Ebola fears spread; Rumors run wild

While Ebola is ravaging communities in far off places like West Africa, the disease is also causing rumors to fly across the Akins community.

The disease has killed about 5,000 world-wide throughout this year’s outbreak, but most of the cases have been overseas. There is still fear, however, that Ebola could strike at any moment in the United States.

That fear was most evident when junior Nicolas Sokolowski saw a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter land on the cruise ship he was on board in October to collect a blood sample from a fellow passenger.

“There were so many rumors; at first nobody knew what was going on,” junior Sokolowski said. “There were some who were calm, didn’t really say anything about it, and (others that) were going off that this was the government’s fault, and this was Obama’s fault, this is the cruise’s fault, we better get a refund.”

In the recent months there have been several reports of patients with Ebola in the United States, including the case in Dallas. There have been cases of other viral diseases being brought into the United States in the past, but none resulted in an outbreak. Fear of an outbreak is imminent, but is there really cause for alarm?

“I am not concerned about Ebola spreading in the US,” senior Noemi Isaac said. “I am confident that the (Centers of Disease Control) will take care of it.”

Ebola’s arrival to America was first reported on August 2, 2014 when an AIDS worker and a missionary that had worked in Africa flew back home to the United States. Later in September two doctors arrived, and all four have recovered. Three of the four cases of this disease were transmitted in the United States, have involved health care workers.

While some fear an outbreak in America, the worst outbreaks are in West Africa and the Democratic Republic of The Congo. Since the beginning of the outbreaks, there has been quite a commotion regarding the disease. The current death toll, reaching 5,000 in West Africa, is good reason for the American public to fear a possible outbreak. Reports of cases have been all over the news, and false claims have been circulating the Internet.

The symptoms of Ebola can appear anywhere from two to 21 days after exposure. These symptoms can include severe headache, unexplained bruises and or bleeding and other common flu like symptoms. According to an Eagle’s Eye survey, 82 percent of students correctly said health care workers are most likely to contract Ebola.

Recovery from Ebola depends upon good medical care and immune response, although it is much more dangerous to individuals with preexisting conditions that weaken immune responses.

For someone in the United States with access to safe methods of waste management and means to keep patients alive while their bodies develop antibodies to fight the infection, a disease such as Ebola is not necessarily a death sentence.

Out of the nine people with Ebola that have been treated in the United States, only one has died. The United States has only had a handful of these cases, while other countries are facing thousands of cases, and thousands of deaths.

This disease is transmitted through bodily fluids and can be easily avoided by following basic sanitary procedures. It is possible that a healthcare worker treating an Ebola patient could catch the disease by simply not washing their hands, or not wearing the proper equipment.

The Ebola scare has health science students talking about what dangers they face when they are on hospital rotation internships. However, health science teacher Rebecca Jenschke said the scare emphasizes the importance of communication when nurses are on duty.

“I think because (Ebola) was new (in Dallas), when the person first came to the hospital, they didn’t know that they had Ebola,”she said. “it was not as well known. It could have been prevented.”

The CDC has assured the public that the risk of an outbreak in America is very low, and that they are doing everything they can to ensure the safety of the American public.

“This does not affect my career plans,” said senior Perla Briones. “It has made me more precautions.”

While this disease has a very high worldwide death toll, it does not pose the same  threat in the United States. Clean water sources and easy access to health care will ensure the health and safety of any first world countries being threatened by this disease.

Number of Ebola cases mapped in West Africa