Ebola fears are similar to early HIV-AIDS myths, and just as unreal

[cali]

so overnight the U.S. has gone full batshit crazy. 2 schools in Ohio closed? Ebola is a huge catastrophe- in West Africa. Even with the apparent gaffes by the CDC, it is not one here.



Ebola can be transmitted by bats.

Which is appropriate since the Ebola panic is totally batty.

The hysteria reminds me of the full-blown frenzy of the early days of HIV-AIDS in the 1980s. Back then, a few hospital workers who were pricked by infected needles contracted the virus. But most people who died from AIDS were infected by unprotected sex or dirty junkie needles.

Ebola is worse than HIV-AIDS in that it can be absorbed through the skin and kills quickly. But you must come in direct contact with an infected person or a surface the victim touched at the height of the symptoms of fever, nausea and diarrhea to risk catching the disease.

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/hamill-ebola-fears-similar-irrational-hiv-aids-myths-article-1.1975872

[Live and Learn]

1. Ebola has been a full blown crises in Africa for decades.

Since some thought it could be contained there and there was little money to be made in looking for cures or vaccines, it has spread, just like HIV. Call me surprised.

And you are right, this could be much worse given that it is easier to transmit than HIV. The one plus here is that it can infect anyone (even the right-wing) so we may get quicker action (or we may get quarantines and deportations instead).

[cali]

4. that isn't true. Ebola has NOT been in full blown crisis for decades in Africa.

[Live and Learn]

5. Not sure what you mean.

Is it the continually you are questioning? YES, it has been a crisis there for decades,regardless of brief respites.

[cali]

7. Let me explain: It has not been a crisis. Yes, there have been

several, albeit not continuous, outbreaks. Up until this outbreak, these outbreaks were small and regional and killed few. that is not a crisis.

[Live and Learn]

8. For the regions where the outbreaks happened, it surely has ben

a crisis Our failure to recognize it as such, is exactly why we are where we are today.

[cali]

10. No, it hasn't. You are

overusing the word "crisis". There have been dozens of things far more deadly than ebola in Africa dating from the 1970s- from war to famine to other diseases.

What is true is that the world was absurdly slow to respond to the 2014 outbreak, which was recognized as a major outbreak in March of this year. And we had plenty of loud warnings and pleas for help from MSF.

[Live and Learn]

11. Well then, you should have stated your definition of crisis

up front. I stand by what I have stated and assure you that those in affected regions have always considered it a crisis.

[Warren DeMontague]

14. No, they haven't. In fact, ebola was totally unknown in the parts of West Africa which are affected

when this first started.

That was part of the problem- they'd never seen it before, and didn't recognize it for what it was until it was already spreading.

There have been small, isolated outbreaks over the years in places like the Congo, or Uganda. Outbreaks which have burned themselves out fairly quickly.

The disease has been known about for almost 3 decades, to be sure- and as such given the obvious lethality of the thing it should have been a higher priority to push through a vaccine, which probably would have been done years ago if the profit incentive had been there... that's true, and inexcusable.

But it most certainly has not been a "crisis" for the affected regions. Like I said, the countries worst hit had never had ebola there previously, at all.

[still_one]

26. I have to join in to disagree, because previously the outbreaks burnt themselves out very quickly.

This time it is different, and that is the problem

[Live and Learn]

28. Because they were remote villages.

But they most certainly were epidemics and crisis's for the villages involved. The virus hasn't changed but apparently our definition of crisis has and only counts if it includes the possibility of us getting it.

I am done with this ridiculous conversation.

[Demeter]

20. If you have it, it's a G-D D-m CRISIS! For you and everyone around you!

I refuse to believe that just because it isn't happening to me (yet) it isn't a crisis.

[Live and Learn]

24. +1 nt

[Journeyman]

2. I well remember the AIDS hysteria in the early '80s. . .

It was relentless and mainly unfounded. It came to a head for me, personally, one afternoon when I had to have blood drawn at a doctor's office. Afterwards, as I removed the tape and gauze from the crook of my elbow, I caught sight of the small amount of blood the gauze had absorbed. My mind flashed quick, "Better be careful. You could get AIDs from that blood."

Then I remembered: It was mine.

And the AIDs hysteria faded from my personal life accompanied by a sheepish snicker at the utter senselessness of unfounded human fears.

[deutsey]

6. I remember there was a lot of "This is God's punishment" crap going around

Crazy superstitious nonsense surged from the Religious Right as total silence was all we got from St. Reagan.

[Live and Learn]

9. I remember that too.

In fact, it took kids to get it to make any difference. But even Ryan White was stigmatized by the disease. Shame on us,

[HockeyMom]

16. "The only safe blood is your own"

I was in the hospital back then with a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. The hospital wanted me to have a transfusion. My doctor said the above. This was in NYC and doctor was worried that the blood supply was contaminated. My husband offered to donate blood, but the doctor said no to that too. My own husband. Think about that one. I had gotten pregnant from husband, but I would catch Aids from his blood?????

No fear back then?

[LeftInTX]

25. I had my own scare

I was scratched badly by a hemophiliac. The kid was 6 and fought all of us nurses tooth and nail. Fortunately, he was HIV negative, but I had to wait several weeks to get the results. I was very nervous for awhile. This was b-4 the internet. If there had been internet, I would have found my odds were quite low even if he was positive.

