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Ebola virus outbreak

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Comments

  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,567 ✭✭✭Red Pepper


    Yeah, I don't think the media is to blame. I don't really even feel they've been sensationalist while reporting on it.

    Of course the media is to blame. The hype and coverage of ebola completely outweighs the actual risk. Ebola has always been the superstar disease.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,501 ✭✭✭FullblownRose


    I'm old enough to remember the first appearance of aids...was exactly the same. Dentists were worried, always remember some guy putting a dentist drill in water and turning it on to show all the blood...fuk me must have been a dentist from the old west...there were parents pulling kids out of schools, surgeons who were refusing to work on patients..you name it it appeared..

    Yes, I can vaguely remember being warned by an adult to be careful about public toilet seats for that reason.

    It's the fact that this is new, and unknown, just like AIDS seemed to be back then.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,022 ✭✭✭ceadaoin.


    This could just be another false alarm. If the person had been in contact with the ebola patient would he not have been monitored? Why would he end up in a clinic? It says there are other patients inside so if it does turn out to be ebola then that's another set of people that need to be isolated. With the flu season coming up I can see lots of people panicking if they get sick seeing as the initial symptoms are similar to the flu.


    Frisco is in Texas.
    FRISCO — Crews are preparing to transport a patient exhibiting "signs and symptoms of Ebola" from a Frisco CareNow.

    The CareNow is located in the 300 block of Main Street. Patients are currently being held inside the clinic as crews at the scene examine staff and others inside the building.

    "The patient claims to have had contact with the Dallas 'patient zero,'" according to a statement from Dana Baird-Hanks, a spokeswoman with the city of Frisco.

    Police and fire units have surrounded the facility, taped off a gray SUV and isolated other patients at the facility.

    Outside the building, people in hazardous material suits readied an ambulance for transport of the patient.

    Officials say a conference will be held at 3:30 p.m.

    http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/health/2014/10/08/patient-frisco-ebola-suspect/16922477/


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,501 ✭✭✭FullblownRose


    Red Pepper wrote: »
    Of course the media is to blame. The hype and coverage of ebola completely outweighs the actual risk. Ebola has always been the superstar disease.

    I haven't read anything id call hype- nothing thats factually incorrect.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,541 ✭✭✭Smidge


    ceadaoin. wrote: »
    This could just be another false alarm. If the person had been in contact with the ebola patient would he not have been monitored? Why would he end up in a clinic? It says there are other patients inside so if it does turn out to be ebola then that's another set of people that need to be isolated. With the flu season coming up I can see lots of people panicking if they get sick seeing as the initial symptoms are similar to the flu.


    Frisco is in Texas.



    http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/health/2014/10/08/patient-frisco-ebola-suspect/16922477/


    Having read that, its not such a stretch of the imagination to understand how things went with people in the affected African countries.

    So someone who claims to have been in contact(and they probably have as who, other than a crackpot, would claim otherwise?)shows up in a clinic showing symptoms.
    The authorities close off the clinic and isolate the people who were there for whatever reason, inside the clinic where there was a "possible" Ebola patient.
    So now these other patients are stuck in this clinic thinking "Wtf am I doing here? I only have a tummy bug and a sore throat and now I'm trapped in a possibly infected Ebola place?"

    So when people start getting sick, especially since winter illness season is upon us, are they going to go to the clinic?
    Feck that. They are stopping at home!!!!
    But what if it isn't just a winter dose and is actually Ebola????
    The fear of contracting it from being stuck in a place where someone who may have had it will give the perfect conditions for a tinder box of infection.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,567 ✭✭✭Red Pepper


    I haven't read anything id call hype- nothing thats factually incorrect.

    hype = coverage. Does the risk warrant the media exposure? Absolutely not.
    The public should be worrying way way more about smoking or being overweight or the flu than the ebola virus but you wont see daily media updates on those killers. Ebola’s pre-eminence in the media probably has a lot to do with the primal fear it inspires and the popular-culture context from which it comes. Ebola is like a great white shark, some people are really scared about getting bitten by one but the chances are extremely low.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,501 ✭✭✭FullblownRose


    Red Pepper wrote: »
    hype = coverage. Does the risk warrant the media exposure? Absolutely not.
    The public should be worrying way way more about smoking or being overweight or the flu than the ebola virus but you wont see daily media updates on those killers. Ebola’s pre-eminence in the media probably has a lot to do with the primal fear it inspires and the popular-culture context from which it comes. Ebola is like a great white shark, some people are really scared about getting bitten by one but the chances are extremely low.

