Ebola Hysteria

CLOCK PHOTO / NINA WEINSTEIN

Ebola has been a main topic on the news for several months. First breaking out in Liberia, and then spreading to different portions of Africa, it has now migrated. Now, there are healthcare officials coming down with the disease and people are returning from infected countries. As this is happening, some believe the media is over-blowing the proportions of the disease in the United States. Yes, there have been thousands of deaths in Africa. The cleanliness and the ability to manage diseases and outbreaks in Africa, however, is far different than how diseases are handled in the United States. Hospitals in Africa often times don’t even have rubber gloves to treat their patients. If one walked into a hospital in the United States, there would be a surplus of gloves.

The disease is only transferable through bodily fluids, which is why those who contract it are often those who have been working in close proximity to the patients. There has only been one death out of the eight cases in the United States. This man did not contract Ebola in the United States, he returned from Liberia with it. 

Despite the fact that the majority of doctors agree that a breakout in Ebola is unlikely, media reports continue to go on about its dangers and how at risk we are as United States citizens of an epidemic, despite the fact that the guest doctors they have on will say that there is nothing to worry about. There is more likelihood of dying from the flu in the United States than there is dying from Ebola. So, if one is that concerned with Ebola, one must make sure to get their flu shot. 

The hysteria of pandemic isn’t limited to the media and in personal beliefs. Navarro College has begun rejecting international students from certain countries that are at risk for Ebola. Teachers who are going to conferences in Dallas are being told not to return from work until after the incubation period. 

People who have had no direct contact with patients are not at risk for catching the disease. The forms of transfer include being in contact with patients’ blood, sweat, saliva, urine, or fecal matter while somebody has the viral symptoms of Ebola, including vomiting and fever. In normal cases, an average citizen would not be near someone’s bodily fluids if they had these symptoms. This is why healthcare workers are really the ones mostly at risk. Despite this fact, in a Gallup poll out of one thousand Americans, one fifth were worried about infection. In another ABC poll, two thirds of those polled were worried about a pandemic in the United States. 

The media buying into this fear is understandable. Viewers aren’t as likely to turn on the news to hear good news, this wouldn’t boost ratings or sell papers. However, there is a need to be informed on both sides of the spectrum. There is now several precautions being taken in the United States to prevent those who have contracted Ebola in other countries from spreading it to the United States. There are now, or will be, screenings at major entries into the United States, including JFK, Washington-Dulles, Newark, Chicago-O’Hare, and Atlanta airports. There are also new medications currently in development to help combat Ebola. The main priority is a drug known as ZMapp. It has yet to be tested on people, but it has had a one hundred percent success rate in primates. 

There is still no vaccine to prevent Ebola, though, there is constant research being done looking for some way of curing the disease. If someone doesn’t have early viral symptoms, chances are they are not contagious, and often times these symptoms are the same as the flu. The media hysteria may be expanding the amount of fear about Ebola, but  experts believe that with proper education and regular hygiene practices, the chances of an outbreak in the Untied States are nearly impossible.