(Colorized transmission electron micrograph (TEM) revealed some of the ultrastructural morphology displayed by an Ebola virus)
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Welcome back My Dear Readers to The Other Shoe! YES! Yes it has been a very long time since I wrote or published here at The Other Shoe. Now, as for that and the reasons for my absence? I will leave that for another article later this week. Look for that information in an all new edition of ‘Notes from Behind the Keyboard’. I anticipate that article to be published on Thursday or Friday of this week. Finally, before we get to the subject at hand, I would like to announce that ‘The Horror in Smithville’ will not conclude before or on Halloween… this year. The story, and the one after this one, will continue here for the next several months… or years.
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My Dear Readers, first I am going to tell you a story. A story of the incident that lead me back to my writing and back to this blog with this article in my heart, mind and soul. Alas, I am going to share a few teasers in this paragraph. So! If you do not like spoilers, and would like this week’s reading (and next week’s, too) without any spoilers? Just move on to the second next paragraph, eh? My Dear Readers my cancer has really reared its ugly head, over the past three weeks. That has been the reason (behind the scenes) for my extended absence. Last week I had; another ‘Full Body CT Scan with Contrast’, an Ultrasound of my thyroid, and another MRI of my head, neck and upper torso. This has lead me to be ‘out’ among the masses, more than usual. Well, Allen and I were out and about and we see this middle aged woman, Anglo, with a ‘Particle Mask’ over her mouth and nose. You know, one of those one would use for sanding and painting.
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.[FYI Spoilers are OVER!]
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FYI those are completely useless for stopping something like ebola. So, I just couldn’t help it… I mention that fact to this woman.
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“Hello… why are you wearing a particle mask?”
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Woman responds-
“It is to protect me from ebola!”
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I resist the urge to laugh (for the moment), and respond-
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“You do know that ebola is not airborne and that painting particle mask will do nothing to stop anything but a cold or maybe the flu, right?”
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The woman harrumphs to my statement and merely responds with-
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“Well, that is what they said about AIDS!”
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NOW(?) I am laughing maniacally! I just cannot help myself; I break out into deep loud and unbridled laughter!
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Allen and I go about our business, for that day, but it is in that moment that I realized that I simply must write an article to share FACTS about ebola and dispel FICTION!
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My Dear Readers it has come to my attention that (some) ‘Conservative’ media outlets and ‘conservative’ politicians are spreading falsehoods about ebola. SOME ‘conservatives’ are spreading falsehoods and sewing seeds of fear in the American populace just before elections next week. Spreading fear and falsehoods and proffering that “president Obama is not doing enough to protect the American people from this growing threat” (FYI- THAT statement was taken directly from a very popular show on a very popular ‘conservative’ network.. I witnessed this myself).
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Therefore, I have taken upon myself to write and try to dispel some of these blatant falsehoods, and (hopefully) alleviate some fear. I feel that it is my duty to try to counter some of the fear mongering that is taking place, just before this mid-term election. For anyone that has worked, and studied well, in the medical industry? You will know and understand the difference between these disease spreading modalities.
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Infectious disease: A disease caused by a microorganism and therefore potentially infinitely transferable to new individuals. May or may not be communicable. Example of non communicable is disease caused by toxins from food poisoning or infection caused by toxins in the environment, such as tetanus.
Communicable disease: an infectious disease that is contagious and which can be transmitted from one source to another by infectious bacteria or viral organisms.
Contagious disease: a very communicable disease capable of spreading rapidly from one person to another by contact or close proximity.
(Disease transmission information thanks to the CDC web site[1])
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Let’s take, as an example, the ‘Common Cold’. A Rhinovirus that is highly contagious, in that it can be passed as airborne particles from a ‘wet cough’ or sneeze by an infected and symptomatic patient. Aye, THERE’S the RUB! For there to be a transfer of ebola from one human to another? First- the infecting patient must be symptomatic! They must have a high fever, chills, muscle pain and sore throat. Even a person with ebola that is not yet symptomatic cannot spread the ebola virus.
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Further, ebola is NOT airborne! It cannot be passed through the air. Contrary to some) ‘news’ reports the ebola virus is NOT “mutating”! It is NOT in the process of changing methods of infection or modality. Anyone that tells you that, or makes a statement of that in ‘news’ or other broadcast is merely engaging in fear mongering. Now, I have put the majority of this article in my own words. Now, I am going to hand over the rest of this information to the experts. The World Heath Organization (WHO) has more real life experience dealing with ebola than any organization on the planet.
