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Ebola - all or nothing?
- Thread starter joecct
- Start date
Re: Ebola - all or nothing?
Yeah, but Doc how can you possibly worry with the eminently qualified Ron Klain on the job?
Yeah, but Doc how can you possibly worry with the eminently qualified Ron Klain on the job?
Kepler
Si certus es dubita
Re: Ebola - all or nothing?
Is there anything in your world that isn't political? Seriously... even one thing?
Is there anything in your world that isn't political? Seriously... even one thing?
Pot. Kettle.
The South will rise again!
(that ought to heat this thread up for a good 24 hours! )
Kepler
Si certus es dubita
Re: Ebola - all or nothing?
There actually are six or seven things that are Beyond Politics for me. But by Zeus, some of the wingnuts here invoke The Turrble Turrble Kenyan Muslin for everything up to why the ECAC keeps winning national championships.
There actually are six or seven things that are Beyond Politics for me. But by Zeus, some of the wingnuts here invoke The Turrble Turrble Kenyan Muslin for everything up to why the ECAC keeps winning national championships.
You haven't won since you beat us in 1970. Then again, I shouldn't brag about our Frozen Four lack of success.
Re: Ebola - all or nothing?
I just hope that any errors made are made on the side of extra caution. Often decisions made are done in haste and can back fire. I had to deal with such decisions back in the 70's at Fort Dix when the Swine Flue panic rushed a vaccine into use and we ended up with some very severe consequences(a few cases of Guillain Barre Syndrome). In spite of the fact that we have been hearing the term Ebola virus since around 1976, I am not comfortable that we have enough knowledge about it to rush headlong into anything other than control and containment.
I just hope that any errors made are made on the side of extra caution. Often decisions made are done in haste and can back fire. I had to deal with such decisions back in the 70's at Fort Dix when the Swine Flue panic rushed a vaccine into use and we ended up with some very severe consequences(a few cases of Guillain Barre Syndrome). In spite of the fact that we have been hearing the term Ebola virus since around 1976, I am not comfortable that we have enough knowledge about it to rush headlong into anything other than control and containment.
ScoobyDoo
NPC
Re: Ebola - all or nothing?
So appointing this lickspittal, who specialized in disenfranchising GIs in Florida, isn't political? This appointment is 100% political. And 100% unnecessary. We had a glitch in Dallas, but we can control this disease. 320 million Americans to chose from and the best The One can come up with to deal with a health "crisis" has zero medical or public health experience. And you accuse me of being political?
This from the guy who cracked wise yesterday about the retired Mountie who sent that Islamic pos off to his virgins. A laugh a minute, pal.
So appointing this lickspittal, who specialized in disenfranchising GIs in Florida, isn't political? This appointment is 100% political. And 100% unnecessary. We had a glitch in Dallas, but we can control this disease. 320 million Americans to chose from and the best The One can come up with to deal with a health "crisis" has zero medical or public health experience. And you accuse me of being political?
This from the guy who cracked wise yesterday about the retired Mountie who sent that Islamic pos off to his virgins. A laugh a minute, pal.
Re: Ebola - all or nothing?
Did you get a chance to read the entire New Yorker article? It's quite long, and absolutely mesmerizing. I was amazed that they were able to sequence the RNA from Ebola taken from different infected people and actually track who was infected by whom based on its mutation rate.
And at the end of the article, they reach the same conclusion you did: for now, the best we can hope to do is to control it and contain it.
Did you get a chance to read the entire New Yorker article? It's quite long, and absolutely mesmerizing. I was amazed that they were able to sequence the RNA from Ebola taken from different infected people and actually track who was infected by whom based on its mutation rate.
And at the end of the article, they reach the same conclusion you did: for now, the best we can hope to do is to control it and contain it.
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Re: Ebola - all or nothing?
Can only hope that this country did act fast enough to do exactly what you listed-control and contain. Delaying any travel ban, having only a limited evaluation at 5 airports, etc-was this enough? And even if it was, was it done fast enough?
unofan
Well-known member
If it wasn't, we'd have a world wide epidemic on our hands already, because it's not like other countries in Europe or Asia have closed their airports. The fact that we've only had one imported case and two medical providers says we should be vigilant but shouldn't panic.
unofan
Well-known member
If it wasn't, we'd have a world wide epidemic on our hands already, because it's not like other countries in Europe or Asia have closed their airports. The fact that we've only had one imported case and two medical providers says we should be vigilant but shouldn't panic.
Re: Ebola - all or nothing?
I agree fully-panic really solves nothing. I am just not sure that we have indeed been vigilant enough. As a society, we have been a bit spoiled by medicine which has been able to treat most things. Occasionally we run up against something we cannot treat. In the history of medicine, that was very common in the old days. Without antibiotics, bacterial infections claimed many lives. The past is full of entities that were just not treatable-plague, TB(called consumption back then), even the sweating sickness that swept Europe in the 1400's and 1500's. I am not sure we know what we are really dealing with Ebola. Not only is it viral(and antibiotics useless), but it seems to change and mutate easily. Worse, it has come about at a time of rapid international travel. You can wake up in Capetown feeling fine, board a plane, and land in Boston sick as a dog in 12-16 hours. As recently as the 1800's and early 1900's, anyone who developed some odd untreatable disease leaving from some far away place, took weeks to arrive here and if the infection was that virulent, usually died in route and the contagion stage never reached the isolated Americas. We are dealing with a totally different world now and I medicine and epidemiology has to adapt quickly to it.
