Ebola is a deadly disease that takes the lives of many within days of getting infected. Ebola is can spread swiftly and without warning. There have been multiple outbreaks of this deadly disease in the past years. Who’s to say there won’t be more deaths or outbreaks in the future. I researched ebola because I wanted to learn about something I haven't learned about before and ebola is a world problem. Also I wanted to learn about it because I think we should learn about dangerous diseases to prevent them from spreading to different areas and how to prevent getting the illness. Researching for my topic, my questions were, when was ebola first discovered?, how does ebola spread?, is there a cure for ebola?, are people doing anything to cure ebola?, is ebola only in certain areas of the world? After the research that I did it is clear to me that we can find ways to prevent ebola outbreaks. Ebola is a …show more content…
A solution to this problem is a new experimental drug called ZMapp has been shown to work on the few humans that it has been tested on and monkeys. ZMapp contains three antibodies that bind to proteins on ebola viruses. In the text Britannica School Ebola it states “In 2015 a drug targeting the Zaire ebolavirus was found to be highly effective in preventing the spread of ebola virus.” This just is one of the few few ways to help fight the ebola virus. An experimental vaccine was tested in 2015 in Guinea. In the article "Final Test Results Confirm Ebola Vaccine Highly Effective." it stated, “The experimental vaccine was given to about 5,800 people last year in Guinea, as the virus was waning. All had some contact with a new Ebola patient. They got the vaccine right away or three weeks later. After a 10-day waiting period, no Ebola cases developed in those immediately vaccinated,23 cases turned up among those with delayed vaccination.” These are two ways our world can help cure ebola and help those with the
Historically Ebola has had a serious impact on human health and hygiene and still does due to the fact of no vaccine or treatment being discovered, but thanks to improvements in scientific and medical knowledge the virus itself is now controllable.
Doctors, as well as medical researchers, have often stated that there exist similarities as well as difference between HIV Aids and Ebola. The most notable similarity is that the two are viral conditions. Consequently, they can be compared based on characteristics common to viral diseases. The two spread through contract with body fluids of infected persons. Ebola and HIV are incurable illnesses that result in widespread stigma. However, both differ greatly despite the fact that they are virally transmitted. Their emergence is traced to the African continent (Jin, 2015). If left untreated, they turn out to be fatal. Governmental authorities, as well as non-governmental institution, have made tremendous efforts in curbing the spread of these killer diseases all over the world.
In 2014, Ebola hemorrhagic fever caused an outbreak in West Africa that officially ended in 2016. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says, “Ebola is a rare and deadly disease caused by infection with one of the Ebola virus species” (“Ebola (Ebola Virus Disease)”). Ebola is caused when a person is in contact with an infected person’s blood or other body fluids. Prevention of contracting the disease include, not touching the dead body of an infected person, not touching body fluids of an infected person, avoiding places infected people are being treated, not touching bats or nonhuman primates
In 2014 the United States was hit with a force far more deadly and dangerous than many threats received. The ebola virus took the world by storm after it was carried to the United States and spread by people who had visited West Africa. This virus was all the more deadly as it often took hours for any symptoms to occur. In this time the Center for Disease Control spent much time and many resources looking for answers to the many questions they had. Under the time constraint and scrutinizing public, they had to determine what ebola was, what it did and its effects on the general public.
The average fatality rate of patients infected with Ebola is around 50% according to the World Health Organization. The nonfiction book titled The Hot Zone by Richard Preston takes readers through true events pertaining to an outbreak of Ebola in the late 1980’s at a monkey testing facility in Reston, Virginia. The author heavily emphasizes the danger surrounding ignorance and uncertainty in regard to the viral and morbid Ebola at the conclusion of the book. While Preston makes this point evident countless times, three particular quotes give a clear example of Preston’s intention.
