Ebola

[Cyborg]

Now, I just want to say, this is not a fear mongering post.  Ebola has been around a long time, and the human race still goes on.


We went from having a record of zero reported Ebola cases in the United States to 4 within the span of a month. To be sure, you have more to fear from natural causes and drunk driving than Ebola at those numbers. However, there are a couple features of every case except one: they involved the person flying back home on an airplane and being diagnosed shortly thereafter.


I repeat, 3/4 involved flying home on an airplane and immediately reporting symptoms thereafter as the first reported incidents of Ebola (in America) in the span of one month.


Now, just having Ebola incidents are rare, but the fact that they all share this specific social phenomenon is a red flag for me. I wonder if each case already had a hint that something was up and immediately flew home to get proper medical treatment at an American hospital, and in so doing, put people at risk by not self-reporting.


If you knew you were going to die for sure in a country ill-equipped to care for Ebola, and you knew you could fly home and have a fighting chance, one would think this is the self-preservation phenomenon, at the expense of a possible disease outbreak. Because of this, I think we need a new protocol that encourages honesty and proper medical transport, rather than confessing to symptoms shortly after arrival. All of the hiding and the secrets, followed by scary images of Ebola victims in Africa, are quickly turning this into the fear that originally existed over "GRIDS" in the 80s. And it doesn't help that the CDC does not have a national implemented Ebola protocol in place, and not enough preparation by American hospitals for deadly contagious diseases.


I suspect, that after having Ebola victims regularly over the span of a decade, the fear might decrease into something more along the lines of AIDS. Only education, honesty, transparency, and preparation of hospitals so this is not seen as a guaranteed torturous death sentence will restore sanity and good decision-making.  There will always be infectious diseases, I don't think we need to be scared sheep over it.


The last concern I have is the political (and indirectly, religious) implications. Anyone attempting to use this for political gain is disgusting and not helping the situation. Manipulating the masses by fear is the wrong decision, and I hope that nobody falls for that.

[madcow]

First Ebola patient in America was not actually an American, it was suspected that he actually knew he had Ebola and came to America hoping to take advantage of the health care here. That's really just conjecture though, he did have family in Dallas and moved to live with them.

The other Dallas incidents are really coming based off of poor hospital and CDC precautions being put into place. Something which they've really acknowledged. The hospital didn't have the right procedures or PPE in place, and the CDC really should have grounded all the care-takers involved.

Mostly though, it's a lot of fear-mongering going on, and with flu season starting up there's going to be a lot of panic and false cases of people thinking they have something when it's really just the flu.

That's really the way of things in the states though. Nobody cares when it happens in Africa (or the middle east) but as soon as something happens here it's become the worst thing ever.

[Wingflier]

There was a part in V for Vendetta (amazing movie by the way, if you haven't watched it drop what you're doing and go rent it), where an important major event was taking place, and the government, intentionally, began creating all these baseless disease and epidemic scares, using mass media in order distract people from the real issues going on.

Considering that our democracy has officially become an oligarchy, tactics like this do not surprise me whatsoever.

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/princeton-experts-say-us-no-longer-democracy
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/21/americas-oligarchy-not-democracy-or-republic-unive/

[Mánagarmr]

I'd say that's a touch too conspiratorical to claim that 4 cases of ebola were to be used as fearmongering. What many people fail to realize is that a real outbreak of ebola in the west is nearly impossible due to us being much better equipped to deal with it. We have functioning hygiene, routines and the healthcare and quarantine procedures to quickly contain an outbreak. Compare this to an african village and you'll quickly see why ebola is such a terror down there.

[Wingflier]

I don't know if conspiracy is the right word, but I do at least agree with Cyborg that there's a lot of fear mongering going on, for whatever reason.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

I don't know if conspiracy is the right word, but I do at least agree with Cyborg that there's a lot of fear mongering going on, for whatever reason.

Who would watch the news if there wasn't any fear mongering. We have smartphones now that can tell us the weather forecast with 0 bs. Fear is all ABC/NBC/FOX/CNN have left to bring us back to watch them. ;P

[Mick]

Guyz, it's all right, we have an Ebola czar.

[Mánagarmr]

I don't know if conspiracy is the right word, but I do at least agree with Cyborg that there's a lot of fear mongering going on, for whatever reason.

Fear mongering is one way to get people to invest emotions into what they are watching. If you can get them scared of something, they'll keep watching news about it. It's basic mob-mentality 101.  Besides US news have always been fear mongering. At least from what I've seen of US news "over here":

[Coppermantis]

Fear mongering is just for media profit, not a government conspiracy to be sure. People almost "like" to be scared, especially when they're far-removed from the real danger. The odds of any one person in the US getting Ebola are infinitesimal, so it's almost like watching a horror movie. Drama and all that. It's also a standard by which people can compare their lives, e.g., "My life might suck, but at least I'm not one of those poor sods with Ebola."


The only way that Ebola could be a problem is through immense human stupidity, like what we've seen with people who know they're displaying symptoms and were possibly exposed yet insist on flying on an airplane or whatever. Even if it does spread, though, our medical care and containment processes are a lot better than in west Africa where aid workers have literally been killed by those they are trying to help.
It could very well kill more people and should be treated seriously, but this isn't going to be the next Black Death.

[chemical_art]

... but this isn't going to be the next Black Death.

True, I find it comforting the same disease still happens in modern times, but is very isolated. Nothing to worry about (relatively)

[Misery]

Fear mongering is just for media profit, not a government conspiracy to be sure. People almost "like" to be scared, especially when they're far-removed from the real danger. The odds of any one person in the US getting Ebola are infinitesimal, so it's almost like watching a horror movie. Drama and all that. It's also a standard by which people can compare their lives, e.g., "My life might suck, but at least I'm not one of those poor sods with Ebola."

