Ebola outbreak - general thread #3

[LinasK]

I want to agree with you. He lied and he should not have. It's hard to be sympathetic. But as humans, we are to have compassion. Can I put myself in his shoes? I'm not condoning the lie. I would never condone the lie !!!!! But supposing I was on an Africa safari , trip of a lifetime, and got exposed to this. Knowing my chance of survival there was almost zero and my chance of survival here was much , much better. I would love to be full of honor and integrity and say no way would I lie on that form. But really with a literal and figurative gun to my head, would I lie ? I cannot answer that. I think many of us can say we would do x, y or z in a certain set of circumstances. But until we are in that situation, how can you be so sure. What if it was my child who were exposed and not me? Would I lie to protect my kid? Would I risk others dying to save my own child?
So , yeah, I'm very upset about the lie and even MORE so by the chain of events once he arrived to Dallas and became ill. It's a bad scene from every angle.

If his sole goal was to get to the US to marry Louise, he could've waited 3 weeks to fly. I think he did sneak into the US to get treatment because he'd heard Dr. Brantley and the others survived by getting treatment here.

 

[passionflower]

How much does a round trip ticket (Liberia) and visa/passport cost these days?

okay answer to my own question I looked through google..........

$250. for a visa and about $900 for airline ticket approx.

 

[cady]

If his sole goal was to get to the US to marry Louise, he could've waited 3 weeks to fly. I think he did sneak into the US to get treatment because he'd heard Dr. Brantley and the others survived by getting treatment here.

How do you KNOW that you have ebola if you are not symptomatic and have not been diagnosed???? JMO

 

[passionflower]

and why not stop and see his mom first and then go to Louise?
Louise should be angry at him and not the hospital.
Didn't she know how wide spread Ebola is in Liberia?
Why didn't she tell hospital that he might have Ebola?

 

[popsicle]

If his sole goal was to get to the US to marry Louise, he could've waited 3 weeks to fly. I think he did sneak into the US to get treatment because he'd heard Dr. Brantley and the others survived by getting treatment here.

My problem with that is why didn't he seek medical treatment on the 24th, when he first started getting sick? I just don't understand why, if he knew he had been exposed to Ebola, did he wait to seek treatment.

 

[passionflower]

Duncan knew that his neighbors had died of Ebola. The pregnant girl and her baby had just died. I think that Duncan is educated and he knew he could be next. He had the money and had a visa so he got the heck out of Liberia and into the states just in case he got the symptoms. When he had stomach pains he figured it was a symptom and ran to the ER, BUT failed o tell hem in the ER that he could have Ebola...............if he had then allot of things would be different. IMO he would of gotten help sooner and might be recovering instead of dying........JMOO

 

[LinasK]

How do you KNOW that you have ebola if you are not symptomatic and have not been diagnosed???? JMO

Because he handled a dying woman only 3 days before he hopped that plane. He knew Marthalene was ill and she died that night in the same complex he lived in. He may not have known her brother died, but he had to have known she died. If he really believed she died of a miscarriage and cut her tongue when the area was ravaged by Ebola- he still could have thought it was malaria- then he really is stupid.

 

[cady]

My problem with that is why didn't he seek medical treatment on the 24th, when he first started getting sick? I just don't understand why, if he knew he had been exposed to Ebola, did he wait to seek treatment.

Probably really scared and hoping against hope that it would pass.........JMO

 

[LinasK]

Probably really scared and hoping against hope that it would pass.........JMO

That's arrogance and ignorance and endangered his fiance, with whom he shared a bed, and all of her family who lived/visited the apartment. He also slept on every mattress in the apartment. He also didn't want to go back to the hospital. It was Youngor Jallah who overrode him and called 911. She is the hero, not him!!!

 

[Lyra500]

Does anyone know if this was the hiv drug the Dr in Africa had success with?

No - that was lamivudine which already has a license.

This sounds as if it is still at the experimental phase, although from the same 'family' of antiviral drugs if the name is anything to go by.

 

[Sigh Sister]

NTA News ‏@NTANewsNow 21m21 minutes ago
BREAKING: Nurse in Spain tests positive for Ebola; the nurse was part of team that treated Ebola victim in Madrid

Hoping they release how they think the nurse became infected. Was it a needle stick or a break in protocol? Very concerning.

