Ebola Virus: Devastating Myths and Rumors
Myths and rumors about the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa are hindering health workers from doing their jobs abroad and causing unnecessary panic and paranoia in the United States. Here's the truth about some of the most common misconceptions about Ebola virus:
Myth: Ebola virus is airborne, waterborne or spreads through casual contact.
Truth: Ebola virus spreads when the bodily fluids of an infected person comes into contact with the mucous
membranes of a non-infected person. That means Ebola virus in fluids like blood, sweat or urine has to come in contact with your eyes, mouth, nostrils, ears, genital area or an open wound in order to infect you.
In other words, it takes a lot of contact -- not just casual contact -- to become infected with the virus, which is why many of the victims of the disease in West Africa are health care workers or family members caring for a sick relative. In Western hospitals, transmission is easily prevented with precautionary measures like face masks, gloves, protective gowns and isolation units.
Health workers in West Africa are teaching community members about the importance of washing hands with soap and water, bringing sick family members to clinics and burying the bodies of people who have died from Ebola to minimize infection risk.
Myth: This is the first major outbreak of Ebola.
Truth: This is the largest outbreak of Ebola in history, but it isn't the first. The virus was first diagnosed in humans in 1976 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It infected 318 people and had an 88 percent fatality rate. Since then, various strains of the disease have popped up around the African continent, infecting as many as 425 people in 2000 and, most recently, 57 people in 2012, according to WHO.
As of Aug. 4, 2014, the most recent count available, Ebola virus has infected 1,711 people and killed 932 people in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria since the virus emerged again this year.
Myth: Ebola can be treated with antibiotics (or onions, or condensed milk, or...)
Truth: Antibiotics cure bacterial infections, not viral infections. Currently, there is neither a cure nor a vaccine for the Ebola virus.
Instead, there is an experimental serum called ZMapp, which contains antibodies designed to help block the virus. Before the 2014 Ebola outbreak, it had only ever been tested on monkeys and has not been approved for human use. American Ebola patients Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol decided to risk it and take the experimental drug, and early reports are cautiously optimistic about their improving conditions. However, it's unclear what role (if any) the drug is playing in their recovery, reports the Washington Post.
Originally Posted by Anna Almendrala
On The Huffington Post, 06/08/2014
Myth: Ebola virus is airborne, waterborne or spreads through casual contact.
Truth: Ebola virus spreads when the bodily fluids of an infected person comes into contact with the mucous
membranes of a non-infected person. That means Ebola virus in fluids like blood, sweat or urine has to come in contact with your eyes, mouth, nostrils, ears, genital area or an open wound in order to infect you.
In other words, it takes a lot of contact -- not just casual contact -- to become infected with the virus, which is why many of the victims of the disease in West Africa are health care workers or family members caring for a sick relative. In Western hospitals, transmission is easily prevented with precautionary measures like face masks, gloves, protective gowns and isolation units.
Health workers in West Africa are teaching community members about the importance of washing hands with soap and water, bringing sick family members to clinics and burying the bodies of people who have died from Ebola to minimize infection risk.
Myth: This is the first major outbreak of Ebola.
Truth: This is the largest outbreak of Ebola in history, but it isn't the first. The virus was first diagnosed in humans in 1976 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It infected 318 people and had an 88 percent fatality rate. Since then, various strains of the disease have popped up around the African continent, infecting as many as 425 people in 2000 and, most recently, 57 people in 2012, according to WHO.
As of Aug. 4, 2014, the most recent count available, Ebola virus has infected 1,711 people and killed 932 people in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria since the virus emerged again this year.
Myth: Ebola can be treated with antibiotics (or onions, or condensed milk, or...)
Truth: Antibiotics cure bacterial infections, not viral infections. Currently, there is neither a cure nor a vaccine for the Ebola virus.
Instead, there is an experimental serum called ZMapp, which contains antibodies designed to help block the virus. Before the 2014 Ebola outbreak, it had only ever been tested on monkeys and has not been approved for human use. American Ebola patients Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol decided to risk it and take the experimental drug, and early reports are cautiously optimistic about their improving conditions. However, it's unclear what role (if any) the drug is playing in their recovery, reports the Washington Post.
Originally Posted by Anna Almendrala
On The Huffington Post, 06/08/2014
Comments
Post a Comment