Ebola Scare

there are a ton of good reasons to homeschool.
this is not one of them.
what sort of skanky 'news' outlet predicted 10,000 people per day infected?
the news is no longer about news, but ratings, and the news media stay alive by keeping people terrified.
i suggest you stop listening the news, read some actual scientific data, and quit being manipulated by fear. there's a huge gulf between sensible precautions and the-sky-is-falling.
khairete
S.

NEW: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/01/health/ebola-outbreak-i...
They stopped the spread through vigilant contact tracing.

ORIGINAL: The large numbers are in Africa in one particular area. If you are not in that country, you need to calm down.

You can't catch Ebola from a hotel room unless the person in the hotel room was actively symptomatic and puking, spewing diarrhea, etc all over the sheets.
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/transmission/qas.html

I really f-ing hate the media and the shock jocks about this. I live in Fort Worth. My husband is in medical school. We are not scared AT ALL.

If you want real info about Ebola, listen to NPR. They're actually reporting the facts without the fear mongering.

S., welcome to mamapedia!!

So you're buying into the media hype and scare tactics??

You do realize that the flu symptoms mimic that of ebola, yes? They are strongly encouraging people to get their flu shots....now imagine being a nurse/doctor - and it's flu season...lovely...how many people are going to run into the doctor's office or hospital saying "I've got ebola!!!" when all they have is the flu!! I would HATE to be in the health care field right now...

Can I help you calm down?? There are what 300Million people in the US - correct? Ebola's survival rate - if caught early enough - is 65% - so the odds are good.

If you and your family are doing hotel cleaning? You wear gloves, right? Okay. just make sure to change them and NOT touch your face or scratch yourself while wearing them.

Breathe, girlfriend, breathe!!! If you really want to be scared??? Think of all the diseases illegal immigrants are bringing into our country - that were once eradicated here - Mumps, Measles, etc.

Practice good hygiene...ebola isn't what you should be concerned about. The diseases that illegal immigrants are bringing into our country - THAT is what you should be worried about.

You cannot live in a bubble. Turn the TV off. Practice good hygiene - washing hands....breathe...

According to CNN:

"There could be up to 10,000 new Ebola cases per week in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone by the end of this year as the outbreak spreads, the World Health Organization warned Tuesday."

Ok, let's try and put this in perspective. These are countries that are not equipped to isolate patients and prevent others from contracting the disease. The US isn't perfect, by any means, but we do have a much, much better way of dealing with the disease, isolating patients and containing the virus.

Second, they did say 10,000 people each week, not each day.

Third, it's my understanding that in order to catch the virus, you have yo come into direct contact either bodily fluids, the virus cannot live for long outside of the body and this is not something that can be transmitted through the air. I did see a few websites speculating that this could be the case or that the virus could mutate, but I also noticed that I did not recognize any of those websites and that the more reputable websites were reporting that the likelihood of tuis happening was minuscule.

What do I do to cope? I recognize that there are many, many things in this world that could harm me and my children, and I have very little control over any of it. We live out in the country, and there sure coyotes right outside my house! Not to mention all the hunters, who are not always as careful as I'd like them to be. Rather than waste my energy worrying about things I cannot control, I choose to live my life.

Please don't let the fear of Ebola cause you to stop living your life. It's not worth it.

What everyone else said.
There's a chance I could get hit by a car tomorrow, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stay in my house to avoid it.

I refuse to buy into the media hype surrounding all of this.

Because I work in an elementary school, I am forever washing my hands. I am actually more concerned about catching the flu...

Practice good hygiene, eat properly and take care of yourself and your family. That is the only advice I have to give!

if you are in Liberia or Sierra Leone.. then you might want to worry.. if you live in the USA,, there is nothing to worry about.

Please start worrying about influenza.. or enterovirus 68 which are infections diseases here in the usa...

Don't buy into all the media hype. Keep in mind that the news media wants to instill some fear among everyone plus they want the airtime!!! They are not your friend!

If the worry puts you in a position of not being able to be functional with your family daily, please get help.

I live in Dallas, about 15 minutes or less from Presby. It's a good hospital. I am not living in fear of this disease nor are most people in my area.

Wash your hands regularly, don't focus on potential negatives or media hype.

Your chances are greater of having a car crash on a normal day than to contract Ebola.

Be realistic.

I've been watching comments on our local newspaper site.
Ebola is a concern.
The level of panic some people are having is also a concern.
Scared people do crazy things.
There's a fine line between being adequately informed and having the flames fanned until people want to hole up, get off the grid and go total survivalist (they fear the end of the world).
I'd say the media is pushing that line now.
Some people can keep their heads while others are prone to panic.