 

[popsicle]

Reid Johnson ‏@reidjohnson 6m6 minutes ago
CDC says Seattle Harborview MC is 5th hospital in US to volunteer to take US Ebola victims from Africa #Q13FOX

 

[Muffet]

Dr. James Le Duc, the director of the Galveston National Laboratory at the University of Texas, said the problem is that no one is keeping track of the mutations happening across West Africa, so no one really knows what the virus has become.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/12/health/ebola-airborne/

(B&SBM)

This is not true, so I expect it's just a poor paraphrase by the reporter.

In truth, there's been an ongoing, intense effort to monitor the genome/keep track of the mutations by many groups, universities, crowdsourcing, sharing information, etc.

A more accurate reporting would include what I'll add in brackets here:

"... the problem is that no one is [ABLE TO KEEP] track of [ALL] the mutations happening across West Africa, so no one [CAN] really know what the virus has [POSSIBLY] become."
​

Essentially, we just don't have enough people or control over there to get a sample from every person infected. Without them, there could be important mutations we miss until they become more dominant.

(I hope this doesn't sound like nitpicking. . It's just an important distinction, and reinforces why even big media like CNN is usually a very poor source of med/science info.)

 

[passionflower]

Because he handled a dying woman only 3 days before he hopped that plane. He knew Marthalene was ill and she died that night in the same complex he lived in. He may not have known her brother died, but he had to have known she died. If he really believed she died of a miscarriage and cut her tongue when the area was ravaged by Ebola- he still could have thought it was malaria- then he really is stupid.

ITA..............and if he thought it was malaria he still should of told someone.............he kept lying about being around a sick person.............he was around allot of sick people in his apt. house.........how many lived there? atleast 4 have died..........3 that he knew before he left. He was pictured using a cell phone so I am sure he was up on the news etc while there. He worked for an important Fed Ex man, I am sure he had connections. JMOO

 

[Detective Klimpt]

How much does a round trip ticket (Liberia) and visa/passport cost these days?

okay answer to my own question I looked through google..........

$250. for a visa and about $900 for airline ticket approx.

I'll bet Louise bought him that ticket. She goes to Liberia in August or so to visit and connects with him. Convinces him to come to USA and she pays. He can live with her. That's the way I see it.

I do not think he came to USA to get treatment, even though he did lie on the questionnaire. He did that to avoid the red-tape he'd have to go through.

There is no way he was going to marry 54 year old Louise. This culture uses the terms marry/husband/daddy a different way then most of us do.

 

[Lyra500]

My problem with that is why didn't he seek medical treatment on the 24th, when he first started getting sick? I just don't understand why, if he knew he had been exposed to Ebola, did he wait to seek treatment.

For me, the only rational explanation is that he didn't think he had Ebola. Why would he sleep with his fiancé and have contact with other family members and wait if he thought he had Ebola? Self preservation alone would have someone getting down to the hospital immediately for a check up.

 

[cady]

That's arrogance and ignorance and endangered his fiance, with whom he shared a bed, and all of her family who lived/visited the apartment. He also slept on every mattress in the apartment. He also didn't want to go back to the hospital. It was Youngor Jallah who overrode him and called 911. She is the hero, not him!!!

JMO I don't recall describing him as a hero. But I feel sad for and about him.This is a tragedy in an ongoing crisis and while it is terrifying, I cannot blame anyone for trying to escape it. Using an "honor code" quite flexibly is not a prevention. If he survives, which I doubt, I'm sure he will feel guilty and embarrassed that he caused so much panic and heartache for us and for his loved ones. I am not a religious person, but I think that the "golden rule" applies here. JMO

 

[passionflower]

Does Louise work? If she traveled over there and back, why? if he was coming back in a few weeks?
Yes, she probably could of convinced him to come, but if he has dual citizenship, his money he made would be tax free.
He lived very poorly for a man used to a better life here.
We need more info on why he came also.
Why did he quit his job?
Why did he carry a dying girl to 3 hospitals? knowing her parents had just died of Ebola?

 

[Lyra500]

ITA..............and if he thought it was malaria he still should of told someone.............he kept lying about being around a sick person.............he was around allot of sick people in his apt. house.........how many lived there? atleast 4 have died..........3 that he knew before he left. He was pictured using a cell phone so I am sure he was up on the news etc while there. He worked for an important Fed Ex man, I am sure he had connections. JMOO

Which three people did he know about before he left Liberia? Marthalene died on the night of the 15th/morning of the 16th. Who else died that he knew about before he left on the 19th?

I hadn't realised that - is there a link?

 

[SStarr33]

Hoping they release how they think the nurse became infected. Was it a needle stick or a break in protocol? Very concerning.

According to them they were using "extreme protection".