Posted on 10/24/2014 8:05:18 PM PDT by Tarantulas
But the fact is that weak health systems, not unprecedented virulence or a previously unknown mode of transmission, are to blame for Ebola’s rapid spread. Weak health systems are also to blame for the high case-fatality rates in the current pandemic, which is caused by the Zaire strain of the virus. The obverse of this fact – and it is a fact – is the welcome news that the spread of the disease can be stopped by linking better infection control (to protect the uninfected) to improved clinical care (to save the afflicted). An Ebola diagnosis need not be a death sentence. Here’s my assertion as an infectious disease specialist: if patients are promptly diagnosed and receive aggressive supportive care – including fluid resuscitation, electrolyte replacement and blood products – the great majority, as many as 90 per cent, should survive.
(Excerpt) Read more at lrb.co.uk ...
=government-run health systems
Strong healthcare systems = America's tradition market-run robust system: greatest health care in the world.
There is NO WAY I want a reservoir of ebola in the North American Fauna (as is the case in 'Frica).
everyone is soooo scared of MRSA, but it is not anymore virulent than regular staph...just harder to treat because there are fewer antibiotics available....
obola is similar in that I think its no worse than say the enterococous going around now in children....its just that you need to get treatment to support your system while you recover...
Given the enormous amount of resources Ebola drains from a country to care for a few, how long before a strong healthcare system becomes weak and completely overwhelmed?
I think if you have more than a few cases even at a top flight hospital it will overwhelm the system.
A family of 10 walking into a rural Ohio hospital a week after flying with Nurse Vinson or this latest moron doctor?
Well, I’m sure anything is equipped to handle a pandemic, but the American free market health care was the world’s best until the government began it’s meddling in the 70’s, and would be more effective than whatever is in second place.
Not long. Just look at Duncan in Dallas. Thousands of pounds of hazardous medical waste was created. So much so that there was bickering going on between Louisiana (where they wanted to dispose of it) and whoever was trying to get rid of it. Additionally, no one has said what the actual cost is but it was reported that up to 70 hospital personnel were needed to support this one patient’s treatment. We’re looking at a million dollar plus cost here, for one patient. I don’t imagine that ‘economies of scale’ for multiple patients will improve that figure much.
I’m certainly not panicking. But even a 10 percent mortality is higher then most infectious disease. And the idiotic thing is our risk here should be close to zero. A travel ban would prevent all but a handful of cases in the US .
Every body is freaking out over the DR going bowling and riding the subway. When I see just ONE case coming from a unknown transmission...from a sneeze or a doorknob...then I'll get worried. Until then: The proof of how delicate this virus is is found in the fact none of Duncan's family is infected...neither of the nurses passed it on...and we are 3 weeks post Hajj and the world isn't falling into chaos.
There are a lot of other illnesses out there that have my attention more than this.
Oh yeah, good point. That mystery illness that has paralyzed people in multiple states, that may or may not be coming from the illegal aliens that are being shipped to those same states, sounds like a better problem to concern us than Ebola.
Yep...exactly. That HAS killed many more Americans than Ebola...and it's made hundreds (if not over a 1K by now) sick.
My family has enacted numerous precautionary methods to keep from getting sick. We've stocked up on Hibiclens and gloves....also trying to keep ourselves from unnecessary contact in large crowds...
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