Ebola Preparation

[nova3930]

I only started getting the flu shot when my son was born. It was one thing if I got sick on my own, it's quite another if I get sick and pass it on to him, so I do everything I can to prevent it, including the shot.

That being said, the 2 times I've had the real deal flu were some absolutely miserable experiences. The last time the wife and I both had it simultaneously while we were trying to sell our house.

[nova3930]

True, unless the CDC happens to guess correctly on the prevalent flu strains in any given year.

There's some evidence that even if the strain isn't correct, there's enough similarity between the strains to provide some protection. Secondarily there's apparently some long term residual resistance every time you're exposed to a flu strain, so if they get the strain wrong, but the strain was included in past years, you again would see some protection. From what I've read in both cases the protection is typically reduced severity and/or duration....

After my past experiences with the flu, if the possibility of reduced severity and duration are an option, I'll take it.

[HardToHandle]

There's some evidence that even if the strain isn't correct, there's enough similarity between the strains to provide some protection. Secondarily there's apparently some long term residual resistance every time you're exposed to a flu strain, so if they get the strain wrong, but the strain was included in past years, you again would see some protection. From what I've read in both cases the protection is typically reduced severity and/or duration....

After my past experiences with the flu, if the possibility of reduced severity and duration are an option, I'll take it.

Thank you, that is how the biology works. The body learns to attack via antibodies.
Want to be a good shooter? Practice.
Want to prevent getting the flu or Ebola? Practice. Stay away from reservoirs of disease, wash hands and train your body.

For the record, the CDC does not determine the annual influenza vaccine. That is an international decision made basically 13 months before the height of the US flu season. Some years the committee misses the mark, but they have a better track record than the weatherman or Wall Street. The modern travel may actually be making the flu less effective as we all have more varied immune training, maybe....

On 30k flu deaths, that is classic public health counting. It is like one in ten kids dying of lead poisoning... Laughable and utterly unverifiable.

[voiceofreason]

This is an email I sent out to friends & family on Nov 05; hope some of it is useful to you:


The following are 4 segments I’m sharing with people I know and hope you will pass on to family and friends you care about (please redact my name and email info). No, this isn't spam.

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Part 1 is the actual email forwarded to me from a good friend I trust to be truthful and non-hysterical, the author of the email is a personal friend, the email was followed up with a phone call to confirm and get more details

Part 2 is the notes from the 30 minute phone conversation I had with the friend, to garner more details regarding the contents of the email and the phone conversation had with the person in LIberia.

Part 3 is a section of “takeaways” I got from this email and conversation, and are only personal thoughts and opinions brainstormed (not filtered at all)

Part 4 is a response to the group email, received from another person I respect the opinion of. I felt it was worth sharing

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Part 1: the actual email

> I just
heard from a reverend I know in Liberia. I was super happy
to hear from him, because it had been a few months with no
emails or calls. I was hopeful but concerned.
>
> He lives near the Firestone Rubber Plantation. If you Google "Firestone
Liberia" and "Ebola", you'll see articles
about how ebola didn't impact this area other than a few
people. He told me the news reports were false. He said
he saw dead bodies in the street everywhere from June -
September. He said they closed the nearby hospital when 27
nurses died. He said, for example, one church he knows
lost 40% of its members, the pastor and the choir. He said
just handshakes seem to pass the disease. He feels most of
the people who died didn't take it seriously enough, and
continued normal practices (burying the dead, shaking hands,
etc.). He lived through 2 civil wars in Liberia, so I
imagine he is not prone to exaggeration when he said it was
the worst thing he'd ever seen in his life.
>
> The good news is
that he said he feels the country has really turned the
corner. Most of the clinics are empty but they still have
deaths here and there.

