So a few months ago the country was enthralled with the idea of a few patients, infected with the Ebola virus, coming to the United States. Up until this point, we had been safe from Ebola due to the fact that bats can’t fly over the Atlantic. Some people were completely indifferent, while others had seen Outbreak one too many times. Most were a healthy mix, somewhere in between, but what bothered me the most was both the lack of education and the poor information that was spreading more virulently than the virus could ever hope to.
First, I want to stress that I am a nurse, not a virologist, and hopefully throughout my post you will see that I am not pretending to be one. I have a Bachelor’s in Nursing and am currently a graduate student. I have worked extensively with Infectious Disease Specialists. I have been exposed to almost every infectious disease known to the modern world. I have taken courses in Biology, Microbiology, Anatomy, Physiology, Pathophysiology, Advanced Pathophysiology, Pharmacology, and an assortment of others. However, I am not and will not pretend to be an expert, just an experienced professional. When it comes to an epidemic of any sort, my first focus is on the patient, protecting and healing them, my second focus is on protecting the community. I don’t care about which strain does what, or what we can do with in lab. As a nurse, I concern myself with the current patient and future possible patients. I feel the first thing we should examine is Ebola itself. It is foreign to the US, both literally and figuratively. What it does to people and how it harmonizes with nature are both things that most westerners have little concept of. It is a virus, not a bacteria. This means that it is not its own organism. It is actually much smaller and basic than you can imagine. It is nothing more than a few pieces of DNA/RNA and some proteins. No cell wall, no cytoplasm, no metabolic functions. This is both their advantage and their downfall. Viruses require a host. For this example I will use the HIV virus. HIV gets into the human body and invades the host’s white blood cells, T4 cells to be exact but I won’t get that involved. The proteins help get the virus into the cell and those few small sequences of DNA/RNA write themselves into the host DNA/RNA. Now instead of the white blood cell attacking invaders, it is nothing more than an HIV factory. All of its metabolic functions are redirected at producing more of the virus, which pours out of the white blood cell like a sieve until eventually the host cell dies. This is why HIV infected patients have poor immune systems. The virus re-writes the DNA of the host cells. This is not something we can stop. New viruses are pouring out of the white blood cells at a rate of millions a day. We cannot filter them out. We cannot “kill” a little chunk of DNA and we don’t know enough about the human genome to correct the DNA sequences. This is why a lot of viral infections like HIV, Herpes, and Hepatitis are life long infections. HIV invades the white blood cells, Herpes invade the nerve roots, and Hepatitis invades the liver.
Now that we have a better grasp of viruses, we will focus on Ebola a bit more. In tropical Africa, Ebola naturally lives in bats. It is nice to the bats and doesn’t cause them many issues. It is rumored that there are many viruses humans carry our entire lives and have no idea because they show zero symptoms. Therefore, they have never been studied. If this sounds crazy, just remember that it was in recent years the we discovered there was a virus behind cervical cancer. A virus that men can carry and spread without ever knowing they have it. Where the problem arises is that in tropical Africa, people like to eat bats. Sometimes they get infected with Ebola and it spreads. This process is called Zoonosis and can be true of bacteria or viruses. Racoons carry Rabies, Armadillos carry Leprosy, Birds carry the Flu, Bats carry Ebola.
