Ebola Outbreak

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On a separate thread someone referenced AIDS. With AIDS being so common in parts of Africa, I wonder what the connection might be to AIDS. if you have AIDS are you more or less likely to contract Ebola? Are you more or less likely to succumb to it?

We know that AIDS victims are susceptible to bacterial infections and in the the past often died of pneumonia?

I wonder how having a virus within your body affects your risk of getting another one
 
I think the only link between the Aids virus and the Ebola virus is that both viruses jumped from monkeys to humans, similar to the way some flu viruses jumped from pigs or chickens to humans.

These trans-species viruses are, at least initially, very dangerous to humans, because we have neither natural immunity nor vaccines against them.

Fortunately, Canada has developed an Ebola vaccine that promises to be effective.
 
Lastpointe said:
On a separate thread someone referenced AIDS. With AIDS being so common in parts of Africa, I wonder what the connection might be to AIDS. if you have AIDS are you more or less likely to contract Ebola? Are you more or less likely to succumb to it?

We know that AIDS victims are susceptible to bacterial infections and in the the past often died of pneumonia?

I wonder how having a virus within your body affects your risk of getting another one
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Good point, I would think any compromise of our homeostasis would make us susceptible.

The other thing I wonder about is how are they disposing of human waste? In North America is it safe to just flush everything down the toilet? Maybe it's not a consideration since we chlorinate our water to death, BUT do we know?
 
Hermann said:
I think the biggest danger in this current Ebola outbreak is some suicidal Jihadist maniacs getting hold of the virus and purposely spreading it, as God agents in an act of divine retribution.
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I don't think they have to.....Ebola IS the terrorist.....something even any terrorist should be wary of also.
 
Waterfall said:
I don't think they have to.....Ebola IS the terrorist.....something even any terrorist should be wary of also.
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Yes, but these religious extremist/terrorists are suicidal; they die gladly in what they perceive to be service to God. They may not care if they die in the process of spreading Ebola.
 
I think the problem with your scary hypothesis, Hermann, is that by the time that people are ill enough to spread the virus, they're likely too ill to have a strong jihadist passion, i.e they're more likely to be calling for their mother in delirium.
 
Yes, Bette, but they could spread the virus before they get to that stage.

There is, apparently, an incubation period during which one is already infected and infectious but not yet severely ill.

During medieval sieges, they catapulted bodies of victims of infectious diseases over the city walls to spread the disease in the besieged city.
 
I don't believe Ebola has a period where the person is infectious without showing signs of the disease.

Other diseases do

Chicken pox being the most common one. It's why it spreads so easily. A child is shedding virus through the air forr at least 24 hours and up to 48 hours before they get any spots. Sometimes they have what seems to be a mild cold. Then everyone they meet is exposed to the virus and doesn't know it
 
It keeps spreading, 6 countries in Africa are effected from this outbreak, with Mali being the newest along with a 7th (I think it's just the one, it's been fairly quiet) from the second outbreak. A doctor who was treating patients with Ebola in Guinea became sick while in New York. I've seen some questions about whether or not he was walking around sick for a day or two - apparently he was quite ill by the time he got medical help. I'm not sure if he was just hit hard quickly or if he was ignoring minor symptoms.
 
I wonder why folks at risk ie health care workers-aren't under quaratine for the 11 days or so after returning from working with ebola patients. Then if they are well-they leave and if sick-they haven't infected others.
 
Tabitha said:
I wonder why folks at risk ie health care workers-aren't under quaratine for the 11 days or so after returning from working with ebola patients. Then if they are well-they leave and if sick-they haven't infected others.
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I think it would do quite a bit to ease some fears. I don't know if it's necessary or not, as when there are no symptoms they aren't going to infect anyone other than maybe those they are really close to.

It would take planning, when you get back from a trip, there are things that are needed like groceries.
 
I'm reading more about the Mali case, the 2 year old girl died. It sounds like more cases are to be expected, she had a nosebleed on a bus and was at a clinic and a hospital. 43 people, 10 of which are healthcare workers are being monitored.
 
It is strange but not unusual for the west to not do much till we are possible victims. Still I hear that our response is slow.
It is sad that people across the ocean are not seen as important as we are. We're so interdependent that of any one of the many areas of the world goes down we are all going to be less for it.
 
What is our government's response as of now? I heard they pledged additional money - another 30M but it has not come through. Only 5M so far?

What gets me is I think 4B was spent on the Olympics here - an international party. They cough up money for things like that, and for wars, but why not for this? Sooner or later it could affect everyone if they don't. It's not something to be stingey about.
 
In the end, it may be the private foundations that end up funding a lot of the work. Paul Allen, who was Bill Gates' partner in starting Microsoft, is going to pony up $100 million. That's on top of $50 mil from Bill and Melinda Gates and $25 mil from Mark Zuckerberg (of Facebook) and his wife Priscilla Chan. This group of tech billionaires and their spouses are contributing more than Canada and probably more than any single country other than maybe their own (the US).
 
A lot of money is attempted to be raised by humanitarian groups- Red Cross and MSF, etc. but I have been hearing about the public saying they are waiting for/ expect a better gov' t response. This needs an effort from all directions.
 
Kimmio said:
A lot of money is attempted to be raised by humanitarian groups- Red Cross and MSF, etc. but I have been hearing about the public saying they are waiting for/ expect a better gov' t response. This needs an effort from all directions.
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The problem as I'm hearing it is that, as always seems to happen, the government is promising a lot but failing to deliver. That's why the private foundations matter so much. They are much more likely to actually deliver on their pledges. If the public wants a better government response, then they need to let the government know that. Letter writing or something. There's an election in a year and if the government thinks that contributing to the Ebola fight will help with that, they'll make sure it happens.

This may be controversial to say on WC, but it is conceivable that a world where development policy is dominated by Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg may not entirely be a bad thing. People like that are all about getting things done, not dithering over the optics and political narratives. If you've read any of Bill's writing on development and disease in Africa, he gets it in a way that no Western government does and that's why his foundation is now so influential in things like fighting malaria and AIDS in Africa.
 
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Mendalla said:
The problem as I'm hearing it is that, as always seems to happen, the government is promising a lot but failing to deliver. That's why the private foundations matter so much. They are much more likely to actually deliver on their pledges. If the public wants a better government response, then they need to let the government know that. Letter writing or something. There's an election in a year and if the government thinks that contributing to the Ebola fight will help with that, they'll make sure it happens.

This may be controversial to say on WC, but it is conceivable that a world where development policy is dominated by Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg may not entirely be a bad thing. People like that are all about getting things done, not dithering over the optics and political narratives. If you've read any of Bill's writing on development and disease in Africa, he gets it in a way that no Western government does and that's why his foundation is now so influential in things like fighting malaria and AIDS in Africa.
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They need people on the ground - medical first responders, supplies and equipment, now. And continuously until it is contained and lessened. Development plans need to be worked on but there's immediate need now and they can't dither.
 
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