Posted on 10/10/2014 6:21:47 PM PDT by PJ-Comix
Thomas Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control, likened the rapid spread of Ebola to the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s. While the spread of AIDS scared society—largely because so much about it at the time was unknown—a better analogy to the spread of Ebola may be the infamous influenza epidemic of 1918.
The scariest thing about the 1918 flu was that it killed not simply children, the old, and the infirm, but also those who were healthy and at the peak of physical fitness. In the United States, 99 percent of the flu’s victims were under 65 years old, and half the victims were between 20 and 40.
To be in the prime of life and health is no defense against Ebola, and being in the military may actually increase risk: Anyone who has ever spent time around American soldiers—and those from many other Western nations—knows the commitment each has to physical fitness and working out. On Army bases and on Navy ships, there are often lines for equipment or exercise stations at the gym. This may sound silly, and of course the Pentagon theoretically will put restrictions and regulations in place, but sweat is sweat.
That’s one of the reasons why it seems unnecessarily risky to insert U.S. forces into the heart of the Ebola hot zone. If Ebola is caused by exposure to bodily fluids, including sweat, then troops who sweat a lot in close proximity to each other will be at special risk, even if only a handful of U.S. troops encounter an Ebola victim.
Perhaps a much better strategy would be to use those forces to better protect America’s borders, as well as ports of entry. Security officials screen passengers before they board any flight departing the United States, but perhaps a better plan would be to couple a secure border with Mexico and Canada with mandatory (even if cursory) health screening for anyone boarding a flight to the United States. At this point, febrile individuals or those showing signs of deception when questioned about their previous whereabouts and contacts pose a greater threat to American national security than old ladies and toddlers with bottles of water.
When AIDS exploded, there were specific categories of people at risk: homosexuals who engaged in unsafe sex (and, indeed, anyone who engaged in unsafe sex); those who had blood transfusions with infected blood; and those from Haiti, where the disease was already epidemic. The young and healthy who did not engage in risky behaviors or who were fortunate enough not to need transfusions were largely out of danger. This was not the case with the 1918 flu, and it is not the case with Ebola, which is much easier to spread. It’s important to show support for Africa, but the U.S. military shouldn’t always be on the vanguard of public relations when they could contribute much more to American defense elsewhere and when the risks of so doing far outweigh the costs.
Plus. ..why are we sending Marines instead of a medical unit?
Here is a current article on Spanish flu and it’s origins.
Even wiki doesn’t pin it on the Kansas theory.
“Writing in the January issue of the journal War in History, Humphries acknowledges that his hypothesis awaits confirmation by viral samples from flu victims. Such evidence would tie the disease’s origin to one location.
But some other historians already find his argument convincing.
“This is about as close to a smoking gun as a historian is going to get,” says historian James Higgins, who lectures at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and who has researched the 1918 spread of the pandemic in the United States. “These records answer a lot of questions about the pandemic.””
The 1918 flu turned hemorragic by the same mechanism ebola uses: cytokine storm. The virus triggers a feedback loop within the immune system until it goes haywire and rejects the body itself. Glucocorticoids could halt that feedback loop.
Maybe somewhere in between.
I find it interesting that no one in that apartment with Duncan has fallen ill. Either they knew he could have ebola and were careful, or it is not so easy to catch. I think that is a fair use of either/or.
The clean-up people threw out many things in that apartment, but I did notice they saved the computer hard-drive. If a lawsuit is filed, the defendants deserve access to that hard drive to find out, 1) if they knew he likely had ebola, and 2) if the marriage was genuine or just a shortcut to citizenship. I mean, his 19 year old son last saw him when the son was 2. In fact, during the time he (Duncan) got Troh pregnant, he got another woman pregnant, too. There are so many kids between them from multiple partners that it just all seems suspicious to me.
**My response would be what is keeping Africans from developing the cure? What makes it our problem?**
Abortion. Many of the future doctors or scientists who would have conquered these diseases were aborted.
Now WE pay that price.
Exactly. That's why so many in the 20-40 age group -- the bodies of the strongest produced the strongest cytokine storms.
You think that is the reason for Africa being short on science and medicine?
The 1918 flu was spread globally through ‘unnatural means’, e.g. from the millions of returning soldiers from the trenches of Europe. Similarly, ebola is being ‘helped’ by the ease of modern air travel. Otherwise it would just wipe out an African village and we’d never hear about it.
I might add that the single most effective way to spread the disease into countries without it appears to be sending in foreign aid workers who then contract it, and are sent home to receive modern care. A more conspiratorial person than myself might think this was being done on purpose.
There is hardly an analogy. Like AIDS, Ebola is a blood-borne pathogen and is spread through behavior. Compared to Ebola, the viral load of AIDS is very low, and it requires a higher dose of virus to actually get AIDS, which is why AIDS is far less infectious than Ebola. But neither disease is very contagious, since they require close contact.
Influenza, however, is highly contagious, since it is transmitted through aerosols as well as through contact. If Ebola spread through the air, we'd already have millions of cases.
Ebola is not the 1918 Spanish Flu. In ten months since the first detected case of this outbreak, there have been 8,000 reported cases of Ebola and 4,000 deaths, with a CDC estimate of 20,000 actual cases and a WHO estimate of 16,000 to 32,000 actual cases. The Spanish Flu killed 50,000,000 to 75,000,000 people across the globe in the same amount of time, spreading in waves that affected 20% to 40% of the world’s population. Ebola spreads nowhere near as fast as the Flu. That’s the good news.
