$500mill to stop IS. $18mill to stop Ebola.

[i-need-a-martini]

Personnel we deployed to to fight I.S.? 

600.

Personnel we deployed to fight Ebola?

Zero.

[cherry*135]

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@i-need-a-martini wrote:

Personnel we deployed to to fight I.S.? 

600.

Personnel we deployed to fight Ebola?

Zero.

---

This is a criticism of the Abbott Govt. Not providing extra funds or sending personnel to West Africa.

The Health Minister said 'They won't survive the 30 hour flight home'

Is that a good enough reason, not to deploy personnel there. I don't think so.

Sending extra funds is a another issue. Easy to find $30m for a Royal Commission that doesn't find out anything that wasn't already known.

[cherry*135]

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@debra9275 wrote:

I like the idea of a hospital Naval ship. I wish we were doing that too

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Yes, that is a good idea. It could be manned by medical staff from different countries.

[debra9275]

now that I've seen how long ebola takes to run it's course, I agree am

[muppet_detector]

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@debra9275 wrote:

so as long as volunteers were tested daily , they should be able to make it back here for treatment if they got sick

despite a 30 hour plane trip

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your earlier post said death occurs 6 to 16 days after symptoms appear.

How long between infection and the presentation of symptoms?

How long do the tests take to come back with the results?

Are the tests difinitive before symptoms appear, or could the findings and early symptoms be associated with other illnesses? Are we going to fly people back and forth on 30 hour journeys because they have a headache or experience vomiting and diorrea in a strange country the moment they experience these symptoms?

How long does it take to get a flight out of Africa? Do we have flights in standby in case someone gets sick so that they can be returned home immediately?

6 days - not a big window.

[polksaladallie]

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@muppet_detector wrote:

One of my friends is a GP, he said that they now get so many enquiries from people worried that they have either come into contact with the virus here, or that whatever sniffle they have is a sign they have ebola.

and it isn't enough for those ringing to just talk to the nurse or receptionist, they want to hear it from "the doctor" and as he said, he will not make a diagnosis over the phone and as such can do no more than encourage them to come in for a consultation. He said he has bnot had one case where he has suspected any possibility of ebola or any other infectious disease other than usual garden variety viruses etc, so has not seen reason to alert authorities from phone conversations (or any who have come into the practice.)

He said the irony of it all was, that many people come into his office and the local hospital with the thought that they may have ebola, but come in without any concern for if or how they may be spreding the virus if they do have it.

One of his patients was a pregnant woman who had inhaled the fumes of raw sewerage following a burst pipe - she was concerned about having ebola.

Imagine how much this will increase once we have reported people returning from infected areas (whether they are well or not). People are already alarmed.

The only winners here are the doctors whose volume of patients increase whilst those requiring medical attention incur prolonged waiting times.

It's not the direct cost or possible casualties which are the sole concern. It is also the indirect costs that fear creates.

Every time a person goes to a GP or a hospital, whether itis founded or not, it costs money.

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There is so much nonsense in that post, I couldn't be bothered commenting, other to say that I would think that there are people returning from the infected areas every day.  Perhaps aid workers, perhaps business people.  Who cares.

[georgiajake2010]

I'd rather get the disease then to be beheaded from Muslims when they take over the country

[cherry*135]

Google is your friend.

Ebola virus disease

Fact sheet N°103
Updated September 2014

Symptoms of Ebola virus disease

The incubation period, that is, the time interval from infection with the virus to onset of symptoms is 2 to 21 days.

Humans are not infectious until they develop symptoms.

First symptoms are the sudden onset of fever fatigue, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, symptoms of impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding (e.g. oozing from the gums, blood in the stools).

Laboratory findings include low white blood cell and platelet counts and elevated liver enzymes.

Read more:

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/

[muppet_detector]

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@debra9275 wrote:

Every time a person goes to a GP or a hospital, whether it is founded or not, it costs money.

it is better to be safe than sorry though don't you think? This virus gives very few 2nd chances

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I agree, but my point is, why create even more alarm? Why create even more opportunities for exposure?

Australians are already scared, they are already going to doctors with false fears in larger numbers. It is reminiscent of when AIDS was "new". People are unsure or they don't know, but they are not confident of when they are at risk, so they are attending doctors and hospitals when they have had no other contact with a person other than possibly passing them in the street.

It costs money and resources. Every cent we spend at this end, will be redirected from either the other end, training, or some other area.

[muppet_detector]

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@am*3 wrote:

I don't think Doctors see themselves as 'winners' either if their waiting rooms are full of people concerned about the ebola virus.

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you must know what I meant.

Some of that money comes via medicare, and some doctors charge more than the medicare rebate, so the cost falls to the people themselves, not just the doctor.

[cherry*135]

Where is julia2010 with her 'that is irrelevant stick' now?

If the Abbott Govt sent more funds to West Africa it would help contain the disease there and silly people in Australia wouldn't need to get 'panicky'.

Why would a Dr arrange a consultation for a person in Aust who has never been out of the country, never been in contact with anyone who has just returned from West Africa, to tell them they don't have ebola virus? When no-one else in the country has it to catch it from?