[paleotn]

12. Thank you.....

the bat shit crazy response to this disease is getting more than a little annoying.

[morningfog]

13. We are in prime panic mode right now. It is absolute idiocy that two schools closed.

The schools closed because a teacher there *may* have been on the plane that Vinson was on, but *was not* even on the flight with her. This is asinine.

The public needs to be educated on where the real risk is. I hope that the CDC gets its shit together and works to prevent any third generation infection from Duncan, patient zero in the US. Primarily because this is not what we should be spending our time obsessing over. We should not be putting people on no-fly lists and closing schools for weeks when no symptomatic person ever came anywhere near the school.

[Warren DeMontague]

17. There have been a lot of idiotic moves, lately.

I'm willing to forgive the overly-cautious ones which might mean some kids stay home from school needlessly, over the overly-carefree ones which allowed an infected traveler to come into the US and infect (so far) 2 other people, one of whom got on an airplane while apparently at least somewhat symptomatic with this thing.

I'd also say the easiest way to keep from having to do this every couple weeks- which we will be doing, if we keep importing ebola cases- is to stop allowing travel from the 3 main affected nations, which a good chunk of the rest of the world has already done.

[adigal]

31. Ditto. Better to be overly cautious than not cautious enough

Caution is NOT panic. And this is more contagious than AIDS, which is barely contagious.

[morningfog]

15. A student from Sierra Leone was denied housing in the UK, the PANIC needs to be controlled.

[Amimnoch]

18. Ebola media hype is ridiculous when there's so many more things that SHOULD be getting the attention

Today, somewhere in the neighborhood of 21,000 children will die.
A child every 4 seconds.
If you take 1 minute to read through this thread, 14 children will have died.
That's more dead in 1 day than the death toll in the entire conflict in Libya.
That's the toll of a Haiti earthquake every 10 days.
What's worse the chief causes are Hunger and poverty.. infinately more easily treatable than Ebola or any disease!

About 40,000 women will die this year. Just from Breast Cancer.

Hell, just in the US, using 2010 results (latest confirmed data I found):
•Heart disease: 596,577 dead
•Cancer: 576,691 dead
•Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 142,943 dead
•Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 128,932 dead
•Accidents (unintentional injuries): 126,438 dead
•Alzheimer's disease: 84,974 dead
•Diabetes: 73,831 dead
•Influenza and Pneumonia: 53,826 dead
•Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 45,591 dead
•Intentional self-harm (suicide): 39,518 dead

Now, compare this to the TOTAL death toll of Ebola year to date in 2014 being 4,033 people, and only 1 of those was here in the US. So, tell me again why the fuck is this the panic driven, end of the world disaster deserving the hype and headlines??

I'd seen somewhere up in this thread comments about it being a crisis in Africa. I have several co-workers who live and work in West Africa, one of whom was just here in Houston visiting last week from Nigeria. The whole notion that Africa considers this a crisis at all is pure poppycock. WHO considers it a crisis. The US, and some European nations considers Ebola a crisis. Rest assured, neither the governments or population living in Africa consider this a crisis. They consider Malaria, poverty, starvation, aids, TB, and even things that we don't even think about here like pneumonia, or diarrhea as quite deadly, and kill HUGE amounts of more people than Ebola each and every year. Many people in Nigeria, Angola, Camaroon, and Equatorial Guinea (probably more countries, but these are the ones I know about first hand) think it's almost amusing just how much concern the west has over "this little thing".

[still_one]

27. Malaria should also be in that list

[Amimnoch]

29. Oh it is. Last paragraph towards the middle.

[still_one]

30. ah, got it, sorry

[Demeter]

19. Oh! Has HIV been stopped, cured maybe?

No, HIV is STILL the greatest threat out there to any person...it's silent, invisible, and progressive.

Treatment can slow it down, but neither stop it nor vanquish it.

People of all ages, races, income levels have contracted and suffered, and continue to contract and suffer, through carelessness, optimism, rape, and birth.

There isn't even a good test for it at all stages.


The Only GOOD thing about HIV is you will have YEARS of suffering, instead of days.

So, tell me how ebola isn't that bad, again? 90% death rate within weeks?

Go paper some other website with propaganda.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

21. Enterovirus is more of a thread than HIV or Ebola.

Same with West Nile and the flu. The three I mention are airborne. The other two require contact with bodily fluids. HUGE fucking difference. No one is saying ebola isn't bad, they're saying it's not a fucking threat.

You might should heed your own advice, re: propaganda.

[Demeter]

23. You know, Hobbitstein, FBaggins, Hobbiton

sounds like a family of sock puppets to me....curiously finding it necessary to pursue me across the board. Maybe someone in Admin would like to look into this.

[Enthusiast]

22. There will be great hysteria over this ebola infection in the USA.

This will happen because the Righties® will not pass up a chance to tell their followers that President Obama and Obamacare are directly responsible. Of course this would be despicable—causing panic.

You know, President Obama is encouraging these infected people to sneak into the US on the Southern border. Ebola infected Muslins are pouring into the US smuggling pot in backpacks. They have calves like cantaloupes.

[Warren DeMontague]

32. No, what's funny is we spend billions of dollars trying to keep people from bringing a bag of weed

in on an airplane.

But apparently the idea of restricting recreational, non-essential visa travel from 3 countries where ebola is out of control, is a massively impossible logistical problem. Can't be done!

[Recursion]

33. Thank you (nt)