Was the Ebola situation too much hype?

[classical_hero]

http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/5-diseases-you-should-be-more-afraid-ebola

The current outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in West Africa is the largest in history, and has already killed over 1200 people. Those living in more developed areas have become fairly sheltered from the devastating effects of widespread infectious disease over the last 60 years or so, due to widespread availability of vaccines, competent healthcare, and education about hygiene’s role in disease transmission. Ebola is particularly unlikely to cause a pandemic in the developed world, as the method of transmission requires close contact with infected people.

However, that doesn’t mean that it’s completely impossible for diseases to become widespread in more developed areas.

Why was there so much hype about the disease and yet when people were treated with modern medical care the disease had no deaths because once you treat the symptoms properly and allow the body to fight off the disease, it does affect like it does in the parts where people are dying because of inadequate medical care due to poverty in the region.

 

[El_Machinae]

Er, lots of people getting advanced care died.

But this is a problem with risk management and pandemics. All successfully contained pandemics end up looking like over-reaction in retrospect. The consequence of failing to contain are too high.

 

[Tahuti]

Er, lots of people getting advanced care died.

A lot of could have easily been prevented if the local governments were more effective.

Still, more African countries do not suffer from Ebola pandemics than those that do. In fact, those that suffer such pandemics are massively outnumbered.

 

[uppi]

Isn't it a bit early to complain about overreaction, when the epidemic is not even over, yet?

For the affected African countries it is still an ongoing crisis and it is not impossible for the disease to (re-)spread to other countries before it ends.

 

[Senethro]

Its all overreaction until the next Spanish Flu, then its arms flailing about why not enough was done.

 

[Goodfella]

A lot of the 'overreaction' criticisms were directed at the types who protested bringing victims to the US or demanded the cancelation of every flight from the continent of Africa.

 

[bhavv]

It would have been over quicker if idiots weren't pulling their infected family members out of quarantine.

 

[JollyRoger]

http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/5-diseases-you-should-be-more-afraid-ebola

Why was there so much hype about the disease and yet when people were treated with modern medical care the disease had no deaths because once you treat the symptoms properly and allow the body to fight off the disease, it does affect like it does in the parts where people are dying because of inadequate medical care due to poverty in the region.

The hype here had to do with trying to spin it as Obola.

 

[onejayhawk]

There was a joke going around about ebola. You won't get it.

J

 

[El_Machinae]

It would have been over quicker if idiots weren't pulling their infected family members out of quarantine.

This was an underfunding issue (which is horrid, since much of the funding was from donations, which should have been rapid-response from any intelligent person). It's not like we had no spare cash to give at the time ...

It was often very hard to tell if someone with early symptoms was an Ebola patient or not. But, of course, the triage units had to over-react (for logical reasons) and treat suspected cases as potentially dangerous. But, because of under-funding, the treatment someone would get in quarantine was really poor. So, if they had something else, it meant they'd not get treatment, when treatment could save their lives.

So, lots of people died in quarantine. From stuff that could have been treated. Patients learned this. They'd hide the ebola-like symptoms to get proper doctor care. They'd pull their loved ones out of quarantine so that they'd get looked at.

Sure, we can call them idiots. They made selfish, irrational decisions. But, so was deliberately underfunding MSF's efforts.

 

[strijder20]

It's like a kilometers wide meteor which has a 10% chance to hit Earth and exterminate all life - if it does miss, it's easy to say with hindsight that not so much media coverage was needed since it didn't actually do any damage.

Furthermore, in ebola's case it's exactly the media coverage which helped to contain the illness (by providing money).

 

[JollyRoger]

The outbreak of religion also has generally harsher effects on less developed regions.

 

[strijder20]

The outbreak of religion also has generally harsher effects on less developed regions.

Now you're just being offensive to ebola.

 

[Harv]

I had the impression there was more panic than hype.

 

[bhavv]

So what religion are we trying to convert ebola virus cells to?

 

[Borachio]

Some non-threatening religion would be suitable, I think.

How about Jainism? Still, that's probably less than ideal.