Is this new?
Being in the same country is a risk.
This is not new. Casual contact would be defined this way for any disease that has body fluid spread. Notice that it is within 3 feet not merely “in the same room” At that distance there is more chance you could come into contact with body fluids.
This disease is not airborne. If it was half of Africa would already be dead with cases in every country across the globe.
I have seen numerous references to this being a “low risk exposure” disease & doctors on TV saying the same (while smiling at the interviewer, which I find totally creepy). While this may be technically correct as medically defined, I think that it is very misleading to the medically untrained general population (and no comfort for their fears) for many reasons.
Phase I safety trial of intravenous ascorbic acid in patients with severe sepsis
Alpha A Fowler, III, Aamer A Syed, [...], and Ramesh Natarajan
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3937164/
Background
Parenterally administered ascorbic acid modulates sepsis-induced inflammation and coagulation in experimental animal models. The objective of this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase I trial was to determine the safety of intravenously infused ascorbic acid in patients with severe sepsis.
Results
Mean plasma ascorbic acid levels at entry for the entire cohort were 17.9 ± 2.4 μM (normal range 50-70 μM). Ascorbic acid infusion rapidly and significantly increased plasma ascorbic acid levels. No adverse safety events were observed in ascorbic acid-infused patients. Patients receiving ascorbic acid exhibited prompt reductions in SOFA scores while placebo patients exhibited no such reduction. Ascorbic acid significantly reduced the proinflammatory biomarkers C-reactive protein and procalcitonin. Unlike placebo patients, thrombomodulin in ascorbic acid infused patients exhibited no significant rise, suggesting attenuation of vascular endothelial injury.
Conclusions
Intravenous ascorbic acid infusion was safe and well tolerated in this study and may positively impact the extent of multiple organ failure and biomarkers of inflammation and endothelial injury
basically they are saying in their tests Vitamin DC administered in mega-doses by IV was safe and effective in reducing sepsis (germs in the blood) reducing inflammation and preventing and reversing multiple organ failure as you would have in Ebola.
http://www.tfmetalsreport.com/comment/423181
Here are excerpts from posts in the thread:
No. 228 says that real danger of infection is from the dried blood and other secretions of deceased Ebola victims which lie around for weeks on inert surfaces, and that this makes Ebola as effectively infectious as if it were air-transmissible:
"While not strictly "airborne", it is clearly very transmissible with very few particles via mucous membranes - recall Ken Isaacs statement about the eye. Droplets, even microscopic, from respiratory or other bodily secretions (sweat, urine, blood, feces) can apparently act very effectively as agents of transmission when landing on fomites (inert surfaces like table tops, seats/chairs, clothing).It appears from the clinical observations in West Africa that the virus is exquisitely capable of being expelled onto fomites, transferring to another person (via the hands or garments) and then infecting the person through the most minute exposure to a mucous membrane like the eye or the oral mucosa or the respiratory tract.
Remember that only a very few microscopic virion particles could effectively cause an active clinical infection. This spread would then appear to be like airborne transmission while not strictly fitting that definition."
No. 284 says the dried secretions are dangerous for up to 23 days. That makes the new Ebola variety potentially civilization-destroying. Grocery stores will be unusable for weeks. Hospitals will be lethal to enter.
"In this link http://www.msdsonline.com/resources/msds-resources/free-safety-data-sheet-index/ebola-virus.aspx it says that the virus can stay infectious in dry or wet material for a "number of days" outside the host.
"… SURVIVAL OUTSIDE HOST: The virus can survive in liquid or dried material for a number of days (23). Infectivity is found to be stable at room temperature or at 4°C for several days, and indefinitely stable at -70°C (6, 20). Infectivity can be preserved by lyophilisation.?
No. 242 says this new Ebola version can be contracted through EXPOSED SKIN.
"The Ebola targets antigen presenting cells. Each 1 mm of skin definitely has Langerhan's antigen presenting cells. These are macrophage and part of the immune system. Therefore, Ebola lands on your skin and infects those Langerhans cells. Your body is naive to the virus and therefore would not react in either the T-cell mediated or the B-cell humoral response for many weeks.I know that our hospitals use contact precautions in all blood chemistry labs. However, if the hospital lab personnel are running a typical ER panel (chem panel, CBC, and differential), the lab techs analyzing the blood samples would be exposed to the body fluid.
For instance, the lab tech would do the CBC manual differential, pick up the slide with gloved hand, and then touch the microscope. If they also adjust their glasses or are not wearing a mask, then they could inoculate themselves with Ebola."
Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.
The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.
So far the false positive rate is 100%.
At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.
*sigh* Such is life, and death...