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Health Advisor: Ebola Still Spreading, Worst Outbreak We've Ever Seen

Posted by samzenpus on from the like-wildfire dept.

Lasrick writes After four decades of confining Ebola outbreaks to small areas, experts acknowledged in an October 9 New England Journal of Medicine article that "we were wrong" about the scope of the current situation. At the present transmission rate, the number of Ebola cases in West Africa doubles every two to three weeks. Early diagnosis is the key to controlling the epidemic, but that's far easier said than done: "And there are several complicating factors. For one thing, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that 60 percent of all Ebola patients remain undiagnosed in their communities." A transmission rate below 1 is necessary to keep the outbreak under control (instead of the current rate of 1.5 to 2), and the authors detail what's in the works to help achieve early detection, which is crucial to reducing the current transmission rate.

2 of 244 comments (clear)

  1. Can we let it run its course? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    What happens if we let this thing run its course?

  2. Re:Burial customs? by DexterIsADog · · Score: 1, Troll

    I say everyone just blockade west Africa. Nobody goes in or comes out and let the problem resolve itself.

    Funny, the rest of the world is starting to say that about the U.S.