When I said Westerners don’t really understand Ebola, the primary aspect that I am talking about is the patient. We don’t ever see what Ebola does. Our media is too censored, we hear how many died, and see people in haz-mat suits. Speaking of suits, we’ve all seen the pictures. Rubber gloves are adequate for AIDS and hepatitis, a simple mask (N95) stops Tuberculosis, but this requires space suits, just keep that in mind when you think its no big deal. So here is what happens when you catch Ebola, I figure you’re getting bored with reading right about now, so I’ll spice it up. First the virus gets into your system, I’ll elaborate on that later. Then, it hangs out for a few days, even up to 21, growing, multiplying at a rate of millions a day, and guess what, you’re infectious. Now at this point it would pretty much require a straight blood to blood interaction so the only real threat here is for IV drug users who share needles. Just like with the flu or hand foot and mouth disease, you can be spreading it to others before you show a symptom*(apparently not many see the *, so please read the elaboration at the bottom). Remember, nurse mind set, protect the community. At first it’s not bad, little nausea, some sweating, diarrhea, much like a stomach bug. But then the virus really starts to build up in your liver and adrenal glands, after it has saturated your blood cells, the lining of your vessel, your skin, and bones. Hepatocellular necrosis occurs, which is fancy term for your liver starts to decompose.Your liver is what regulates blood clotting. This causes your blood either clot up and turn to jelly in your veins, stay liquid and bleed profusely, or a combo of both. The adrenal glands then do the same, causing your blood pressure to drop. This requires lots of IV fluids to keep your circulating volume up. At the same time inflammatory cytokines are released which causes vascular leakage. Cells don’t do a good job of holding things together so it all becomes a bloody goop. Anywhere in your body that blood vessels are shallow, like your nose, ears, gums, throat, GI tract, urethra, vagina, rectum, all start oozing fluids and bleeding because the tissues that normally keep it contained are disintegrating. So now you bleed from every orifice, including your eyeballs. Every time someone or something touches you, your tissue gets damaged which further the cycle, so a shot in the arm can turn into a massive blood blister. Those who survive are left with massive scarring. Since the adrenals cannot keep your blood pressure up, and you are losing blood and fluids, we have to put IV fluids in to keep you out of hypovolemic shock. This in turn reduces your blood concentration, lowering your oxygen carrying capacity, which causes your heart to race. So you lay in bed, oozing fluids from everywhere, all while feeling like you just ran a marathon, with bloody diarrhea, oh and did I mention pain? Lots and lots of pain, but you can’t have any pain medicine because your liver and kidneys have failed. This why it pains me when I see this outbreak ONLY has a 50% death rate, when in Africa it is up to 90%…ONLY 50%. That is literally worse than cancer, and people are blowing it off. Imagine if cancer was infectious, and you lived in a country with zero cancer, and someone thought it would be a good idea to fly a few people in. I think there would be a different attitude.
The biggest part of the discussion is how Ebola is spread. I will say two things on the topic, no, it is not airborne, and yes, basic hygiene plays a HUGE factor. But while on the topic of whether it is or is not airborne, the definition of an airborne contagion is one that can freely float in the air, survive lengths of time, and infect someone else. VERY few things fit in this category, most have been eradicated, Small Pox, Tuberculosis, Measles. Things that are also NOT airborne, are the flu and the cold. For the flu, you have to come into direct contact with the patients body fluids. How then, do you explain why people catch it and have no idea how. Well for one, people can spread it before they show symptoms, just like Ebola, and one other HUGE factor…droplets….let that word really sink in. The virus may not be airborne, but the droplets are. I’m going to digress for a second and get back to HIV and Hepatitis, while I let droplets dwell in your mind. Everyone knows that HIV and Hepatitis are spread by blood contact, and sexual fluids, I don’t mean a drop of blood on the skin, or even a mucous membrane, it has to get INSIDE of you. This is why only gloves are required. HIV and Hepatitis are not found in urine, stool (Some forms of hepatitis are, but you have to eat the stool to get infected) saliva, sweat, tears, or mucous. This is where some viruses are different. The flu gets into your mucous and other secretions, Ebola tends to stay in the blood, but remember, every one of your bodily fluids are full of blood now. So a person with the flu sneezes, and now millions of little droplets (remember those guys?) shoot out of their nose at nearly mach 1, all across the room, same for a cough, all it takes is a little microscopic droplet to land in your eye, nose, mouth, or the unlikely scenario of an open wound, and you’ve now been infected, because you came in CONTACT with their bodily fluids. I see the word contact thrown around a lot, but most people think of mass amounts of contact with blood, but what they don’t realize is that contact also includes microscopic mucous and saliva droplets, each one chock full of Ebola. Bacteria can survive for long periods of time without a host because they are their own organism. They can feed on just about anything and be happy. Viruses lifespan without a host is much shorter. Their goal is to infect, replicate, and spread, if they cant replicate, they die. Measles only lives 2 hours. But Ebola, depending on what data you look at, can survive for several days.