    Coverage is not hype, far from it. In its current incarnation, and spreading the way it has, its an unprecedented situation.
    You read the stories and make what you want of them , dont tar everyone with the same brush as some hypothetical, headless- chicken style, panicking types and don't complain about the media reporting news.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,567 ✭✭✭Red Pepper


    Coverage is not hype, far from it. In its current incarnation, and spreading the way it has, its an unprecedented situation.
    You read the stories and make what you want of them , dont tar everyone with the same brush as some hypothetical, headless- chicken style, panicking types and don't complain about the media reporting news.

    Yes coverage is hype. Coverage creates fear. Does the risk warrant the coverage relatively speaking?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,184 ✭✭✭nyarlothothep


    ceadaoin. wrote: »
    This could just be another false alarm. If the person had been in contact with the ebola patient would he not have been monitored? Why would he end up in a clinic? It says there are other patients inside so if it does turn out to be ebola then that's another set of people that need to be isolated. With the flu season coming up I can see lots of people panicking if they get sick seeing as the initial symptoms are similar to the flu.


    Frisco is in Texas.



    http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/health/2014/10/08/patient-frisco-ebola-suspect/16922477/

    Or maybe they didn't account for him, human error etc. This virus does appear quite virulent as opposed to difficult to catch which raises big question marks about its transmissability. Not suggesting it's airborne, I can't see that happening but there could be other factors at work. I would say that apathy is the main issue here, I keep saying it but ban flights to these countries, lock down their borders entirely with military cordons if needs be, though they should still receive all the assistance they can get.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,501 ✭✭✭FullblownRose


    Red Pepper wrote: »
    Yes coverage is hype. Coverage creates fear. Does the risk warrant the coverage relatively speaking?

    Only *maybe* in people who are prone to fearfulness, who ought to be avoiding the news in general if they are!


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,022 ✭✭✭ceadaoin.


    Red Pepper wrote: »
    Yes coverage is hype. Coverage creates fear. Does the risk warrant the coverage relatively speaking?

    Liberia is close to collapse, it's so bad that ebola could become endemic in those areas. Just because it's not a direct risk to you right now doesn't mean you don't need to know about it. Thousands of people have been infected in Africa and cases are now cropping up elsewhere. This is unprecedented and of course it's newsworthy. I don't know about Ireland but the coverage here in the US hasn't been excessive at all.

    If you go into all out fear and panic mode from news coverage then you are probably likely to panic and worry anyway. If not this, it would be ISIS or an asteroid coming close to the earth. Probably best to avoid the news altogether.

    Perhaps the news coverage might prompt people to donate to organizations like medecins sans frontiers, is that not a good thing? I think everyone agrees it needs to be brought under control in West Africa.

    If you don't want to know you can always change the channel and watch some more coverage of George Clooneys wedding or whatever is going on this week.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 12,333 ✭✭✭✭JONJO THE MISER


    Five US airports to fever screen travelers from Ebola-stricken areas.
    Why are we not doing the same here?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,567 ✭✭✭Red Pepper


    ceadaoin. wrote: »
    Liberia is close to collapse, it's so bad that ebola could become endemic in those areas. Just because it's not a direct risk to you right now doesn't mean you don't need to know about it. Thousands of people have been infected in Africa and cases are now cropping up elsewhere. This is unprecedented and of course it's newsworthy. I don't know about Ireland but the coverage here in the US hasn't been excessive at all.

    If you go into all out fear and panic mode from news coverage then you are probably likely to panic and worry anyway. If not this, it would be ISIS or an asteroid coming close to the earth. Probably best to avoid the news altogether.

    Perhaps the news coverage might prompt people to donate to organizations like medecins sans frontiers, god knows they need it.

    If you don't want to know you can always change the channel and watch some more coverage of George Clooneys wedding or whatever is going on this week.

    I covered economic collapse in this post;
    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=92531536&postcount=835

    However the media are not reporting about the poor west Africans and the collapse of their economies. They are reporting about how we should isolate them and take care of ourselves. NGOs have been screaming for help for several months but the media did not cover that until very recently when the risk to the west became more real. I have seen very little calls for donations of any kind. The media coverage in the USA skyrocketed this week once they got their 1st confirmed case.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,022 ✭✭✭ceadaoin.