Think about it - what exactly is panicking going to do for you?
Could you (and your family) - REALLY - live in total isolation for 6 months to a year?
Just relax and turn off the news for awhile.
What they are reporting is not being helpful at this point.

Additional:

With respect - ebola is not like aids.
With aids - you can not catch it by being careful who (and how - use a condom) you have sex with and not sharing needles and in the early days blood transfusions were a problem but that risk went away after awhile.

It's much easier to catch ebola.
And I think we DO need to be concerned enough not to totally dismiss/play down/pooh-pooh the fears and differences between one disease and another.

Do a lot of people die from the flu every year? Sure.
We have exposure to flu and vaccines to some types of flu and in most cases if you're reasonably healthy in general you can expect to recover from it if you should catch it.

The problem with ebola is we haven't been exposed to it before and we don't have vaccines or many medications available to fight it.
Introduce ANY new disease to a population who's never been exposed to it before and you are in for a lot more trouble than your average flu season.
This was the sort of thing that indigenous populations suffered with when Europeans brought small pox to the Americas.
The further complication we have now is the speed of travel we have today.

All in all - the situation we have right now is rather unique.
Pay attention, wash hands often, don't buy into the hype, don't panic - but no one really knows how this will play out.

A similar question was asked on this site a few days ago. There were lots of good answers. Perhaps you could look that post.

Are you equally afraid of the flu or a couple of other strains of virus that are killing people in the US? You are more likely to be exposed to those viruses than to Ebola. Polio and measles have made a comeback. How do you feel about those?

The possibility of you and your family being exposed to Ebola is so negligble that we can't give it a percentage for risk. It's less than 1%.

I'm not saying you should be fearful of the flu and other diseases. I'm suggesting that you should be much less concerned about Ebola than the flu. Hopefully you're concerned enough to have good hygiene but don't feel it reasonable to keep everyone home.

In 1980 (and beyond) I worked as a residence hall director (formerly known as a 'house mom) as I worked on my masters degree.

AIDS was the concern at the time.

I dealt with SOOO many parents for a while as the 'aids' issues became clarified. (and they did).

To be VERY honest, I am much MORE concerned about how to pay for heating MY home this winter. It will be a 'hard one' I am told.

With respect to ebola, I will continue to wash my hands, AND steer clear of other people's bodily fluids (and suggest my kiddos and friends do the same)... AS I DID in the 80's...and the AIDS concerns.

What kind of heating costs do YOU generally have?

Best

The flu is much more contagious than Ebola.

Fear mongering. Remember approximately 36,000 people will die if flu this year. Put it in perspective. Ian thinking after elections Ebola will disPpear from the news!

Third post about the same topic in 2 weeks.

What am I doing? Nothing. The chances that Ebola will affect me or my family are minimal. Not zero. But minimal. I suspect the same is true of yours.

Keep calm, carry on, and wash your hands regularly.

--FYI. It was 10,000 a _week_ could be infected (in Africa) if not gotten under control. This is huge and heartbreaking, but it's primarily confined to some African nations. To quell some of your concerns, read up on Nigeria and Senegal's (both in West Africa) successful efforts to combat this.

This can't be serious! Hotel cleaning is frightening? How about being a health care worker.

I am doing nothing. So many real threats, ebola...nope, don't care.

Oh no, Ziggy! I hope a dingo...um, coyote...doesn't eat your baby!!!

My son is very at risk for any disease going around. That being said, I'm terrified of Ebola. Remember when AIDS was just being learned about? There was tons of information out there that wasn't true. Doctors and dentists accidentally gave it to patients because they didn't know it was transmitted by blood or dentist tools yet. We don't know 100% about Ebola. Its new in the US and there hasn't been a large outbreak of ebola of this magnitude anywhere ever. We are constantly washing our hands, my son bathes each day, changes clothes when we get home, takes vitamins, and eats right. All we can hope for is this doesn't spread like wildfire. We are in Fort Worth too, so we're keeping our fingers crossed at this point. If my son didn't have such a high chance with his immune system of getting things I think I'd be much less worried. Also we live in the dallas fort worth area, so if its going to spread we will be one of the first areas to get it.
I also think the mentality of we are in the US, its not going to hit like that here is just ridiculous. Some were saying it would never hit the US a few months ago and yet here we are, and low and behold its here. Sure we have a better healthcare system that west africa. But I also think we need to wisen up and realize we aren't exempt from a worldwide epidemic just because we are in the US.

My thoughts :

Bravo.....drug companies!

Your ad campaigns are sure securing your funding!

Especially now that you've made sure the US is directly involved.

Nothing frees up Government funds like a good ole' health scare.

Unless you are in contact with body fluids from an infected person, your risk is nil.