So with all this information, lets have some role play, so that you can see exactly what this means, to a nurse, in the real world. Imagine it as a cheesy PSA or lifetime movie. You go to see your doctor because its that time of year, you need some blood drawn and refills of your blood pressure med. You sit patiently in the waiting room, thumbing a magazine while your 2-year-old plays with her toys. Like all two year olds, she touches everything, and everything goes in her mouth, toys, pens, her own fingers. She is a 22 lb drool factory and you love her to pieces. You see the doctor, get your goodies, and go home. A week later your angel starts vomiting blood and within 3 days she dies because her heart raced so fast it finally gave up while trying to maintain a blood pressure. Her eyes are blood red and demonic, her skin falls off in sheets. What you don’t know is that 3 days before your visit, someone thought they had the flu. It is October you see and they sneezed while thumbing through that very same magazine you thumbed through. The same thumb you grabbed her pacifier out of your purse with in the waiting room. The people caring for Ebola patients wear space suits, and burn the bodies, yet it still spreads. Here in America, we have much better protocols, and much better hygiene. So if it spreads, it will be contained much better. Still, it spreads prior to symptoms and survives will outside the body, just like the flu. Despite vaccines and good hand washing, thousands still get the flu every year. But while the flu kills 1-2% of its victims, Ebola kills 50% on a good day, and spreads the same way. So please, do not write it off as hype. It is a real thing and it is here.
The case in Dallas has been confirmed. The patient had contact with five children and adolescents prior to admission. Those five kids attend four of the largest schools in Dallas. One sneeze and we could already have thousands of people, who don’t know it yet, infected.
Thank you for reading. Please feel free to comment.
Symptoms* I have had a lot of comments in regards to this. I picked my words carefully, but I never imagined getting thousands of views an hour, or my article getting picked apart, but I will try to elaborate now. I said spread, the virus, I did not say you were contagious. What I meant by this, was the summation of two concepts. To fully explain everything I could write a book, but this is meant to be short and sweet. The first concept is that of a fomite. We have established that the virus can survive for an unspecified amount of time outside the host, and we have established that sneezing/coughing is a perfectly logical method of transmission. So if patient A is infectious/contagious, they sneeze on patient B, but then patient B goes home and picks up their sisters 1 6 month old, who rubs his face, and licks all over your shoulder, he could very well have just orally consumed large quantities of the virus, therefore become patient C. Patient B never got sick, the virus never entered their system, yet they are responsible for spreading the virus to someone else. This is why the 5 exposed kids are so important, there may only be a 2% chance or whatever that they’ll get sick, but if they went to school, and each rubbed up against 500 kids in the hallways, you now have 2500 exposed kids, 50 of which will statistically become infected, 25 of which will probably die. No I do not have a source for the 2%, that is just an EXAMPLE number used to represent the relatively low likelihood of contracting the virus if exposed, granted the R0 factor of R2 is correct. Remember, heal the patient, PROTECT the community. The second concept of this is defining “symptom”. Lets assume it means anything other than your baseline condition. That means the first signs of being contagious, are also the more mild symptoms, sneezy, achy, nausea, flu-like symptoms. So who is going to wake up, feel a little under the weather, and think, crap, I have Ebola, better get quarantined, no, THAT’S how you start fear mongering and mass panic. Again, flu season is upon us, the initial stages of Ebola are like the flu, and its human nature to be in denial, so many people, if infected, would hope its just the flu and wait it out, they are not showing symptoms indicative of Ebola, but they ARE symptomatic of something, and therefore, by the CDC definition, would be contagious. Its also normal procedure for people to be symptomatic BEFORE seeking medical care, so technically, everyone will be contagious, BEFORE knowing they have Ebola. But like I said before, I omitted this lengthy explanation because I didn’t feel it was necessary for the point of the article.
