Ebola and other Epidemics, Inadequate Healthcare Threatens Millions

[Ed Anger]

I coughed today

[sbr]

Did the doctor have a hold of your nut sack?

[Ed Anger]

Did the doctor have a hold of your nut sack?

I wish. 

[sbr]

 

[Valmy]

One day update by the WHO says that from thw 5th to the 6th more than 300 cases and nearly 200 deaths were recorded!

It is obviously unstoppable now. Liberia and Sierra Leone will probably lose hundreds of thousands of people.

This is really getting ridiculous.  What a horrible tragedy and the sick thing is we saw this coming months ago.  Should have mobilized to help these countries when we could.

[Admiral Yi]

Help them how?  My understanding is the virus is spreading because people who are infected refuse to come forward and allow themselves to be quarantined and refuse to disclose who they've been in contact with.

[Valmy]

Help them how?  My understanding is the virus is spreading because people who are infected refuse to come forward and allow themselves to be quarantined and refuse to disclose who they've been in contact with.

There were hardly any doctors in those countries when the outbreaks broke out.  They needed resources to help fight the disease.  I mean this what we have UNICEF and all these things for right?

[sbr]

What exactly should "we" do to help people who intentionally break infected people out of quarantine and think that Western medicine is a plot to kill them?

[Valmy]

What exactly should "we" do to help people who intentionally break infected people out of quarantine and think that Western medicine is a plot to kill them?

"We", and by we I mean everybody who is not in West Africa, did a decent job helping to slow the AIDs epidemic despite people saying raping virgins was the best cure.  Not sure why we could not do a decent job here.

[CountDeMoney]

I coughed today

And fhdz cringed.

[viper37]

"We", and by we I mean everybody who is not in West Africa, did a decent job helping to slow the AIDs epidemic despite people saying raping virgins was the best cure.  Not sure why we could not do a decent job here.

How many years did it take to slow the AIDs epidemic?

Ebola is a fast killer, AIDs is not.  IIRC, it took about 20 years to come up with a semi-cure, something that although didn't remove the viral charge, would neutralize it's effect enough so that you could live a semi-normal live, not worry about dying from a cold.

If we apply the same pace as for AIDs, how many people are gonna die of Ebola in 20 years?

The first cases of AIDs where in America/Canada, so it was easier to find patients, isolate them, educate them, treat them any way we could and do some controlled research.  Can't do that in Sierra Leone.

You may send a thousand doctors there, but if people fear them, rely on their sorcerers and superstitions to 'cure' themselves, and that 'cure' happens to be just as effective as 'our' 'cure', then good luck convinced them to stay at home and isolate themselves.

I honestly don't know what to do.

[jimmy olsen]

Help them how?  My understanding is the virus is spreading because people who are infected refuse to come forward and allow themselves to be quarantined and refuse to disclose who they've been in contact with.

There is no help to get. People in the hemoraghic phase are being turned away at the door at some facilities because there are only 240 beds at Ebola clinics available in Liberia.  At others they're being confined in buildings without beds and without enough food to live,  causing then to try to escape and further engendering distrust in the community.

[Syt]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29136594

Ebola outbreak 'threatens Liberia's national existence'

Patients too weak to move are being turned away by medical staff who cannot cope with the influx of cases, as Thomas Fessy reports

Liberia is facing a "serious threat" to its national existence as the deadly Ebola virus "spreads like wildfire" there, its defence minister says.

Brownie Samukai told the UN Security Council that the international response to the crisis was "less than robust".

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that thousands more cases could occur in Liberia, which has been worst hit by the West Africa outbreak.

Some 2,288 people have died from Ebola in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

The WHO says half of these deaths occurred in the three weeks running up to 6 September.

In Nigeria, eight people have died out of a total 21 cases, while one case has been confirmed in Senegal, with no deaths.

Liberia's defence minister warned on Tuesday that the country's weak health system was already overwhelmed by the number of cases.

Mr Samukai told UN Security Council members that Liberia lacked "infrastructure, logistical capacity, professional expertise and financial resources to effectively address this disease".

"The deadly Ebola virus has caused a disruption of the normal functioning of our state," he said.

Separately on Tuesday, the UN's envoy in Liberia said that at least 160 Liberian health workers had contracted the disease and half of them had died.

Karin Landgren described the outbreak as a "latter-day plague" that was growing exponentially.

She added that health workers were operating without proper protective equipment, training or pay, in comments to the UN Security Council.

"Liberians are facing their gravest threat since their war," Ms Landgren said.

"I don't think anybody can say right now that the international response to the Ebola outbreak is sufficient," US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power said after the Security Council briefing.

Ebola spreads between humans by direct contact with infected blood, bodily fluids or organs, or indirectly through contact with contaminated environments.

Unlike other West African nations affected by the outbreak, efforts to contain the virus in Liberia were not working well, the WHO has said.

The reason for this remains unclear; however, experts say it could be linked to burial practices, which can include touching the body and eating a meal near it.

There are also not enough beds to treat Ebola patients, particularly in the capital Monrovia, with many people told to go back home, where they may spread the virus.

The WHO is calling on organisations combating the outbreak in Liberia to scale up efforts "three-to-four fold" to control the outbreak.

The US says it will help the African Union mobilise 100 African health workers to the region and contribute an additional $10m (£6.2m) in funds to deal with the outbreak.

The announcement comes as a fourth US aid worker infected with the deadly virus was transported to a hospital in Atlanta for treatment. The identity of the aid worker has not yet been revealed.

Two other aid workers who were treated at the same hospital have since recovered from an Ebola infection.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says he will hold a meeting on the international response to the Ebola crisis on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly this month.

[Tonitrus]

VITAS is just about right on time. 

[Valmy]

You may send a thousand doctors there, but if people fear them, rely on their sorcerers and superstitions to 'cure' themselves, and that 'cure' happens to be just as effective as 'our' 'cure', then good luck convinced them to stay at home and isolate themselves.

I honestly don't know what to do.

Yeah ok we should have sent the doctors and taken our chances.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says he will hold a meeting on the international response to the Ebola crisis on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly this month.

Is that a joke?  Hold a meeting sometime this month?  Oh FFS.