This from brother Walter: EBOLA: As usual in such matters, misinformation is rife and ignorance remains the norm. President Obama is uniquely culpable in this regard, stating yesterday that Ebola cannot be spread by casual contact. That is only true if we ignore sneezing, coughing or talking in more than a murmur - and the risk increases if we touch our eyes, noses or mouths. In particular, NO FEVER DOES NOT EQUAL NO RISK OF CONTAGION! Some better info: 1. The media and many scientific authorities are unified in saying that transmissibility begins upon onset of measurable fever and metabolic upsets. This is biologically false. Transmissibility increases progressively as the viral density increases during incubation. There is no step function in transmissibility at the point when the immune system detects disease and initiates fever. 2. Patient-proximal healthcare workers may be exposed to skin injuries during late-stage patient interactions and therefore must be fully protected. For everyone else, and for those who interact with early-stage patients, intact skin is a fully effective protective barrier. The transmission risk is touching ones eyes, nose or mouth with the hands after the hands have made contact with a contaminated person or secondary surface, or exposure to sneeze/cough aerosols via the eyes, nose and mouth. It must be assumed that the virus remains infectious for an unknown period on environmental surfaces, and in drifting aerosols from sneezes. Thus a lay person who may need to be in the presence of an early-stage infected person should protect themselves with a breathing mask and with edge-gasketed vision goggles.
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 05:33:30 +0000
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