. Why risk more people than necessary? The more physical "help" the greater chance there is for it to spread outside of the country..? Send supplies for sure though. Even though there's no specific treatment for it, some do survive.

Case fatality rates are up to 90% but some strains have lower mortality; this one appears to (I think the latest count was ~700 dead/1200 cases), and some hospitals are more effective at treating it and are seeing fatality rates as low as 40%. If you or a family member had it, a 60% survival chance is deft worth treating!

However, you can ship all the IV fluids there you want, and if there's no one to poke the needle in the vein, then it's all a waste. Supplies without expertise are useless IMO

KuhaBaby said:

Did you all hear that a man that lives in MN was a day away from flying home when he got sick in Africa with Ebola and died??? He was a day away from spreading it here. That is terrifying. This man lived in the same town as my BIL, SIL and niece, so that really hit home for me.... but just think of all the people in the airports and airplanes that he would have come in contact with.

But I'm going to go on a limb here and say that significant spread outside of the region is low risk. This is a disease that sickens and kills so quickly that people don't have much time to spread it before dying. So it has less risk of spreading than something like influenza. Plus it's not airborne, so again, lower risk of spreading.

Why is it spreading in W Africa? Largely because of cultural issues like handling of dead bodies (they traditionally wash and kiss the dead before burial) and the belief that sick people are cursed and not that diseases are caused by things like viruses, which leads to a stigma that keeps people from getting care--among other factors.

sleepy33 · July 2014

I've seen Outbreak. Monkeys, yo.

LetsGoToDisney · July 2014

Ebola/hemorrhagic fever scares the ever loving shit out of me. It is terrifying to think that one sick person with a passport can bring this over. I think the WHO or Doctor's W/O Borders should be given all of the resources and access needed to contain and treat (give palliative care to) affected individuals.

sleepy33 · July 2014

dknight413 said:

I've seen Outbreak. Monkeys, yo.
How about Contagion? I don't think I breathed in public for weeks after seeing that movie.

Which one is that? Runs off to imdb...

sleepy33 · July 2014

dknight413 said:

I've seen Outbreak. Monkeys, yo.
How about Contagion? I don't think I breathed in public for weeks after seeing that movie.

I feel like I have deft seen the beginning, but can't remember how it ends. So either I fell asleep or tuned out.

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