The bad news is that the Spanish Flu of 1918 had a death rate of 10% to 20%. This strain of Ebola is around 70% (not 4,000 over 8,000 because many who are currently infected will die rather than recover). If Ebola spreads effectively in the West (undetermined so far), this disease will be far more lethal than the Flu unless we can vaccinate the entire world within the next year. The really bad news is that we live in the country that will be Obama’s lowest priority when it comes to vaccinations. America’s most dangerous enemy in history will give the vaccine away to Africans, Arabs, and South America before he permits us to buy it at any price.
Although I have been criticized for posting this before, I'm posting it again:From what I understand, the Spanish Flu (and by extension the new A-H1N1 variant) kills by provoking an immune system hyper-response, sometimes called the “Cytokine Storm” which severely damages the lungs and causes Acute Respiratory Distress (ARD) resulting in oxygen deprivation to the internal organs.
Here is an over the counter (OTC) formula that inhibits some of the major inflammatory mediators, and is now being suggested as a way to stave off ARD. All four factors must be included.
1a) A prescription ACE-2 inhibitor anti-hypertension drug. (Note: Healthy folks w/normal BP would experience a crash in BP, fainting, et al. Those already on other types of BP lowering meds would experience the same.) -or- 1b) If unavailable, 15,000 IU of Vitamin D* (Note: 15,000 IU is a huge dose of Vitamin D, a fat soluble vitamin. This means excess Vitamin D is stored in the liver, rather being excreted. The half life of Vitamin D is roughly three weeks, and Vitamin D toxicity can cause serious problems)
2) Histamine-1 blocker. Benedryl or the equivalent.
3) Histamine-2 blocker. Tagamet or the equivalent (normally used to block acid reflux.)
4) Ibuprofen. Advil or the equivalent, a prostaglandin blocker.
In addition, it is also recommended to maintain just the MDAR of Vitamin A. Being short of Vitamin A is associated with having an excess of a very powerful inflammatory mediator called TNF-1. But it is easy to take too much Vitamin A, which is toxic. High doses of the provitamin Beta-carotene, which the body converts to Vitamin A, might work as well as straight Vitamin A, and are much less toxic.
Care should be taken to avoid “health foods” that can artificially enhance the immune system, something to be avoided when there is the prospect of ARD.
This was extracted from an earlier thread I've lost track of, with some comments on Vitamin D from NautiNurse, and on ACE-2 inhibitors from reformedliberal added, and a flat out guess on Beta Carotene from me...
To which I might add zinc inhibits viral reproduction and oregano oil (20 drops/gallon shake well, and drink in place of ordinary water) is also said to help.
21 posted on Wed 24 Apr 2013 10:10:48 AM PDT by null and void (Republicans create the tools of oppression and Democrats use them. Gun confiscation enables tyranny.)
To: null and voidThanks for the list!
Question: Does an Angiotensin II Receptor Antagonist provide a protective effect as well? (these are newer and sort of work a little further along in the chain than the ACE inhibitors). Also, what dose of each?
I wouldn't worry a lot about the crash in BP for most people at anything like a normal starting dose; neither class has a dramatic effect on my BP.
27 posted on 05/01/2013 3:36:14 PM PDT by steve86 (Acerbic by Nature, not Nurture™)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies | Report Abuse ]
To: null and void
Famotidine also is a histamine-2 blocker and so it turns out I have everything on the list (drug class-wise) without buying anything!
30 posted on 05/02/2013 9:02:48 PM PDT by steve86 (Acerbic by Nature, not Nurture™)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies | Report Abuse ]
And lord Obola did say he would Fundamentally Change America.
What better way than to have 3000 return to spread Ebola through out
America?
A reason for martial law? May not effect the elections in November, but does present a great reason just after the elections but before the House and Senate are sworn in.
“My fellow Americans, the current crisis requires I take extraordinary measures. Given the current crisis it is only right that I freeze government for a prudent time.”
“So, I have created a panel of top minds to investigate all the options available to our country”
“Given the latest troubles that face us I have also signed an executive order to bring the United States in full compliance with all the other nations of the world to enact the provisions of current treaties and agreements concerning our responsibilities that effect our carbon foot print on the world.”
“To assure implementation I have appointed Al Gore to the cabinet as the immediate czar of the environmental affairs and compliance.”
“As such he will have sweeping powers and all other presidential cabinets will report to him to solve our current issues.”
“God bless America and God bless the United Nations.”
Ebola Surveillance Thread
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3191066/posts
Yes, this is what I learned several years ago. It explains why it attacks the young and healthy—they have stronger immune systems, ironically enough. I was speculating that it has something to do with metabolism, since the victims were young and male, but someone straightened me out on this.
Thanks for posting this. I was just about to go over to Google to see if I could find it.
Heck, they can't cure the common cold virus, and it occurs here plenty enough.
The thing that should bother everyone is that Africa has long been known as a hotbed of disease since the first European explorers chronicled it. It is only now, under a nefarious global governance and our own questionable resident, that they decided to export it around the globe.
... using various humanitarian groups, and now our own military as unwitting dupes.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.