Yeah, pretty much this.  Not just that people "like" to be scared, it's almost like they have this REQUIREMENT to be scared.  Like, if there isnt something currently filling up the "I'm scared of this thing right now" spot for someone, they will sorta just latch onto whatever is the next thing that comes their way which promises to have the potential to fill that spot.

And then of course they then run around shouting about it and trying to tell others how afraid they should be.

[Wingflier]

Fear mongering is just for media profit, not a government conspiracy to be sure. People almost "like" to be scared, especially when they're far-removed from the real danger. The odds of any one person in the US getting Ebola are infinitesimal, so it's almost like watching a horror movie. Drama and all that. It's also a standard by which people can compare their lives, e.g., "My life might suck, but at least I'm not one of those poor sods with Ebola."

Yeah, pretty much this.  Not just that people "like" to be scared, it's almost like they have this REQUIREMENT to be scared.  Like, if there isnt something currently filling up the "I'm scared of this thing right now" spot for someone, they will sorta just latch onto whatever is the next thing that comes their way which promises to have the potential to fill that spot.

And then of course they then run around shouting about it and trying to tell others how afraid they should be.

Also seems to be how religion often works, with the constant impending threat of the "end times", which has lasted for 2,000+ years. Every new generation believes *they* are living in the end times, and that they will be the ones who get to see the final days of the Earth. It's a really nice marketing technique, and the media also tends to use religion as well to increase or supplement their fear mongering. This is why I wish people would turn off their T.V.s, stop believing the media hype, and start living their life based only on what can be empirically proven.

These faith-based "movements" such as the anti-vax crowd and the climate-change denying folks are actually doing quite a bit of harm to society, and it's all related to buying into the baseless hype, often found on TV.

[Misery]

Fear mongering is just for media profit, not a government conspiracy to be sure. People almost "like" to be scared, especially when they're far-removed from the real danger. The odds of any one person in the US getting Ebola are infinitesimal, so it's almost like watching a horror movie. Drama and all that. It's also a standard by which people can compare their lives, e.g., "My life might suck, but at least I'm not one of those poor sods with Ebola."

Yeah, pretty much this.  Not just that people "like" to be scared, it's almost like they have this REQUIREMENT to be scared.  Like, if there isnt something currently filling up the "I'm scared of this thing right now" spot for someone, they will sorta just latch onto whatever is the next thing that comes their way which promises to have the potential to fill that spot.

And then of course they then run around shouting about it and trying to tell others how afraid they should be.

Also seems to be how religion often works, with the constant impending threat of the "end times", which has lasted for 2,000+ years. Every new generation believes *they* are living in the end times, and that they will be the ones who get to see the final days of the Earth. It's a really nice marketing technique, and the media also tends to use religion as well to increase or supplement their fear mongering. This is why I wish people would turn off their T.V.s, stop believing the media hype, and start living their life based only on what can be empirically proven.

These faith-based "movements" such as the anti-vax crowd and the climate-change denying folks are actually doing quite a bit of harm to society, and it's all related to buying into the baseless hype, often found on TV.

Yeah, I can agree with this for the most part.

Dont get me wrong: I've nothing against religion at all.  I've got my own set of beliefs, but they're all based on my own (sometimes warped) logic and observations, rather than just letting anyone tell me what to think, wether it be atheists or religious types, and I tend not to like either, as both really are always trying to shove people in one direction or the other.  And frankly, I wish both sides would just stop doing that.  It really doesnt help, and I tend to see it as part of the core of problems like fearmongering, as alot of fear really does stem simply from the uncertain or unknown, which the universe is absolutely filled with, and that type of stupid arguing and shoving around just emphasizes it further.   And then the media takes that and runs with it like the pack of jerks that they often are.... anything for ratings, right?  And people are so suggestible... tell them that something is horrible, and suddenly it is.  Ugh.

And THIS whole situation is very similar, and out of control.  And nobody really stops to PROPERLY listen and think about what's going on.  One simple fact is, that for the most part, there are VERY few getting hit with this disease, and they all seem to be medical personnel that have directly worked with patients that came back from Africa after helping the chaotic situation there.  The disease simply doesnt transmit easily at all.  The conditions are too specific to happen often in a nation like this one....  yet a hostpital situation is EXACTLY the sort of place that can generate those specific conditions.

But as usual everyone flips the heck out, even when there's something simple that points out why they shouldnt.   Makes me think of that time when the "swine flu" was bouncing around, and again, some people were just flipping the heck out.  In the case of THAT, there was a different simple solution, which was the existence of a vaccine. If you wanted to take extra precaution, you went and just got the stupid shot.  I did that;  a logical solution to a stupid problem.  And no worry at all after that, which was the point.   And it's the same with this one;  there's no vaccine, but the solution is simple enough, which is to just to pay attention, and not automatically listen to those that have gotten frenzied over this.

But nobody really likes actual logic these days, do they?  Feh.

And I've forgotten where I was going with this.  Was I going somewhere?  ....heck if I know.  I start rambling, and just keep going...

[Cyborg]

Dont get me wrong: I've nothing against religion at all.  I've got my own set of beliefs, but they're all based on my own (sometimes warped) logic and observations, rather than just letting anyone tell me what to think, wether it be atheists or religious types, and I tend not to like either

All the people I know who are atheist, you would never know unless there is some media publicized religious debacle, such as right-wing gay-hating events, the denial of birth control, so on and so forth.


But I try not to say whether or not I like someone based on these factors. I have religious and nonreligious friends, and it's all good as long as we never talk about these things.

[Wingflier]

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/6055406

Aaaaaaaaaannndddddd... This is what happens