ebola vs. hepatitis c

[unblock]

just to keep things in perspective --

in america, as far as we know, there are about a million times as many people with hepatitis c than ebola (3 million vs. 3).

it's not easy to get ebola, you really have to get up close and personal with someone who has it and is symptomatic. that said, if you are around someone infected and symptomatic, ebola is more likely to be transferred than hepatitis c, because hepatitis c pretty much requires their blood to find its way into your system.

also, the death rate from ebola (30-70%) is much higher than for hepatitis c (probably about 0.5%).


and yet, there are about 15,000 deaths annually from hepatitis c.

so to keep things in perspective, your odds of getting and dying ebola remain much, much lower than your odds of getting and dying from hepatitis c.

i picked hepatitis c for no particular reason, one could do a similar comparison with many other infections diseases. in fact, your odds of catching and dying from the ordinary flu are still dramatically higher than the odds of catching and dying from ebola.


this is not to say that nothing should change. but if hospitals and medical personal get more equipment, facilities, and training to better handle infectious diseases, the response should not be "thank goodness, just in time for ebola!" but rather, "it's about time, we've needed this stuff for ages!"

[nitpicker]

1. Versus cancer these are pikers

But thank you for pointing out another infectious situation.

[Downwinder]

5. Versus T. cruzi they are pikers

You are more likely to be bitten by a Hualapai Tiger than to catch Ebola.

[HockeyMom]

6. Cancer isn't contagious

that is the difference with everything else. Your disease, including the flu, could kil ME. It is all about ME, ME, ME.

[TorchTheWitch]

2. and who here is afraid of getting Ebola?

Nobody.

[NaturalHigh]

4. That's what I was telling a friend today.

My odds of contracting ebola or even knowing anyone who has contracted ebola are almost nonexistent.

[MattBaggins]

11. But we have to send the Navy in and blockade all of Africa

before we all die.

[beam me up scottie]

3. "it's about time, we've needed this stuff for ages!"

Well said!

[magical thyme]

7. You do realize, of course, that there was a point in time where there was a

first Hep C patient.

It didn't just overnight suddenly become 15,000/deaths/year.

This epidemic of Ebola is approaching 5,000 deaths, and if a major intervention doesn't happen like yesterday, could reach 1M this year.

And continue growing exponentially from there.

Do you understand exponential growth? There was just one death months ago. And then a few. And then a dozen. And then a hundred. And in the last couple months, thousands.

You are trying to compare apples and oranges.

Do Americans need to be worried about catching Ebola? Only if they've come in close contact with one of the patients.

Should they be concerned for the long haul? Yes.

This is truly a situation where fighting something overseas is better than fighting it here.

[unblock]

9. i don't disagree. of course something should be done.

it's the over-hyped panic and fear-mongering that i object to.

it seems pretty much everyone is aware of the ebola panic, and i'd say 90% of them vastly overestimate their personal risk of infection from it. i've got a co-worker who wants to ban all of our company travel because he thinks sitting on an airplane on a domestic flight is an unacceptable risk. the panic is out of hand already.

in the end, if it gets this thing addressed better than reagan handled hiv/aids, if it gets better equipment and training to nurses who needed it even before this outbreak, and it will all be for good, but it will be for the wrong reasons, or at least vastly overstated reasons.

[morningfog]

10. We need to do everything possible to help get it contained in W. Africa.

At least there is attention to it now. MSF has been screaming about it for months.

[MattBaggins]

12. The speed with which ebola kills is what makes it so horrific

It also makes it highly unlikely to reach such levels.

We need to contain it and go full bore in helping African nations contain and hopefully via vaccines make it a disease of the past, but the fear mongering about it's potential spread helps no one.

[seveneyes]

8. Good thing they don't have Hep C in West Africa

Things could really get out of hand then.