ADDENDUM: Sadly, I feel the need to point out that the title of this blog is “Ebola, A Nurse’s Perspective”, not “A Nurse’s Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse”, or “How to Become an Ebola Expert in 15 minutes”. It could just as well be “Hamburgers, A Chef’s Perspective” and no one would be hounding me over grammar, a misplaced comma, or wanting citations as to why I say it should be on the grill 5 minutes per side of 7 minutes per side. The point is those things are irrelevant to the goal of the article, this is MY perspective (a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view.) I don’t have to prove anything, the point of my article is to take what the uneducated (in a medical sense) journalists say, what the talking heads on TV say, and then let you know what the people say who are on the front lines. That’s like discrediting your grandads account of what happened when he stormed Normandy beach, because its not what your history teacher told you. Have I experienced Ebola first hand? Nope, have I experienced a WHOLE lot of other things that the majority of the population has not? You bet your ass I have, and I felt the need to take the time to hopefully help other people out a little. So please keep that in mind, I’m not perfect, but my experiences are my experiences, and I wanted to share them with you, to let you inside the head of a nurse for a minute.
dtolar 
Two people are infected in the United States and everyone is seeing a Hollywood ending. Just some things to think about: the pneumonia, diarrhea, heart disease, obesity, the common cold, tuberculosis, a resurgence of syphillis…all of these things are ten fold more of a threat to you.
You want to be worried? Worry about Ebola working its way into more impoverished countries and gaining ground. But of course everyone only worries once it’s closer to home.
I commend this student nurse for speaking out about her opinion, but so have the doctors, certified nurses and public health officials. Wash your hands, bring hand sanitizer, that’ll take care of 99.9% of any exposure you will have. Otherwise lets just lock ourselves into our houses until it’s been a full 3 months, let the Ebola die, then come out and yell “cut!” And print it and sell it for millions of dollars.
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You probably had the same attitude toward AIDS when you first heard about it too…
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Read a little but more closely….The op isn’t a student nurse. She is a BSN– a bachelor’s of science on nursing, meaning she has a 4 year degree and is an RN working on a graduate degree. What she describes is a very real possibility. While our hospitals may be equipped to handle 1 or 2 cases of Ebola at a time– I know firsthand most of them are probably equipped to adequately handle any more than that. As a nurse–most every fellow nurse I know shares this concern. And one MAJORLY different e between pneumonia, flu, TB and EBOLA– while the former may infect anyone, it is unlikely to kill you unless you are very old or very young, or otherwise immuno-compromised. EBOLA won’t be as discriminatory. The author isn’t trying to induce panic, merely trying to open some eyes in an effort to protect the community.
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Thanks for catching onto that. Yes you could say I’m a student nurse, but I’ve been in nursing school for 8 years now and picked up a few degrees along the way, lol. But yes, I have my BSN and will be finishing my masters soon.
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Well I’m not exactly a student nurse, I received my associates degree, then my bachelors degree, and am now almost finished with my masters degree, and have held my RN license the entire time, as well as advanced certifications….and its He, not she. The thing about heart disease and obesity is their related to personal choices, and you cant “catch” obesity. TB in the US rarely kills. No disease has been introduced to the US in many years so its new, we’ve never seen in it before, and obviously we can;t handle it. and its 4 people, and 1 dead, not 2. We now have a death, and likely more over something that was 100% preventable. At one point HIV victims were single digits, and now its in the millions….how about we focus our efforts and prevent adding another deadly disease to your list. We cant get rid of fat people and smokers, but we can get rid on Ebola
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thank you!!
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Thanks!
