Ebola virus taking over

[Curt James]

[Professor X]

The REAL Danger:


http://www.thedenverchannel.com/health/purdue-professor-says-ebola-virus-primed-to-go-airborne10132014
Ebola researcher says virus 'primed' to go airborne

"Sanders said the longer the virus spreads and mutates, the more likely airborne transmission will become. He also said that's why it's critical to suppress the outbreak in Africa to prevent a worldwide spread."

This is why we can't wait.

Imagine this shit if it mutates and becomes airborne....and increases rate of progression.
It could spread through a public mall in a day.

[Curt James]

A counterpoint might be appreciated.

Why Ebola is very unlikely to go airborne

By Brad Plumer
October 2, 2014

Ebola is not currently an airborne disease. You can't catch Ebola by sitting across the room from someone who has it. You can only catch Ebola from coming into direct contact with the bodily fluids of someone who has the disease and is showing symptoms.

(One caveat: If someone with Ebola symptoms sneezes or coughs and the saliva or mucus hits your eyes, nose, or mouth, that can transmit the disease, but this is rare, and it's mainly a concern for health workers. It's also not what people mean by "airborne.")

Back in September, however, an op-ed by Michael Osterholm in The New York Times raised a disturbing possibility — what if the Ebola epidemic in West Africa goes on long enough and the virus keeps mutating? Could Ebola somehow become airborne then? And wouldn't that allow the disease to spread even faster around the world? More recently, Dr. Oz raised the specter of airborne Ebola on The Today Show.

This is a scary scenario. But fortunately for the world, most infectious disease experts remain very skeptical that Ebola will ever become airborne. "This is way down on the list of possible futures for Ebola and in all probability will never happen," explained Ian Jones, a virologist with the University of Reading, back in September.

But why are experts so confident Ebola won't become airborne? It's worth reading this long post by Vincent Racaniello, a virologist at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University.

He goes into detail about how viruses mutate, but here's his bottom line: "We have been studying viruses for over 100 years, and we've never seen a human virus change the way it is transmitted":

When it comes to viruses, it is always difficult to predict what they can or cannot do. It is instructive, however, to see what viruses have done in the past, and use that information to guide our thinking. Therefore we can ask: has any human virus ever changed its mode of transmission?

The answer is no. We have been studying viruses for over 100 years, and we've never seen a human virus change the way it is transmitted.

HIV-1 has infected millions of humans since the early 1900s. It is still transmitted among humans by introduction of the virus into the body by sex, contaminated needles, or during childbirth.

Hepatitis C virus has infected millions of humans since its discovery in the 1980s. It is still transmitted among humans by introduction of the virus into the body by contaminated needles, blood, and during birth.

There is no reason to believe that Ebola virus is any different from any of the viruses that infect humans and have not changed the way that they are spread.

I am fully aware that we can never rule out what a virus might or might not do. But the likelihood that Ebola virus will go airborne is so remote that we should not use it to frighten people. We need to focus on stopping the epidemic, which in itself is a huge job.

This jibes with what Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the Senate in mid-September: "Very, very rarely does [a virus] completely change the way it's transmitted."

Fauci noted that viruses do mutate a lot, in ways that might make the disease more virulent or a little bit more efficient at spreading. That's why researchers are currently trying to monitor the mutations. But with all the dire things to worry about with Ebola, he said, the prospect of the disease going airborne is not "something I would put at the very top of the radar screen."

Further reading: For more on the science of Ebola transmission, check out this previous post by Susannah Locke. She notes that, yes, some pigs infected with Ebola may be able to transmit the disease by coughing and sneezing large droplets. But there's a huge caveat here: Ebola affects pigs in a completely different manner than it does humans (in pigs, Ebola shows up as an infection of the lungs; in humans, it mainly targets the liver).

From http://www.vox.com/2014/9/19/6543157...to-go-airborne

[Ibarramedia]

Thats the same thing with aids. Use condoms, end aids. But that seems not to work.

I'm talking about the medical personell. I don't remember them getting aids due to breach of protocol. The medical people won't need to use condoms.


Universal precautions refers to the practice, in medicine, of avoiding contact with patients' bodily fluids, by means of the wearing of nonporous articles such as medical gloves, goggles, and face shields. The practice was introduced in 1985–88. In 1987, the practice of universal precautions was adjusted by a set of rules known as body substance isolation. In 1996, both practices were replaced by the latest approach known as standard precautions. Use of personal protective equipment is now recommended in all health settings.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_precautions


From http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/bp_univer...

