Ebola-phrenia

Ebola is a virus that causes hemorrhagic fever, which means that the person infected will bleed inside and outside the body and eventually die. Only one out of ten people infected will survive, so the fatality rate is obviously very high.

This is not news though! We knew that in 1976. Apparently, It is just a sign that the field of Medicine once again failed, since a vaccine does not exist after almost 40 years. The largest outbreak is this one in West Africa, but still there is no reason to panic.

Do not panic people! We have heard stories like this before. Every year there is another virus that can be widely spread and kill us. Never happened though. We wouldn’t be here to talk about it if it did. Why am I so sure that Ebola will not kill us all? Is it because I can predict the future? No. Is it because people from Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria do not travel a lot? No. Is it because I am doctor and an epidimiologist, and I know better? No.

So what is it then?

It is that you don’t catch Ebola virus disease like you catch a cold! An infected person that has no symptoms can NOT spread the disease. After the symptoms start showing up any contact with the skin or bodily fluids can spread the disease.You can’t get infected from air, food or water! Patients are isolated immediately and treated carefully.

The matter should be treated differently and at any case more carefully. It is unethical and unfair for people to be left with the wrong impression and extremely anxious. Especially when the symptoms are so common like headache, fever, stomach ache and sore throat. They should test to rule out Ebola of course, but they should remain calm. The way the situation is presented at the moment, it is more possible a heart attack will kill them before they even reach a doctor!

Stay calm people and don’t listen to stupid people whose only purpose is to attract traffic to their pages (articles) or gain more viewers (tv). Do not let stupidity rule and be rewarded!