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I am uneducated (in a medical sense)….and have found your blog, very interesting and informative. Thank you for writing your perspective on Ebola
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If it’s like flu virus which you can spread by sneezing snot and coughing splatters and hand shakes, then ebola can be spread the same way. I think travel from west Africa should be stopped. What say you?
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No medical degree here of any kind and I’d already come to pretty much the same conclusion you did. From a protective standpoint, at this point, I don’t understand why those exposed are not kept in quarantine until the 21st day is over. Wouldn’t that be the best way to keep it from spreading further? Go back to the era of the Black Plague and the villages that weren’t infected that refused to allow people in. They had a pretty good survival rate. Currently, I’m not panicking despite living only a few hours away in the city where the testing for the Dallas patients is done, but I can see how this could be come a national crisis for real.
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Excellent article. Informative but also gripping. And terrifying.
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Good read and appreciate your perspective. A little common sense goes a long way. We did used to have quarantines and no one was hurt by doing so, other than a few mother’s nerves shot. Let’s pull together and regain some sense about communicable diseases. PROTECT THE COMMUNITY!
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This commentary is filled with inaccuracies. Please cite your claims regarding the ability to transmit when asymptomatic. Many of your comments are inflammatory, not backed up with evidence based science, and will not, as you hoped, help people understand things better. In fact they will confuse the lay public and create fear. If you are going to state things from an RN’s perspective, you have an obligation to be accurate, and you were not. As a risk communicator, these kinds of articles make my job that much harder.
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NJ public health, maybe you should read the article again. Ebola can be contagious during the incubation period though a direct blood contact, as nurse explained. I’m not a medical student or worker, but it makes sense to me that someone incubating the virus has the virus itself, and a needle exchange would easily pass that virus to another host. It’s plain common sense. I read a lot of anger on your part, but I find this article to be spot on, and easily understandable by the common Joe (hence the lack of supporting scientific evidences).
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I believe I’d rather have her looking out for my health than you. At least she explained who she was and her qualifications; before giving us her opinion in detail. Frankly your moniker, NJ Public Health, which appears to be an effort to impress us with you expertise, matches your explanation of her alleged inaccuracies; they both seem to be bloated with air.
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I don’t see you proving said nurse wrong anyhow. Why don’t you provide citations and all that boloney and prove what she said as wrong? Everything that she said can be easily proven right or wrong. Perhaps you should educated yourself and be a little less implying someone else is.
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The danger in an asymptomatic carrier is not that they will infect others while they appear asymptomatic (they could have symptoms but not appear sick with a potential to spread it albeit much lower than when fully symptomatic). Rather the real danger is that they can spread it further distances making it much, much harder to contain and control its spread.
There is an alternative explanation for the cause of the Black Death that hit Europe in the mid-1300’s. Some British researchers studying HIV discovered and isolated a genetic anomaly in those of European descent that makes them more resistant to HIV. They concluded that they may have adapted this as a result of mass exposure to hemorrhagic fever (in other words an Ebola-like virus).
If that is what really caused the plague (they offer some compelling supporting evidence backed up with research data in papers and a book printed in 2004), we should be taking our lessons in quarantine from the Italians…Milan officials managed to be one of the only areas spared (the Kingdom of Poland was the other). They did it through strict measures of quarantine in pestilence houses and all of Europe eventually adopted these measures establishing pest houses, sequestering goods shipped in, and a 40 day quarantine on strangers before they were allowed to enter a particular city.
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Thanks SAGG! Talk soon.
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Thank you for your time and information. Anita and Riley, go suck an egg or blow bubbles somewhere.
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This nurse should be recruited by the CDC to head up a special branch IF if this happens! ?
Great article …..
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Nurse to Nurse, well written and explained!