UNIVERSAL PRECAUTIONS, as defined by CDC, are a set of precautions designed to prevent transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and other bloodborne pathogens when providing first aid or health care. Under universal precautions, blood and certain body fluids of all patients are considered potentially infectious for HIV, HBV and other bloodborne pathogens
---
The universal precautions are listed in detail here: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml...

Basically, they consist of wearing barriers such as gloves when handling bodily fluids, and disposable gowns if they may be splashed, washing the hands when done, proper technique in handling and disposing of needles, use ventilation devices for mouth-to-mouth resusicitation of infected individuals, etc..
---
Standard precautions are similar. From http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/gl_isolat...

STANDARD PRECAUTIONS combine the major features of Universal Precautions (UP) and Body Substance Isolation (BSI)* and are based on the principle that all blood, body fluids, secretions, excretions except sweat, nonintact skin, and mucous membranes may contain transmissible infectious agents. Standard Precautions include a group of infection prevention practices that apply to all patients, regardless of suspected or confirmed infection status, in any setting in which healthcare is delivered. These include: hand hygiene; use of gloves, gown, mask, eye protection, or face shield, depending on the anticipated exposure; and safe injection practices. Also, equipment or items in the patient environment likely to have been contaminated with infectious body fluids must be handled in a manner to prevent transmission of infectious agents (e.g., wear gloves for direct contact, contain heavily soiled equipment, properly clean and disinfect or sterilize reusable equipment before use on another patient). The application of Standard Precautions during patient care is determined by the nature of the HCW-patient interaction and the extent of anticipated blood, body fluid, or pathogen exposure. For some interactions (e.g., performing venipuncture), only gloves may be needed; during other interactions (e.g., intubation), use of gloves, gown, and face shield or mask and goggles is necessary.
---
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_substa...

BODY SUBSTANCE ISOLATION (BSI) is a practice of isolating all body substances (blood, urine, feces, tears, etc.) of individuals undergoing medical treatment, particularly emergency medical treatment of those who might be infected with illnessess such as HIV, or hepatitis so as to reduce as much as possible the chances of transmitting these illnesses. BSI is similar in nature to universal precautions, but goes further in isolating substances not currently known to carry HIV.

Types of Body Substance Isolation include:

Hospital gowns
Medical gloves
Shoe covers
Surgical mask or N95 Respirator
Safety Glasses

[Nic Brunicardi]

I do hope they will get a grip on it sooner or later, but until they do I must admit I welcome the idea of a thorough 'cleaning up' of this screwed up planet of ours. We need to reduce the headcount.

[Poker face Ace]

I totally agree. I think she didn't take every step into account which may wind up costing her life in the long run.

The key is she was NOT protected at all times and spent tons of time with the infected patient.

All it takes is one slip up.

Think about it...out of all of the guys on this site who may use steroids, how many do you think perform perfect clinical procedure when doing so?


Why else do you think some get infections?

All it takes is missing one step in the procedure....and it is human nature over time to become relaxed with protocol. Human error.

She was probably awake for days at a time and fucked up.

[Ibarramedia]

I totally agree. I think she didn't take every step into account which may wind up costing her life in the long run.

True. Or worse, it just be plain laziness or sloppiness.

[Curt James]

The REAL Danger:

The real danger is that the disease could be weaponized.

[Ibarramedia]

Bio warfare has been around for ages Curt. The Geneva convention made them illegal, but who's to stop terrorists from unleashing an ebola virus outbreak?

[Mac]

The real danger is that the disease has already been weaponized.

I am sure someone has.

[Poker face Ace]

Sounds like a scary a@@ virus.

[HTW]

image.jpg

Its coming .......

[Professor X]

image.jpg

Its coming .......

What's popping out is that Duncan must be one really infectious bastard since both health workers treated the same patient.


Also, they are treating people with ebola infected survivor blood??

and it works??

Nurse Nina Pham, 26, who cared for Duncan, became the first person to contract the disease within the United States. She is reportedly in "good condition" after receiving blood from an Ebola survivor.

[Poker face Ace]

And she was on a flight before..

image.jpg

Its coming .......

[Poker face Ace]

I guess the second nurse is in improved condition.