    The person being transported to the hospital is an employee with the Dallas County Sheriff's Office who was in Duncan's apartment, NBC 5 has confirmed.

    This is pretty bad. It's the person who served the quarantine papers on the family. I presume he didn't have close physical contact with the occupants. Lots of officials were seen entering and leaving the apartment without protection. One of them even said during a press conference he was still wearing the same jacket he wore there because there was no risk. :eek:

    Hopefully he is just being over vigilant.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 12,333 ✭✭✭✭JONJO THE MISER


    Pefrect storm, there all saying there was no risk, they could be proven wrong.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,192 ✭✭✭✭hmmm


    ceadaoin. wrote: »
    Hopefully he is just being over vigilant.
    Hopefully it's something else, but can any of these people not just pick up the phone and ring the medical centres without walking in and potentially exposing god knows how many? I don't visit my doctor if I have a suspect cold/flu, let alone Ebola.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,906 ✭✭✭Streetwalker


    Pefrect storm, there all saying there was no risk, they could be proven wrong.

    In all likelihood the risk is low but personally I'm fairly worried.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,161 ✭✭✭✭Gael23


    This is not good. As hmm said there needs to be a way of keeping patients out of doctors waiting rooms


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,567 ✭✭✭Red Pepper


    In all likelihood the risk is low but personally I'm fairly worried.

    about what?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭ProfessorPlum


    Five US airports to fever screen travelers from Ebola-stricken areas.
    Why are we not doing the same here?

    They're only screening passengers arriving from affected countries in West Africa. Is also of dubious value, as a fever is very easy to mask with a couple of paracetamol or ibuprofen. If we started it here for everyone, we be swamped with false positives with a very good chance of missing the genuine case. The US CBP will also be distributing educational 'to do' leaflets. That's probably a better idea.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,541 ✭✭✭Smidge


    ceadaoin. wrote: »
    This is pretty bad. It's the person who served the quarantine papers on the family. I presume he didn't have close physical contact with the occupants. Lots of officials were seen entering and leaving the apartment without protection. One of them even said during a press conference he was still wearing the same jacket he wore there because there was no risk. :eek:

    Hopefully he is just being over vigilant.

    Is this the same person who presented to the clinic in Frisco or another person?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,971 ✭✭✭Holsten


    Spreading like wildfire across west Africa, gone into UK, France, Spain, Germany, now a death in US.

    Kinda scary.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,022 ✭✭✭ceadaoin.


    Smidge wrote: »
    Is this the same person who presented to the clinic in Frisco or another person?

    Sorry, it's the same person. If it does turn out to be ebola then it raises the question of how he got it. He didn't have any contact with the original patient. The family supposedly weren't showing any symptoms when he was with them. That can only mean he was infected from the contaminated apartment somehow,and I doubt he was touching soiled towels and bed sheets, or from the asymptomatic relatives.

    And if he suspected ebola why go to a public clinic?

    It was idiotic to enter there without protection and he wasn't the only one. Ebola is BSL4 for a reason.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,906 ✭✭✭Streetwalker


    Red Pepper wrote: »
    about what?

    I can only guess you haven't read the thread title.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,567 ✭✭✭Red Pepper


    I can only guess you haven't read the thread title.

    are you scared of getting ebola yourself? do you know how miniscule those chances are?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,971 ✭✭✭Holsten


    Over 8,000 people infected and it's growing all the time... with a disease that has no cure and a high mortality rate... those minuscule chances are only going to get bigger and bigger.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,906 ✭✭✭Streetwalker


    Red Pepper wrote: »
    are you scared of getting ebola yourself? do you know how miniscule those chances are?

    Where did i say i was scared?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,906 ✭✭✭Streetwalker


    Holsten wrote: »
    Over 8,000 people infected and it's growing all the time... with a disease that has no cure and a high mortality rate... those minuscule chances are only going to get bigger and bigger.

    Without doubt. Hopefully they can throw a cap on this soon.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,192 ✭✭✭✭hmmm


    ceadaoin. wrote: »
    Sorry, it's the same person. If it does turn out to be ebola then it raises the question of how he got it. He didn't have any contact with the original patient. The family supposedly weren't showing any symptoms when he was with them.
    It's a she, and she presented the quarantine order. The original patient was vomiting blood all over the place when he was removed from the apartment.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,567 ✭✭✭Red Pepper


    I give up, best of luck surviving til Xmas folks.


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