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In case you’ve missed it, the deadliest Ebola outbreak is spreading in
Western Africa, taking at least 900 lives so far. The US Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) is sending 50 infectious disease specialists to the
region in order to help quell the outbreak and provide much-needed resources and
expertise. As the outbreak worsens, confusion—and panic—has grown.
To sort fact from doomsday fiction, we consulted current and former CDC
members and infectious disease experts including Dr. Ron Behrens, of the London
School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and Amesh Adalija an infectious
disease physician at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Here are
answers to common burning questions.
Where does the name “Ebola” come from?
The virus is named after the Ebola River in what is now the Democratic
Republic of the Congo.That’s where the virus was discovered in 1976.
If there’s no vaccine or cure, what are doctors doing to treat Ebola
patients?
For now, all doctors can do is treat the symptoms and provide supportive
care like monitoring heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing while making sure
the patients’ fluids are replenished. Sometimes patients are given antibiotics
to treat other possible infections. The hope is to sustain the patient through
the infection so their immune system can eventually clear the virus. This is
harder to achieve in rural health systems in West Africa that are tasked with
treating thousands of patients with insufficient resources.
How do some people recover if there’s no cure?
When the body is infected with a virus, it starts creating antibodies to
attack it. The people who survive Ebola—or any virus—have created enough
antibodies to neutralize it.
I hear you can only get Ebola through direct contact with an infected
person’s bodily fluids. Does that mean you need to have an open wound or
something?
A wound, sure, but the skin can also have microabrasions you can’t see.
Additionally, the virus can get into your body through your eyes and mouth if
those areas come into contact with something that contains the bodily fluids of
an infected person. That’s why health care workers are supposed to keep
themselves completely covered while treating patients. The doctors and health
care workers in West Africa are working in rural clinics, where the proper
protections are scarce. Infected people may be quarantined with other people
infected with the disease, making this kind of contact easier.
Since the virus has a two-to-21-day incubation period, can you get the
disease from someone who doesn’t have symptoms?
No. The CDC says people who are not symptomatic are not contagious.
Can Ebola spread through sweat?
Yes, the virus can be present in sweat.
What about sex?
Sure, though sex while infected with Ebola seems unlikely. In past Ebola
outbreaks, men who survived the disease were told to refrain from sex or use
condoms for about three months after recovery because the virus can be present
in semen.
Why is there no vaccine or drug for Ebola?
There are several promising drugs and vaccines in development, but since
Ebola is less common—and research about it is not well funded—there is no drug
or vaccine that has been approved for use in humans. One experimental serum was
used by the two American patients, but there’s not enough for widespread use
yet. Many of the other drugs and vaccines have not yet been tested in humans.
The WHO is meeting next week to discuss whether experimental treatments should
be used during this outbreak.
What does the virus do to the human body?
The virus is systemic. That means it can move to and affect every part of
the body causing direct damage to organs as well as internal bleeding. This
causes shock, which drops a person’s blood pressure and causes multisystem organ
failure.
How were the two American patients brought to the US safely?
The two Americans were evacuated out of Liberia in special planes equipped
with the necessary medical equipment to sustain their health and keep them
isolated. After the plane landed, they were taken in a similarly equipped
ambulance to Emory University Hospital, which has a specially built isolation
unit meant to treat patients who have been exposed to severe infectious
diseases. For more details on their travel as well as photos, read TIME’s
coverage of the travel here.
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Why is it spreading so fast in Africa?
CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden has said that the health systems in Guinea,
Sierra Leone and Liberia are severely lacking in resources, and health care
workers may not have access to adequate protective clothing. There’s also been
some pushback against healthcare workers. Since Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia
share a border, it’s easier for people to move from one country to another, and
increasing the risk for disease spread.
How did the virus start anyway?
The natural reservoir for Ebola remains unknown, but researchers
hypothesize that the first infected in an outbreak likely becomes infected
through contact with an infected animal. Bats are thought to be a carrier of the
virus.
I am terrified about an outbreak in the US Am I overreacting?
Yes. The outbreak is happening in rural areas of developing countries.
There’s a slim chance someone with Ebola could travel to the United States. If
that happens, experts say that any hospital in the US would be able to
successfully isolate them. The CDC says there will not be a spread of the virus
akin to what we have seen in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia because we have
many ways to isolate a patient and treat their symptoms.
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发表于 2016-7-10 18:09:03