Lyra500
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- Jan 19, 2014
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It seemed appropriate to have a general thread about this outbreak which has sadly affected so many people and is unprecedented in its scope.
I am a little surprised that interest in the outbreak which is nowhere near abating seems to have dwindled to nothing now that the US sufferers are back home and on the mend.
The latest WHO update pulls no punches about the fact that the outbreak has overwhelmed both local and international efforts and that the figures for cases and deaths are almost certainly a huge underestimate.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/ebola/22-august-2014/en/
In some rural areas, people are buried before being seen by PH or medics, thus potentially resulting in underestimated death figures. PH officials have taken to counting freshly dug graves in areas where Ebola is rumoured as a rough estimate of the death toll.
Because they know there is no cure, some families are loath to let their loved ones go to a distant impersonal treatment centre with the prospect of never seeing them again and knowing they will die alone and afraid with no human contact to ease their passing. They feel that their family members would rather die at home. Hugely dangerous given the features of the infection, but so understandable on a human level. What a choice to have to make.
On a more local level the latest suspected case in Ireland proved to be a false alarm, although this will be scant comfort to the victim's family since he was tested for Ebola following his death.
It is an interesting issue though - I have heard from a number of different sources that individuals showing symptoms which were extremely vague were treated as if they were definite, contagious sufferers of EVD. This resulted in them being put in isolation with no one wanting to have any contact with them. It later transpired (in some cases after the poor people had died) that they had a perfectly treatable condition and basically died due to panic and neglect. So in a way, they were also victims of the Ebola outbreak, even though they did not have EVD.
I am a little surprised that interest in the outbreak which is nowhere near abating seems to have dwindled to nothing now that the US sufferers are back home and on the mend.
The latest WHO update pulls no punches about the fact that the outbreak has overwhelmed both local and international efforts and that the figures for cases and deaths are almost certainly a huge underestimate.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/ebola/22-august-2014/en/
WHO says Ebola outbreak underestimated because:
- Many families keep sick people at home, as there is no cure
- Many health centres have closed because medical staff have fled
- In Liberia, treatment centres are overwhelmed
- The existence of "shadow-zones", areas where there are reports of Ebola but which cannot be accessed because of local resistance or lack of staff
For example in Monrovia, Liberias capital, an Ebola treatment centre with 20 beds, which opened last week, was immediately overwhelmed with more than 70 patients.
In some rural areas, people are buried before being seen by PH or medics, thus potentially resulting in underestimated death figures. PH officials have taken to counting freshly dug graves in areas where Ebola is rumoured as a rough estimate of the death toll.
Because they know there is no cure, some families are loath to let their loved ones go to a distant impersonal treatment centre with the prospect of never seeing them again and knowing they will die alone and afraid with no human contact to ease their passing. They feel that their family members would rather die at home. Hugely dangerous given the features of the infection, but so understandable on a human level. What a choice to have to make.
On a more local level the latest suspected case in Ireland proved to be a false alarm, although this will be scant comfort to the victim's family since he was tested for Ebola following his death.
It is an interesting issue though - I have heard from a number of different sources that individuals showing symptoms which were extremely vague were treated as if they were definite, contagious sufferers of EVD. This resulted in them being put in isolation with no one wanting to have any contact with them. It later transpired (in some cases after the poor people had died) that they had a perfectly treatable condition and basically died due to panic and neglect. So in a way, they were also victims of the Ebola outbreak, even though they did not have EVD.