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I am a mother, a human, educated by life’s experiences. The common sense of your article are along the exact lines of where my thoughts are about this outbreak. It’s terrifying, not just because it’s close to home but for what it is. Worries me how many people are mocking it or making light of it, we have watched the news and see how many are already dead in Africa, how quickly ebola has killed. It is in America. I worry for this country, my children, my husband works for the railway, filthy. Hygiene is a must but what about our precious children, we can only do so much, it is only going to take a second for them to touch there eyes or mouth, we all know what Dr’s say about having school aged children around infants and sick elderly. I take this very serious. I’ve stocked up on water posted milk , pasta, sauce and various other foods with long shelf life. If this hits my state I am absolutely taking my daughter out of school, it’s just not worth having to watch her die or suffer this illness, or for her to have to lose me. Call me crazy but it is what it is. Better safe then sorry… I have no problem laughing about the ridiculousness of it later. Amen
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There will always be critics and know-it-alls, right? I applaud you for taking time of your own accord to help educate the public on this very relevant topic. I was fascinated (and also relieved) to learn in detail about this virus. You are clearly experienced, educated and concerned which is why you wrote this article. NURSES ARE HEROES. Many of my friends are nurses, and I deeply admire and respect what they/you do for humanity. I hope that for every ignorant asshole with negative feedback, that there were 10 more individuals that saw the value in your article. THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT YOU DO and please keep up that boldness.
Sincerely,
Ruth Fields
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Thank you for taking the time to educate so many of us. I for one totally appreciate it.
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As a registered nurse I loved your article. What’s scary is most hospitals including mine do not have the personel protective equipment that we need!
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Thank you for taking the time to write this blog, I appreciated learning from it.
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This is why we need to stop flights into this country, please read, sign, and pass on!;
https://www.change.org/p/barack-obama-stop-all-flights-from-areas-in-africa-that-are-effected-by-ebola-to-the-us-protect-our-nation-families-children
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@New Jersey Public Health… my problem is government, news, even the cdc keep wwwaaaaayyyy to much information from the public because you don’t want to promote fear. BUT , when it hits the fan you will try to covet up, back track and MAYBE say an apology. Considering what we are seeing happen in West Africa, do you truly blame us or the article for not blowing it up?. This is a grossly disgusting virus, devastating. Perhaps you can help us understand better. You state how this nurse is wrong and unsupported and how she’s making your job harder yet you did not support the how and why, you did not correct her with your points of accurate information. … kind of makes me wonder if your job is being made to hard because you simply don’t like actually having to work. State supportive information or shut up
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as a nurse who has been around for a while, i remember the first time an AIDS patient came to the hospital. it wasn’t the chronic disease it is today. it was a death sentence. and it reminds me of now. no not the death part but the panic. thanks for writing such an excellent little piece. oh and I NEVER TOUCH ANYTHING IN MY DOCTORS OFFICE. NEVER. not a magazine nothing. and after i use the pen to sign in, i use the hand sanitizer.
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Thank you for sharing this.
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This is probably why our country is the way it is. I agree with the author of this article tremendously, and I thank her for providing information on it to the general public.
I have all of the victims and their families and friends of Ebola in my prayers. Its not like we have not helped Africa with this problem. The first two Americans to contract it were in Africa HELPING those with Ebola, and other viruses.
Maybe for once, our country can put our needs before anyone elses. Sometimes that is what needs to be done. In order to help third world countries, we will first need to build ours and deal with our citizens who have contracted Ebola. Not only will we have more experience and knowledge of Ebola, which will help us help other countries cure their citizens with Ebola but it will also build our country. We will learn how to come together and take care of each other in times of panic.
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Unfortunately, we needed to help the african countries 10 years ago when they had a vaccine. But big Pharma makes no money on third world countries. We need to realise that we are a global economy, including these countries in Africa. Hence, making the risk of this virus and others to get here faster. This is not their first epidemic of Ebola, albeit our first cases and Texas is failing us all.
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excellent article. especially the part about waiting rooms and magazines, i will take my own reading material when out and about. watch out for menus wash hands immediately.
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Contrary to some comments by others I feel that this blog is awesome. Great perspective! I will say you are probably more qualified to talk about this than most!