Ebola is a virus that is transmitted to other individuals through direct contact with blood and body fluids of those infected (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2015). In the most recent outbreak in 2014, the video Ebola Outbreak (2014) illustrated that the virus quickly became a worldwide epidemic. As the virus became so widespread throughout Africa, Ebola-infected so many people in such a short time frame. While the organization, Doctors without Borders was intimately involved early on, they quickly learned that the manpower they had to offer was not nearly enough. The group identified that they had no way of performing contact tracing, which is a way of following patients that were contaminated and quickly led to additional cases of infection in astronomical numbers. According to the follow-up video, Outbreak (2014) the organization Doctors without Borders communicated to the World Health Organization (WHO) made a valiant
The whole world is at edge knowing that Ebola is a very lethal virus and it is very tough to treat and cure an infected person. But it has been seen that in countries were level of development is higher and health care is easily reached this disease can be fought.
Although Ebola caught the world’s attention during the 1995 outbreak in Zaire, the first outbreak occurred in 1976. As the chart below displays, 71% of the people infected died as a result of Ebola during this first outbreak (Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 56 (2): 247-270, 1978). With the current outbreak, this ratio has dramatically decreased as a result of scientific research leading to early detection, but the current infected population is more than 20 times the amount of any previous outbreak and this number continues to grow as no vaccine exists to prevent the disease.
In the year 1976, Ebola climbed out of its unknown hiding place, and caused the death of 340 people. Fear gripped the victims' faces, and uncertainty tortured their minds. The people of Zaire waited outside clinics, churches and in their homes for a treatment of the horrible disease, but there was no cure. They were forced to watch people die, hoping that they would be saved from the violent death of the Ebola virus. From the year of 1976 to the present date of 1996, researchers have searched for origin and cure of the virus. Scientist have carried out numerous studies and investigations, but no one has been able to find the right explanations.
Prevention of the Ebola virus is more useful than the treatments. Improving sanitation is an important thing to do in rural African countries. Any victims need to be isolated as soon as possible. Quarantining of infected people from others plays a major role. People who have been in close contact with the infected
In September 2014, during my military drill reserve weekend while waiting for our influenza stand down, someone in my unit made a comment, “Soon we will be getting an Ebola vaccination?” Another reservist asked me if the Ebola virus is airborne like the influenza virus. Few military personnel would choose to be deployed in Afghanistan with constant mortar attacks rather West Africa. What is the Ebola virus?
The symptoms of Ebola are a fever, headache, joint and muscle aches, vomiting, stomach pain, sore throat, diarrhea, weakness and occasionally read eyes, rashes, hiccups, and internal and external bleeding and since these symptoms are not specific to Ebola, it is difficult to clinically diagnose and can often be confused with other viruses. The ELISA testing, short for enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and virus isolation are a couple of examples of the types of laboratory testing that can be done to diagnose and Ebola patient. Because of how easily it can be transmitted, it is extremely difficult to treat and there is no approved, official treatment. As of now, there is not standard treatment but usually the patients are given fluids and oxygen, have their blood pressure monitored and other necessary treatment. To prevent transmission and spreading the virus, the doctors use extreme caution and wear head to toe protective gear and isolate the patient. Even though the Ebola virus is common in Africa, there has been no known outbreak in the United States. Another difficulty facing scientists and the treatment for Ebola is that the natural reservoir for the virus unknown. The natural reservoir of a virus is it’s long term host of the
Since there are currently no approved vaccination methods for effectiveness against the virus, treatment depends solely on proper medical care, and the immune response of the patient. Once free of the illness, it is believed that the infection will confer immunity for about 10 years, however it is unknown if they can remain immune for life from other strains of the Ebola virus. In some cases, even after recovery the virus was still proven to be present in the semen of many men, from anywhere between 3 to 9 months. Once a vaccine for Ebola is approved, a form of herd immunity known as a “ring vaccination” may be implemented. This method encourages all individuals within a certain range of the virus to be vaccinated in order to prevent it from spreading and causing future epidemics. Currently, there are no approved vaccinations, however efforts to create successful experimental vaccines are in progress and in some cases have proven to be effective
ATTENTION GRABBER: Imagine being isolated from your own family and feeling unsure as to whether or not you will ever see them again. They do not want to come anywhere near you, for you are a threat to their health. The only visitors who come with in 10 feet of you are strangers in full on protective gear. They do not want to expose the slightest bit of skin to you and you can not see anything besides their eyes. The world fears what you are and no one wants to come close to you. You know death is near, and you are all alone.
Since there is no preventative treatment for the Ebola virus currently and treatment is only experimental, we have to take careful measures in