One word has nations driven to fear. Last I heard Australia is closing its doors to West Africa and Philippines is isolating hundreds of soldiers to islands unknown. The scourge: Ebola.
Forget about SARS. Forget about AIDS. A new killer haunts humanity, knocking at the doors of nations with the scythe of death in its hand. What is so amazing about its run is even up to today it still hasn’t been figured out. No cure is in the horizon. Because of it and the massive fear that has ballooned like an atomic bomb over its wake, many beliefs begin to manifest. A lot of them false. Like the voodoo religions of Africa from which strange burial rituals emerged, desperate men embrace the irrational to grasp the inexplicable.
Ladies and gentlemen, every Juan, the top myths that have circulated over Ebola today.
#10: You need incredibly expensive hand sanitizers to neutralize the Ebola virus.
It has been repeated hundreds of times over media and from medical experts that frequent hand washing with regular soap and water is the way to stop the virus from getting into your system.
#9: You cannot contract Ebola from dead people.
On the contrary, people who have died of the Ebola virus may still be infectious. Cases of West African burial rites that involved coming in contact with a dead affected body have made the virus flourish even more.
#8: Ebola virus is airborne.
Though the virus is mutating, Ebola is spread via fluids (e.g., saliva, urine, feces, mucus) and is not airborne.
#7: If you’re super-healthy, you won’t get Ebola.
Healthy adult males have succumbed to the virus. Being in the best of health is no guarantee that your immune system will be strong enough as the virus has become very potent.
#6: Virus cannot be induced via sex.
The virus can be passed via bodily fluids and that includes semen. Fact is, sex with affected or even cured Ebola victims is very dangerous as semen could harbor the virus for weeks.
To note, even safe sex is not safe anymore as the virus could be passed via the saliva.
#5: Health care workers are responsible for spreading the disease.
Health care workers are victims of the disease and not the cause of its spread. People who are infected need to be taken cared of. Without doctors, nurses and other health workers who attend to the sick and dying the spread would be a lot faster.
In the same token that relatives of Ebola-stricken patients should be vigilant, health workers need extra protection in order not to succumb to the disease.
#4: There is already a cure for Ebola.
Sad to say, there is still no available cure for Ebola. The closest thing to a cure is ZMapp. But though it may have worked on certain occasions, it is still an experimental drug that still requires additional research.
#3: Fasting can hasten recovery from Ebola.
On the contrary, you need to be well-nourished to combat the disease. Fasting will only weaken you and therefore sabotage your goal of recovery at the soonest possible time.
#2: You could get Ebola by sitting beside an infected patient on a plane.
Possible but highly-unlikely. Unless you share food or kiss and fluids are exchanged, the chances of one getting the virus in a plane is pretty slim. With the nature of the virus, you need to be extremely on close contact to be infected.
#1: Average death rate for the Ebola outbreak is 90%.
Though West African nations were almost on their knees because of the thousands of deaths with some registering a 90% death rate, other cases manifested a rather low death rate. Some even down to 25%. More industrialized countries like the USA are certainly more prepared to manage the spread of the virus.
The Philippines could fare better than those West African nations but definitely not as effectively as its American counterparts.
A big sigh, gentlemen. We are thousands of miles away from Africa. Nevertheless, lax airport controls could be our very downfall. Start the discussion below with the comments section. And don’t let your social network down, push some QS (quick share) buttons below.
The cigarette warning could be apt here: The ashes you save could be your very own.
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