Am i in a panic? Most certainly not. Am I scared? Not really. Am I concerned? You betcha. There is just too much that is unknown about this disease entity. We are really just at the beginning of learning about it. The history of it has been rather short and the number of infections had been so limited and the locations so isolated. There is just too much unknown to make any blanket statements about it.
I agree fully-panic really solves nothing. I am just not sure that we have indeed been vigilant enough. As a society, we have been a bit spoiled by medicine which has been able to treat most things. Occasionally we run up against something we cannot treat. In the history of medicine, that was very common in the old days. Without antibiotics, bacterial infections claimed many lives. The past is full of entities that were just not treatable-plague, TB(called consumption back then), even the sweating sickness that swept Europe in the 1400's and 1500's. I am not sure we know what we are really dealing with Ebola. Not only is it viral(and antibiotics useless), but it seems to change and mutate easily. Worse, it has come about at a time of rapid international travel. You can wake up in Capetown feeling fine, board a plane, and land in Boston sick as a dog in 12-16 hours. As recently as the 1800's and early 1900's, anyone who developed some odd untreatable disease leaving from some far away place, took weeks to arrive here and if the infection was that virulent, usually died in route and the contagion stage never reached the isolated Americas. We are dealing with a totally different world now and I medicine and epidemiology has to adapt quickly to it.
Am i in a panic? Most certainly not. Am I scared? Not really. Am I concerned? You betcha. There is just too much that is unknown about this disease entity. We are really just at the beginning of learning about it. The history of it has been rather short and the number of infections had been so limited and the locations so isolated. There is just too much unknown to make any blanket statements about it.
Re: Ebola - all or nothing?
I had not heard of the second case. Did that doctor in NY turn out to be positive? If so, did he travel back here before or after the 5 airports started screening? Or has someone else tested positive?
Kepler
Si certus es dubita
Re: Ebola - all or nothing?
SS: There have been lots of things that have helped keep this country from experiencing some of the epidemic scourges of olden times. Slow travel getting here only being one of them. It most certainly did help that most of the sick died before they could get here. Perhaps going further back, not being discovered by the Europeans before the 15th century helped also. The development of various disease treating drugs were of no doubt major significance. The fact that some diseases were just limited to tropical environments was also of some benefit. I was merely pointing out that the ball game has changed. Diseases and epidemics that were rarely to ever even thought of here, are now able to reach our doorstep in hours rather than weeks to months. Even the pattern and spread of influenza is vastly different now that it was as recent as the 1950's. Back then, the Asian or Hong Kong Flu(as they were called) took longer to arrive and spread throughout the US allowing for more time to institute containment and control measures(whether they worked or not is another question).
There is some really bad stuff out there(just watch the show on Animal Planet 'Monsters Within Me' on Thursday nights). Some treatable, some not. I am just pointing out that we are not as safe from them as we were generations ago and that we need to be taking some extra (and new) precautions to protect. For some of these entities it is not as important as others-some are either not all that bad or not all that contagious. But the clock is ticking for the time when we do face one that is both-dangerously lethal and very contagious. I am just not sure how truly ready we are to face something like the 1917 outbreak of Spanish Flu that swept the world and killed millions in a rather short period of time. A combination of virulence and contagion that we really had not seen before. Of course, this is just my opinion after almost 50 years of medical practice.
Edit: I am suddenly reminded of the Kevin Bacon character in 'Animal House" at the end when all heck breaks loose at the final parade yelling-"All is Well" and "Remain Calm"
SS: There have been lots of things that have helped keep this country from experiencing some of the epidemic scourges of olden times. Slow travel getting here only being one of them. It most certainly did help that most of the sick died before they could get here. Perhaps going further back, not being discovered by the Europeans before the 15th century helped also. The development of various disease treating drugs were of no doubt major significance. The fact that some diseases were just limited to tropical environments was also of some benefit. I was merely pointing out that the ball game has changed. Diseases and epidemics that were rarely to ever even thought of here, are now able to reach our doorstep in hours rather than weeks to months. Even the pattern and spread of influenza is vastly different now that it was as recent as the 1950's. Back then, the Asian or Hong Kong Flu(as they were called) took longer to arrive and spread throughout the US allowing for more time to institute containment and control measures(whether they worked or not is another question).
There is some really bad stuff out there(just watch the show on Animal Planet 'Monsters Within Me' on Thursday nights). Some treatable, some not. I am just pointing out that we are not as safe from them as we were generations ago and that we need to be taking some extra (and new) precautions to protect. For some of these entities it is not as important as others-some are either not all that bad or not all that contagious. But the clock is ticking for the time when we do face one that is both-dangerously lethal and very contagious. I am just not sure how truly ready we are to face something like the 1917 outbreak of Spanish Flu that swept the world and killed millions in a rather short period of time. A combination of virulence and contagion that we really had not seen before. Of course, this is just my opinion after almost 50 years of medical practice.
Edit: I am suddenly reminded of the Kevin Bacon character in 'Animal House" at the end when all heck breaks loose at the final parade yelling-"All is Well" and "Remain Calm"
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