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hello, this is a tremendously helpful post. I am a Medicaid eligibility specialist in NE OH. My question for you is: would something such as Ebola or MRSA survive on a pen used my both me and a patient? I typically don’t see droplet prec. pts or I use cheap pens that I throw away, but now I’m concerned. I always wash my hands before leaving the hospital but I often use the same pen for months. Also our protocol for isolation was pretty lax up until 10/15/14. Any advice for people like me who see pts and have limited contact?
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Very well explained, but to go a little further with this – if you want to read more take the book out of your local library called the Hot Zone. This book will back up what this RN has so delicatly put into a few short paragraphs.
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As a fellow nurse I thought this was truly a very informative post, and yes we should be worried.
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Thank you for a straight forward talk about ebola ; I find it also taught me more about airborne diseases ; this was also well written , and I feel , honest; thanks again!
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Thank you for writing this. It’s funny, most of the people ripping this apart are probably not even in healthcare. Maybe it’s not a big deal to them but it’s a big deal to me. When every hospital seems to be doing their own thing and writing protocols that are not based in fact there needs to be concern. When hospitals are not providing their staff with the equipment needed to care for a patient with ebola then it is up to us to speak out about it. When I say us, I mean the people on the front lines. The ones who are most at risk. Nurses, doctors, lab techs. medical assistants etc etc. I am not suggesting people panic, I am just suggesting that the so called ” experts ” not downgrade the risk to us and provide us with the things needed to keep us safe when we do our job.
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Great article. Thank you for sharing. Hope it’s ok to share with others as well.
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Excellent article. Valuable information. Thanks for your contribution.
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Thank you. Just thank you…
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I think this is a very good summary on the extent of this problem. I am a retired Army & National Guard CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear) defense specialist. The principles of avoidance, protection and decontamination are the same for Sarin, weaponized Anthrax, or Alpha radiation as it is for Ebola (which was first mistaken in 1976 for Marburg virus which is a close hemorrhagic fever relative of Ebola and was being developed by the Soviets as a potential weapon).
All of the above need full encapsulation to protect those in contact with it. They all require care not to spread contamination any further than necessary and needs to be contained as close to the source/origin. They all require training and supervision in how to properly don and doff protective equipment, how to handle contaminated materials, and how to properly decontaminate without spreading contamination in the process.
The only difference is that Ebola is carried by human vector in addition bats (and dogs) which in some ways are harder to control than wild vectors in that we are sentient, independent thinking beings that act on free will that is focused on self preservation first. The bonus is that we can also be rational beings and recognize that we have to protect others for our own survival. There is no excuse for the spread of this through untrained medical personnel…the CDC needs to OWN this one!
That being said, in addition to killing 50 times the number of infected versus the flu, it survives outside the body twice as long (up to 6 days versus 3 days for the flu). It also has a much longer incubation which means a much longer time as potential asymptomatic carriers as the flu. Sure more sheer numbers die from the flu, but that is because it is more prevalent and can enter contaminated hosts more easily and infects them more frequently. The flu also kills the elderly six times more often other demographics simply because they already have weaker immune systems and those that live in the close confines of nursing homes are the most susceptible (despite the great care that some home take at precautionary measures). Conversely Ebola can kill the healthiest and most robust individuals…and unlike a flu vaccine, Ebola has no such option.
The other fact I will point out is this current outbreak already killed over twice as many people (4000) than all previous outbreak infected victims combined (1700) since it was “discovered” in 1976! Just today I read that the WHO has predicted that at its current infection rate it could infect as many as 10,000 a month by the end of the year. They had earlier predicted that if not contained it could infect 400,000 to 500,000 before it is under control. That is all the more reason to contain it at its source (which has already been breeches several times, twice by the CDC. What needs to be done is an outer perimeter quarantine of 3 to 4 weeks for people that wish to leave the infected region…That goes for citizens like Duncan and relief and care workers in the region. It isn’t worth panicking about here yet, but we shouldn’t have been so dismissive about the potential threat either!
