Ebola

There is quite a frenzy going on in Dallas right now about Ebola.  Of course it's on the national news so everyone knows it's happening.  It has spilled over into social media which opens the door for a lot of opinions.  There are the real genuine concerns, the jokesters, and the ones that feel like they know everything and are experts.  I do not consider myself an expert.  I would categorize myself between the jokester and genuine concern type person.

I am not going to look up anything for while writing this blog for facts.  That also means there will be no pictures.  I'm only going to talk about what I have learned prior to Ebola coming to Dallas and since it has come to Dallas. 

PRIOR:
I had heard of Ebola before, but can't pinpoint the exact age or reason when I learned of this disease.  I just knew that it can kill you and there is no cure.  This past year it has resurfaced as it is widely spreading in Africa.  It's really tragic and horrible and sad.  They don't have much resources and it's spreading very quickly.  A couple of months ago a doctor/missionary from America contracted the disease and was brought back to the states along with a nurse for treatment.  They gave them a new drug or something and they got better.  I don't know if it was 100% cured, but it sounds like they were.  I think they were, but like I said.  I'm not looking anything up to write this blog. 

What I knew about contracting Ebola was that you get it threw bodily fluids such as vomit, blood, diaherra, saliva and such.  People that are in close contact with the patient.  It is not something you can get by them coughing or sneezing into the air.  I knew this and I still know this. 

SINCE ARRIVAL:
Earlier this week the news broke that a man from Liberia traveled to Dallas and fell ill.  The CDC confirmed that he in fact does have Ebola and is being quartered in a very well know hospital right in the busy part of Dallas.   When the story first broke I posted the link on FB with just the words of "this in interesting....".  My friends responded the way I expected them to and the way I felt.  A response and feeling of this is crazy and scary with a side of jokes about how it's in the air! Dooms Day!

On the flip side, there were also the people outside of my post that thought everyone in Dallas was freaking out for no reason and don't understand the diseases.  Well.....I'm not planning on treating the guy so I know my chances of contracting Ebola are super low if not zero.  But here is why we are freaking out,

WHY DALLAS IS FREAKING OUT:
We are not all doctors or experts.  This is in our town and it's very real to us.  Mr. Duncan (Ebola Patient A) carried a dying pregnant 19 year old to the hospital in Liberia.  They were turned away as they have no room.  She wasn't officially diagnosed with Ebola, but it was all around them.  September 16th she died.  September 19th, Mr. Duncan boarded a plane to Dallas by way of Brussels and D.C.  When boarding the plane he had to fill out paperwork asking if he had been in contact with anyone with Ebola in the past 21 days. He lied and checked "no", thus allowing him to board the plane.

The other gentleman helping him carrying the 19 year old has since died along with the women at her house that was her caretaker.

Remembering that I'm not looking up anything, I can't remember the exact dates/timeline of when Mr. Duncan fell ill.  I do know that it was this past weekend he went to the hospital, was given some antibiotics and sent home.  He then came back like 2 days later and it was at that point that everything came together and they tested him for Ebola.  Which came back positive.

It has since come to light that Mr. Duncan was staying at an apartment complex and had contact with about 20 people, including children.  Officials have just now been able to find a crew that would sanitize/clean his apartment.  So the family has been living there this whole time, even after his positive results.  If you logically think about it, there are a lot of ways that someone he had contact with while helping their loved one.  He was sick, vomiting, sweating, etc.  SOMEONE cleaned that up.  It's all very sad.

In conclusion.....living in the city were this is going on is a real thing to us and the more the facts come out of Mr. Duncan's actions while visiting Dallas are a little alarming.  I get that if you don't live here you may think that people are speaking out of turn or are uneducated.  That's not the case.  We are all in waiting for the 21 day incubation period to expire on all those in contact with Mr. Duncan.  This includes the hospital staff, his family, his friends, and paramedics.  Until then we are going to act concerned and make comments of how we don't want to get Ebola.  I have no plans of coming in contact with an Ebola patient, but I can only do so much. 

It reminds me of the HIV/Aids example they did in Jr. High.  We all have a cup of clear liquid.  One of us has HIV/Aids.  We then are told to pour our liquid back in forth with 2 other people randomly in the classroom.  At the end, the teach goes around and puts a drop of another liquid in your cup.  If it turns purple....you contracted HIV/Aids.  That is how I feel like the potential of Ebola could be right now in Dallas if it is not contained.  It will only take one of the people Mr. Duncan was in contact with to contract the disease unknowingly and then pass it on to someone else, unknowingly.  It can really happen.

Please think of the people that are in the waiting period right now.  I can't imagine how they must feeling.  The whole city and nation is waiting to hear the news that no one contracted Ebola from Mr. Dunan.  If even one person comes back as positive, then their circle expands and a new waiting period begins for that group of people. 

The comments on social media will continue and I will continue to join in.  Just remember that although the city of Dallas is not 100% full of medical professionals, we do have logical brains and if Ebola gets out of control....it could be bad.

Yours Truly,

Dr. S.J. Sherrell