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Part 2: notes from the 30 minute phone conversation

Liberia is an impoverished country that has little to no electricity, running water, sewage services
Americans wash their hands multiple times daily with soap and fresh water
Americans have the ability to disinfect and clean surfaces with chemical cleaners and access to fresh water, bleach
American medical facilities have the ability to isolate and contain Ebola when the number of victims is small
it is important to note that all information was gleaned from a 5 minute phone conversation with the reverend in LIberia
the Liberian contact is a native LIberian
contact is a trained pastor
it was stressed that it Ebola seemed to be transmitted by simple handshakes and casual contact
pastors putting their hands on victims’ foreheads was enough to transmit Ebola to the pastors praying
for 4 months, there were bodies in the streets
there are still cases here and there, but the worst of it is over
the people that continued going to market, continued going to church... died.
self imposed quarantine is the ONLY thing that works



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Part 3: personal thoughts and opinions

once the medical facilities are overwhelmed, the virus will not be contained
professional medical personnel including nurses and MSNBC’s chief medical correspondent have refused to self-quarantine because they feel the need/right/want to not be stuck in their homes for 21 days. if medical professionals can’t do it, what are the chances the average American will?
do we trust people to sacrifice and not infect others? or will average Americans risk infecting others to increase the chance of helping themselves, or otherwise just not caring because they want something small?
what will happen in our society when people can’t go to the market for food or other supplies without risking contamination?
the incubation period for Ebola exceeds 21 days
do we even know how long Ebola virus can survive outside of the body?
I can’t even imagine what would happen if even a single infected carrier with symptoms rode the NY subway for 3 stops
if a self imposed quarantine is the ONLY thing that works, how prepared are most of us for a 4 month+ quarantine in our homes? (we’d be out of food within weeks at best)
do we have a clean and reliable water supply?
do we have the means to protect our people and our supplies? if an Ebola infected person breaks in through a sliding glass door or window, will we end up in hand-to-hand combat with an infected person? (a bit over the top, but you get the gist of it...)
has our family thought about and discussed where our “red line” is to where we will decide to self quarantine? if we think about it when it is upon us, it may already be too late. again, do we have the ability to stay quarantined for long?
will our local and larger governments work to help us, or hinder us? FEMA’s reputation would leave our hands tied as a community.
at what point do we stop shaking hands with people outside of our home? at what point do we refuse entry to others to our homes? at what point do we decide that there are enough active cases in our area that the threat of infection is higher than minimal?
what happens when our soldiers return from Ebola stricken areas, where they are expected to perform the tasks of healthcare workers?
if they are quarantined by the military for 21 days, what about the next 10 days, when Ebola can still be present?
why has our national leadership been so reluctant to take the most basic of precautions in protecting the health and welfare of our citizens?
an Ebola epidemic would devastate our economy, which regardless of rhetoric is still very fragile.
why are we not hearing about the truth?
why is our news media refusing to report what is really happening?
didn’t the U.S. government downplay the Spanish Flu?

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Part 4: another friend’s reaction to original email

I have no doubt the news we receive is very filtered- and find it interesting (yet not surprising) that they had to close the hospital. I've heard people get turned away from hospitals- but it goes to figure that the hospitals would shut down as they lose workers, lack supplies, lack open beds, and as people have rational fear for a virus with such a high mortality rate. I suppose our news wouldn't want to publicize closing hospitals as that would only cause more "hysteria" in our country.

The CDC & our local health department use Twitter to "educate" citizens about Ebola using the hashtag #FactsNotFear.

Daily I am saddened by the fact that we are in a situation where our government wants to hide facts- and imply you can't educate yourself without it being considered some form of hysteria.

The vast majority of the fear I have towards Ebola is from the fact our government (and society in general) seems to have such a lackadaisical attitude towards taking measures to prevent it from becoming an issue on our soil (which it arguably already has).

I also think the general population forgets how easily hands, spray from sneezing, etc can spread Germs (not just Ebola).

I'm glad to hear the reverend feels his the country has turned a corner. I'm wondering if it's just already impacted a large majority of the population, or if people are becoming more educated in how to prevent themselves from contracting it.

The news reports that the growth rate of cases is decreasing, but honestly I've assumed that was just our government trying to take credit for the resources we've sent over (as if a couple weeks after our help arriving the rates virus with a 21 + day incubation period would somehow magically have gone down).

Again, thank you for sharing, although disheartening to hear what Liberia has been through, it is good to know & be aware of.

We can't be to vigilant, nor too grateful for the health we currently do have.







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FYI, a good friend is the top health care director for contagious diseases in a large (not NY/Los Angeles large) metro area; was told they use Formula 409 for disinfectant because it's stable and kills viruses as well. bleach isn't stable and although the gold standard, they can't trust that it'll be mixed correctly, so they go with 409 as a general disinfectant for all contagious diseases as the default