There's no denying that the Ebola virus is a serious threat to those that contract it. According to the World Health Organization, roughly 50% of those who are infected with Ebola worldwide die, and there is no vaccine available yet to prevent people from acquiring the virus.
However, the Ebola virus is not spread through casual contact, so the risk of widespread outbreak in the US is "very low," the CDC notes. And the protocol for keeping Ebola from spreading is cut and dried: thorough case finding, isolation of ill people, contact people exposed to the infected person and isolate those contacts if they develop symptoms, the agency reports. What's more, the Ebola survival rate in the United States after the first five cases was 80%.
These facts aside, that hasn't stopped the public from fearing that they too could contract the virus. The pressure is on for government to "do something" to satisfy public anxieties, even if extra measures are not needed or even helpful. The CDC has had to take steps such as issuing guidance to airlines on how to isolate potentially Ebola-infected patients and how to scrub down the plane. And the CDC has issued new guidelines for the protection of hospital workers caring for patients infected with Ebola, including strict precautionary guidelines for how healthcare personnel should protect themselves when working with Ebola patients. National Nurses United is staging a two-day strike this month to protest what it believes is a failure of Kaiser to adequately protect its staff.
Bigger threats loom
Protecting Americans and US healthcare workers from contracting or spreading Ebola is certainly a good thing. But unfortunately, in this hysteria over the miniscule number of cases of Ebola which have occurred in this country, US citizens aren't paying much attention to other real threats which they are much more likely to encounter in their daily lives.
For example, the US is still facing a nationwide outbreak of enterovirus D68, an infection that causes severe respiratory illness. Between mid-August and late October, the CDC and state public health laboratories have confirmed a total of 973 people in 47 states and the District of Columbia as having respiratory illness caused by enterovirus. The virus is largely found in children and asthmatics, for whom it can be quite serious.
What's more, unlike Ebola, enterovirus D68 is easily transmissible, spreading every time an infected person coughs, sneezes, or touches contaminated surfaces. In other words, while politicians in panic and consumers are demanding dramatic action regarding Ebola, their children could be acquiring enterovirus infections at school or at a party.
In writing all of this, I'm not suggesting that we should ignore the Ebola threat. But I am suggesting that when public health starts being dictated by public sentiment, rather than scientific reality, citizens put themselves in greater danger. It's time for healthcare providers to step up and put things in perspective. Otherwise, precious prevention resources will be spent based on emotion rather than logic.