This is the best explanation that Ive heard to date about the risk of a widespread Ebola crisis in the United States. One person came to the U.S. and was asymptomatic when he arrived. 2 healthcare workers who had DIRECT contact with him are now sick. Ebola is only transmitted when you are symptomatic. I work on the front lines of medicine on a daily basis, in one of the busiest EDs in the country. People need to stop focusing on the zebra running around, when they need to pay attention to the horses. The virus to worry about in this country is not Ebola. Worry about influenza. Worry about Enterovirus D68. Worry about Measles. These are viruses that will kill more people in this country than Ebola, and are transmitted much easier. VACCINATE. Influenza killed 52,000 people in the US last year directly or via complications such as viral pneumonias. The R0 (the number of secondary cases for which one confirmed case would produce in a completely susceptible population) for Measles is 18. That means, for every case of Measles, 18 others would contract it in a population that lacks herd immunity. This is where we currently are in certain places in the US (See:Ohio odh.ohio.gov/features/odhfeatures/Measles%202014.aspx), in which the state had 377 cases, which helped push the US number of cases to a 20 year high. The R0 for Ebola: 2 (which is where we currently stand). npr.org/blogs/health/2014/10/02/352983774/no-seriously-how-contagious-is-ebola huffingtonpost/2014/10/15/shepard-smith-ebola_n_5992510.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063
Posted on: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 01:33:36 +0000
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