<p>100% off topic – saintfan, your new daily avatars are killin me. :)) </p>
<p>I don’t understand why she can’t be quarantined in her home. </p>
<p>^^ Why should she be quarantined anywhere? If she has no symptoms, she’s not contagious! Why is this so difficult to understand?</p>
<p>I think some are confusing quarantine with monitoring. Yes, she should monitor – take her temp twice daily – and I’m sure she would have done that without being imprisoned. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Emphasis is mine.</p>
<p>Because people DO NOT BELIEVE this. It doesn’t matter how many times you tell people this, they are absolutely convinced that either they know better (regardless of their education in the matter) or that it’s too big a risk to take if the powers that be are wrong.</p>
<p>I’ve been reading another message board about this, and I am stunned at almost 100% support of this quarantine as well as the “Too bad! She can tough it out! She knew what she was getting into, and she’s all that great of a person, she should continue to put others’ health first ahead of her own!” attitude that is present. Absolutely unbelievable to me. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I think the actions of Duncan’s family, then Amber Vinson, the cruise ship passenger, and Dr. Spencer have convinced the public that people cannot be trusted to do what they are told or to do on their own what common sense would tell them to do.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Unfortunately, you’re right, Nrdsb. But we’re now at a point where those skeptics don’t just have to believe the officials. They can look to a simple timeline. For example, how long ago did Thomas Duncan fly to the US? Certainly more than 21 days ago. He had the virus, but was asymptomatic at the time. And not a single person on any of those airplanes has Ebola. We’re now at or past the 21 day mark when Amber Vinson flew WITH symptoms. Not a single person on that flight has Ebola. And of course, there were people who lived with Duncan when he was extremely symptomatic. Zero Ebola cases there either.</p>
<p>MODERATOR’S NOTE
OK posters…</p>
<p>Time to tone down some of the political stuff; I know it’s hard, given the election is just over a week away, but let’s try to keep the politics out of the discussion if you want the thread to remain open.</p>
<p>The Apollo 11 astronauts were quarantined for 18 days after they returned from the moon. There was no evidence of pernicious moon viruses or organisms. Was it a violation of their civil rights?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>low probability != impossible</p>
<p>The body of ‘asymptomatic’ Dr. Spencer or Spencer the day he started to feel sluggish had a nonzero viral load. Saying it’s not in the sweat and saliva at that point or that it is not high enough for someone else to get infected are not facts–it’s a judgement call you are making. It may be low probability, but it’s not clear one way or the other whether it can occur. </p>
<p>Unless the numbers of health care workers coming back from ebola hot spots are so high that its unfeasible, I support the quarantine. Hopefully, healthcare workers can reframe their interpretation of the quarantine as a punishment, and will remember that primary research articles about the subject are not as certain as it looks from the cdc guidelines.</p>
<p>Americans not involved in treating people with the ebola virus have a better chance of winning a state run lottery than catching the ebola virus.</p>
<p>OK, I’m ready to be tarred and feathered for my opinion on the quarantine. Have at me!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>But shouldn’t those example also convince people that their fears of ebola wafting on the breeze are groundless?</p>
<p>“I’ve been reading another message board about this, and I am stunned at almost 100% support of this quarantine as well as the “Too bad! She can tough it out! She knew what she was getting into, and she’s all that great of a person, she should continue to put others’ health first ahead of her own!” attitude that is present. Absolutely unbelievable to me.”</p>
<p>Yes, indeedy. It’s mind blowing. And most of the people cheering this on are the same people who believe secret FEMA camps have been built. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Two problems with this comparison. </p>
<p>First, we had no idea what we might be dealing with in terms of Moon Cooties. In contrast, we know exactly how Ebola is spread. As a reminder, that’s via bodily fluids of an infected person, not being in the same bowling alley with an asymptomatic person.</p>
<p>Second, there was not an urgent need to encourage lots of people to go to the moon to deal with a burgeoning health crisis. In contrast, there IS an urgent need to encourage lots of healthcare workers to go to Africa to deal with a burgeoning health crisis. A mandatory needless quarantine is a disincentive for them to do that.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Those points have been raised on that particular message board. And it’s always countered with:</p>
<p>1)First of all, even WHO has admitted that 3-5% (and I’ve seen as much as 12%) of people develop the disease after 21 days, all the way up to 42 days, so those statements mean zero to them</p>
<p>2)Up to 12% of people with ebola do not run a fever in the first period of other symptoms, so an afebrile person could be having other mild symptoms of fatigue, etc., and running around infecting people</p>
<p>3)you cannot say that they could not be not be infective before symptoms show because how else did Dr. Brantley and the photog and others who “did not break protocol” get infected unless either this disease is airborne or infectious before symptoms show</p>
<p>4)there have been cases of people having the ebola virus who never show symptoms yet are infectious.</p>
<p>And on and on…</p>
<p>I’ve observed before that it seems as though some people don’t want to believe people aren’t that contagious initially because that doesn’t meet their need for drama or their tendancies to focus on such incredibly remote possibilities rather than looking at the abundance of information we do have which suggests that these “what ifs” have really not been borne out. The “we can’t take a chance on being wrong” is used as rationale for denying people their right to self monitor comfortably at home. If we basically imprison them, we feel “safe.”</p>
<p>Overdeveloped amygdala.</p>
<p>I read somewhere that Samaritan’s Purse quarantines their aid workers who have returned from West Africa. Other organizations don’t. The one doctor, a friend of a friend, who worked in Guinea quarantined herself in Guinea for 21 days before she returned home. After all, if a doctor or anyone coming from Guinea, Sierra Leone or Liberia, develops symptoms of Ebola the persons most likely to be exposed to them are their nearest and dearest. You’d think that in an abundance of caution, they wouldn’t want to expose them even to risk of quarantine.</p>
<p>If the authorities feel that self-monitoring is insufficient, why not have the person sign an agreement specifying what they are and are not allowed to do for the 21 days – it could include no public transportation, or whatever.</p>
<p>@LasMa I was watching my football win very very ugly which caused me to let out a few primal screams before they finally let the clock safely run out. Forgive me. Before that I was on a fantasy spa weekend in lieu of playing fantasy football. So called real football is quite enough excitement for me. I have since changed back to rain gear for a post game walk and trip to the grocery story. </p>
<p>^ That is nothing compared to some of the nuttiness I’ve read. I’d post them verbatim but I don’t want to risk a ban. </p>
<p>One person speculated that HCW exposed to Ebola could be kidnapped by terrorists and used to infect all of us if not quarantined. </p>
<p>I read on one that PHD has scores of infected HCW in the hospital, but they are keeping it secret. No explanation how they’ve been able to pull this off without arousing the suspicions of families.</p>