Ebola...

[pl4tinum]

So then you can get it by shaking hands, sneeze juice, rectal extract...

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

Limited terms in office, erradicate all career politicians, get the people's people in there who actually care about things that matter other than getting their sorry asses re-elected to save their precious job.

That's a tough balancing act, because politicians generally get reelected by telling voters what they want to hear. The real issue is that we as a people disagree on so much. One person's pandering to the wrong group/ignoring the national interest is another person's agenda. So drawing a distinction between "doing what is good for the people" and "getting reelected" is a lot tougher than it sounds.

Our society is so involved and engrossed in distractions, that nobody sees the big picture anymore, nor do they care. So long as their phones turn on, and they can substitute people into their fantasy lineups and creep on their facebooks and feel good or bad about themselves.

We now expect our government to do so many different things that it is impossible for the average person to pay sufficient attention to make fully informed decisions. It's overwhelming. Unless the role of government is reduced, voters are going to inevitably become less and less involved.

When you have the people's tax dollars, any and every resource imaginable, you would think we'd have the truth by now?

They have the truth. But their belief that they are so much smarter and more responsible than average citizens poisons them against believing we can handle it.

 

[Kouki]

So now an Administration official has come out and said -- in sworn testimony -- that the Ebola virus is contained in sweat, and that you could get it from infected sweat left on a bus seat. Yet, we're being told by others in the Administration that you can't catch it from riding on a bus.

http://dailycaller.com/2014/10/27/obama-health-official-ebola-can-spread-through-bus-sweat/

I honestly cannot figure out why the government cannot get its sotry straight. That's the kind of thing that leads people to mistrust what the government is telling them.

I don't know why they need to say "you can/can't catch it on a bus/plane/train/swinger orgy" in the first place. Like, that is not the mechanism in play here.

How is the virus transferred? Isn't that all people should need to know?

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

I don't know why they need to say "you can/can't catch it on a bus/plane/train/swinger orgy" in the first place. Like, that is not the mechanism in play here.

How is the virus transferred? Isn't that all people should need to know?

Well, there are previously published WHO and CDC guidelines telling infected people not to ride public transportation, so it would be kind of awkward to not address the point of/when asked directly.

 

[Kouki]

I guess, but they should really just say how it is transmitted, then anything else should just be understood

Like, talking about this in the terms of "riding a bus" is just beating around the bush

 

[gourimoko]

It has been said numerous times already, you can contract Ebola via any bodily excretion, including sweat and saliva. Simply coming in contact with the infected or a surface that has the bodily fluids or excretions of an infected individual is sufficient to contract the disease. It's been covered extensively that you do not need to touch your face, or any mucous membranes as the virus can penetrate microabrasions on the skin (especially on the hands).

In other words, the virus is extremely contagious. The only thing that could make it worse would be if it had a longer incubation period and if it were airborne.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

It has been said numerous times already, you can contract Ebola via any bodily excretion, including sweat and saliva. Simply coming in contact with the infected or a surface that has the bodily fluids or excretions of an infected individual is sufficient to contract the disease. It's been covered extensively that you do not need to touch your face, or any mucous membranes as the virus can penetrate microabrasions on the skin (especially on the hands).

In other words, the virus is extremely contagious. The only thing that could make it worse would be if it had a longer incubation period and if it were airborne.

I agree, but it is interesting to me how so many people look at that same set of facts and claim that it is not very contagious.

Seems to me like rather than simply being honest/direct when discussing it, they sort of "aim" for what they think the appropriate level of public concern, and construct a message they think will general that result. It's odd.

 

[Nathan S]

It has been said numerous times already, you can contract Ebola via any bodily excretion, including sweat and saliva. Simply coming in contact with the infected or a surface that has the bodily fluids or excretions of an infected individual is sufficient to contract the disease. It's been covered extensively that you do not need to touch your face, or any mucous membranes as the virus can penetrate microabrasions on the skin (especially on the hands).

In other words, the virus is extremely contagious. The only thing that could make it worse would be if it had a longer incubation period and if it were airborne.

If ebola is extremely contagious, what adjective/font would you use for an airborne ebola strain?

 

[gourimoko]

If ebola is extremely contagious, what adjective/font would you use for an airborne ebola strain?

Honestly... FUCKED would seem most appropriate.

 

[The Oi]

So one of my coworkers is freaking out because her son just got sent home with a high grade fever. Apparantly a student from Africa just joined her class.

I told her it's probably just the flu, but she's losing it.

Did she at any point describe it as "jungle fever?"

Just trying to get a handle on exactly how racist she is.

@gourimoko

 

[Jack Brickman]

Has civilization collapsed yet? I could use a day off.

 

[Shakalu M.D.]

Did she at any point describe it as "jungle fever?"

Just trying to get a handle on exactly how racist she is.

@gourimoko

On a scale of 1-10 I'd say John Rocker. She phrased it as, "a kid from fucking Africa."

Also she's the type to say, "I have *insert culture or sexuality here* friends.

 

[The Oi]

She sounds fat and named Tammy.

 

[Shakalu M.D.]

She sounds fat and named Tammy.

Actually the opposite. Silver spoon type but she's thin and a milf.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

If ebola is extremely contagious, what adjective/font would you use for an airborne ebola strain?

Whether something is airborne isn't the only thing to affect transmissibility. The bubonic plague epidemic in the mid-1300's -- the Black Death -- wasn't airborne -- it was transmitted by the bites of infected fleas coming off rats. And while that's not person-to-person contact, the point remains that a virus doesn't have to be airbrorne to strike down huge numbers of people. I mean, if health care professionals who routinely operate in full hazmat gear are getting it, what else would you call it?

Ebola isn't airborne, but it appears that people have very little natural immunity to it, it's strong enough to kill otherwise very healthy people (unlike the flu), but the real kicker seems to be that it's viral load is very high.

I'm not a medical expert, and I'm not pretending to be one. I didn't even know what "viral load" meant until a week or so ago. But apparently, the amount of virus in a given volume of infected fluid is extremely high compared to how much is normally present with other diseases. So, contact with even the tiniest amount of fluld can be enough to infect the victim.