My real concern is this. Are they ever cured in the traditional sense?
A cure means they no are no longer symptomatic. Okay. they survive. As I understand it, this does not remove their positive status. Aren’t they then carriers, able to infect others who will then need treatment?
Is this really going to be stopped, if the do survive? I don’t think so, but I’m not actually sure yet.
I read that before he left Africa, the Doctor received a blood transfusion from a boy who survived Ebola.
If that's the case, that makes them carriers of the antibody.
People in Africa have survived Ebola and they don’t cause further outbreaks. HOWEVER, when recovering, there can be virus particles in the body - for example, men infected with Ebola virus should not have sex for 3 months or until tests show that semen is free of the virus.
Two links:
Simple and Useful Information: Ebola Virus (briefly mentions convalescence - most references don’t)
http://microbiotics.com.ng/simple-and-useful-information-ebola-virus/
Ebola Virus Hemorrhagic Fever (Semen reference)
http://phpa.dhmh.maryland.gov/IDEHASharedDocuments/EBOLA.pdf
Is the public at risk of contracting measles or chicken pox or whooping cough or polio from those of us Neanderthals who suffered from these diseases before vaccines were developed?
( The answer is no.)
Yes, people who recover from Ebola fully recover. The virus can survive for several weeks after symptoms resolve and is contagious, but even those pockets of bodily fluids (breast milk, intraocular fluid, seminal fluid) clear the virus eventually.