WHO calls Ebola modern world’s worst health crisis

October 2014 – HEALTH – The World Health Organization says the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is “the most severe, acute health emergency seen in modern times” but adds that economic disruptions can be curbed if people are adequately informed to avoid irrational moves to dodge infection. World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan, citing World Bank figures, today said that 90 per cent of economic costs of any outbreak “come from irrational and disorganized efforts of the public to avoid infection.” In her statement to a regional health conference in Manila, which was read by a WHO official, Chan said educating the public about any disease outbreak is a “good defense strategy.” She praised the Philippines for holding an anti-Ebola summit last week. The Ebola epidemic has killed more than 4,000 people. –Zee News

Inadequate protection against Ebola: The newest case of Ebola to reach the United States raises questions about the effectiveness of the protective gear health care workers wear when treating patients. A hospital worker in Dallas tested positive for the disease Sunday. The nurse treated Thomas Eric Duncan, the first Ebola patient to die in this country. One doctor in Southern Colorado believes it’s possible the nurse was taking off protective gear at the time of infection. “The problem is when you use those you have to take them off in very deliberate fashion,” Dr. John Torres said. “You have to take the suits off in reverse order, somebody helps you take them off, you wash constantly while you’re taking them off so nothing gets transmitted. If a person takes their gloves off and hasn’t washed their hands, rubs their nose, rubs her eye, if the gloves are off and they’re taking the gown off and they peel it back and the outside of the gown touches the skin, it can get on the skin that way.”

Doctors and nurses treating the disease stateside use gear that provides enough protection from bodily fluids, not full hazmat suits. “It’s obviously not being protective enough in certain instances,” Torres said. “I think we need to look at what they’re using in Africa, maybe full body protection.” Torres stressed the transmission of Ebola is not airborne and the risk of the disease spreading to Colorado is extremely low. The latest Ebola’ victim’s identity has not been released. The Center for Disease Control Director Thomas Frieden believes we could see more cases in the coming days as everyone who treated Duncan is now considered to be potentially exposed to the virus. -KRDO