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[caption id="attachment_3746" align="aligncenter" width="630"]
Ebola Signs and symptoms[/caption](Image thanks to Centers for Disease Control Web Site)
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Symptoms of Ebola include
- Fever
- Severe headache
- Muscle pain
- Weakness
- Diarrhea
- Vomiting
- Abdominal (stomach) pain
- Unexplained hemorrhage (bleeding or bruising)
Symptoms may appear anywhere from 2 to 21 days after exposure to Ebola, but the average is 8 to 10 days.
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Key facts
- Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans.
- The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission.
- The average EVD case fatality rate is around 50%. Case fatality rates have varied from 25% to 90% in past outbreaks.
- The first EVD outbreaks occurred in remote villages in Central Africa, near tropical rainforests, but the most recent outbreak in west Africa has involved major urban as well as rural areas.
- Community engagement is key to successfully controlling outbreaks. Good outbreak control relies on applying a package of interventions, namely case management, surveillance and contact tracing, a good laboratory service, safe burials and social mobilisation.
- Early supportive care with rehydration, symptomatic treatment improves survival. There is as yet no licensed treatment proven to neutralise the virus but a range of blood, immunological and drug therapies are under development.
- There are currently no licensed Ebola vaccines but 2 potential candidates are undergoing evaluation.[2] (From World Health Organization web site[3])
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Further, here are some more salient FACTS about ebola.
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Here is great information on just how ebola can be transmitted!
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[caption id="attachment_3747" align="aligncenter" width="630"]
Ebola Transmission[/caption](Image thanks to Centers for Disease Control Web Site)
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Transmission
It is thought that fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are natural Ebola virus hosts. Ebola is introduced into the human population through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals such as chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys, forest antelope and porcupines found ill or dead or in the rainforest.
Ebola then spreads through human-to-human transmission via direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials (e.g. bedding, clothing) contaminated with these fluids.
Health-care workers have frequently been infected while treating patients with suspected or confirmed EVD. This has occurred through close contact with patients when infection control precautions are not strictly practiced.
Burial ceremonies in which mourners have direct contact with the body of the deceased person can also play a role in the transmission of Ebola.
People remain infectious as long as their blood and body fluids, including semen and breast milk, contain the virus. Men who have recovered from the disease can still transmit the virus through their semen for up to 7 weeks after recovery from illness.[4]
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So, My Dear Readers, one can clearly and easily see that ebola simply cannot be transmitted via airborne contact. An uninfected person MUST come in contact with the bodily fluids of an infected and SYMPTOMATIC patient. Period.
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[caption id="attachment_3744" align="aligncenter" width="569"]
Ebola Virus[/caption].
Now, I promised myself that I will keep my re-introduction to writing and publishing… limited. I am going to do my best to keep the first articles short, and only write three times a week. I hope to publish, again, on Tuesday or Thursday. I will not be publishing on Wednesday… as I am going back to my oncologist on Wednesday. I am returning to chemotherapy. But, that is a story for another day.
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Before I go I would like to share a handful of other sources for good information on ebola:
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- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – This is the link to their area for ebola information: http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/
- Mayo Clinic / Ebola virus and Marburg virus – This is a great source of more advanced information on ebola from the Mayo Clinic - http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/ebola-virus/basics/causes/con-20031241
- National Institutes of Health / Ebola Virus Disease – This is a very good source of fundamental information and advanced information, too. http://www.nih.gov/health/ebola.htm
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Now, My Dear Readers, having shared this information I would like to express my deep concern about the way certain elements in our political universe have used this disease. First, there is no need to “stop all flights into and out of areas with this disease”. That is just ignorance meant to stir up fear and to act out of ignorance. We need to keep moving people (medical and support personnel) into and out of these effected areas. It is illogical to stop all air traffic, and in the end, it will make the situation worse! These (few ‘conservative’) governors that are implementing draconian measures based not in science but in fear. We need to monitor, closely, all people that come out of the effected areas… IF they came in contact with symptomatic patients! I am just deeply offended and deeply upset by this politicalization of a deadly disease!
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Finally, My Dear Readers, I am very happy to be back. I will do my best to keep writing and publishing all through my chemotherapy and treatments. I have every intention to complete ‘The Horror in Smithville’ as the story unfolds in my head. I was wrong to try and put some artificial deadline on this work, I realize that now. You see, just in the past two days I have had several major revelations about character development and pot lines… that, well, I would have totally missed out on if I had stuck to the deadline of Halloween!
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I will be back tomorrow or Thursday. I do hope that you, My Dear Readers, will be bac… too!
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Adieu!
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Thank you!
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[caption id="attachment_3513" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Danny Arrives for PET Scan[/caption].
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Hanning Web Wurx and The Other Shoe