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As an ER nurse working the front line it is a true and scary concern! Thank you to this fellow nurse for her thoughts and info! To the rest of you being negative… Please remember it is us nurses on the front line in triage or in the ER room with initially no protection ! Fear is not a bad thing! It makes up more vigelant and better prepared. To you NJ public health your job will never be hard until you walk a day in the trenches with a nurse and the Ebola pt that comes in and later diagnosed and we were initially unprotected. Your job should be hard and the cdc is being weak And slow and too lax on this for us healthcare workers. So don’t whine about your job being hard! We can not stay suited up all day waiting for the what if! So to whoever with the hand sanitizer comment that’s rude and a slap in the face to us healthcare workers. So let’s us all stop negatively commenting on this nurses thoughts and focus on the true threat at hand. Let’s pray for all of us healthcare workers that no one else becomes infected. To all of my fellow RN’s out there may GOD keep us safe and best wishes to all!
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As a retired firefighter and medic, I am appalled you stated as a nurse you focus on the patient and community comes second. If this really is your stance, you are grossly misguided. Rules of Contact: 1)Scene Safety 2)Personal Safety 3)Team Safety 4)Victim. If you fail to put the welfare of others before the victim, the number of victims increases. Your liberal view and TV inspired happy ending will only perpetuate things
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To Bill Wolf
Thank you for the great info. And YES the CDC needs to step up and own this! And to NJ public health you might want to work harder and help the CDC instead of whining about this blog.
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I sincerely appreciate the article, since I am not a nurse, but a dental assistant, and value your experience and opinion. Thank you very much for writing it! You always have a few smart asses to be critical and negative. There are plenty of thankful people out there.
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Thank you so much for sharing your perspective. I cannot say what my take away is regarding Ebola except that this ($%^&) is dead, dead, deadly. But I can say this…the way you broke down viruses and bacteria’s touched me in a way that made me respect personal hygiene and protection on ANOTHER LEVEL!
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What about city workers that work in the water department and deal with sewage daily? How likely could it be spread to them through the job?
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Really enjoyed this post, and linked to it on my blog as well. Your perspective is valuable.
Here are my thoughts on Ebola:
http://latterdayjane.com/2014/10/16/eat-drink-and-be-merry-for-tomorrow-we-get-ebola/
“We have a much better chance of containing and eradicating Ebola in the U.S. if we cast the arrogance aside. It is time to freely own up to the mistakes we make. It is time to listen to the questions that we, the people, are asking. To actually consider the scenarios that are keeping folks up at night. Ebola is not a wayward house pet, and it certainly can’t be trained.”
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FrOk a retired RN, Thank You and keep up the good work!
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Great article. Although hepatitis cannot be contracted through sex (at least c)
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Not sure about hep a or b
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Ashley I’m sorry to inform you but you are wrong. Please see the CDC website.
Can Hepatitis C be spread through sexual contact?
Yes, but the risk of transmission from sexual contact is believed to be low. The risk increases for those who have multiple sex partners, have a sexually transmitted disease, engage in rough sex, or are infected with HIV. More research is needed to better understand how and when Hepatitis C can be spread through sexual contact.
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It can be transmitted in any situation were the infected persons BLOOD is involved.(so possibly if someone engages in “rough” sexual contact) however; the disease is found in the blood, no other bodily fluids. It is not an STD.
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Hep C can be transmitted sexually but it is rare.
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Yes, rare because blood is rarely involved with intercourse .
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Thank you. It’s very nice to have a thought out, well written perspective of what 99.5% of us are completely ignorant about. I’ve found myself asking many questions (to myself) about this mess we are facing…you have enlightened me regarding so many aspects. Thank you for that.
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I am a retired RN but remember well the HIV-AIDS epidemic. It was not until the CDC, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, Doctors and health care workers started working together were we able to learn and provide the patients with what they needed. Education is premier when it comes to reducing fact from fiction. Thank you for taking the time and effort for helping to educate!
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