Ebola in New York Now: No Worries
Ebola's in New York. You knew it would happen. The mayor, De Blasio, told everyone there's nothing to worry about: It's really hard to transmit the disease from one person to the next. That's true, if the disease is in its early stages, and if you don't come into contact with the bodily fluids of the infected person who now exhibits active symptoms.
So no worries...sort of.
When you drill down and look at how the disease is transmitted, you realize that the "It's only transmitted if..." scenarios, while few, aren't impossibly remote. For example, the doctor who's infected in New York got infected in Africa and is now being treated here. That's what happened with the guy in Dallas who died. And he infected medical staff - those who presumable came into contact with his bodily fluids and weren't properly protected. Why weren't they properly protected, when our health care professionals supposedly know the dangers of contact, and also know how to protect themselves/ We don't know; no one's really explained that.
Will this doctor infect medical staff? We'll find out. If they are infected, will someone explain how that could happen if we know how to protect health care workers? We'll find out.
The point of all this cogitation is that one can put one's thinking cap on and apply one's reason to the current Ebola outbreak and if one does, one comes up short of answers at certain critical junctures. It's not the facts - if they are known as authorities claim - that are in dispute. The disease doesn't spread easily under most circumstances. But the actual events we've all observed to date tell us that circumstances do exist where the disease has been transmitted even given the benefit of our knowledge of all the facts.
To sum up, so far, despite being transmitted, Ebola's been stopped in its tracks here in the U.S. But it shouldn't have been transmitted in the first place if proper precautions were taken. We don't know whether transmission occurred because proper precautions were not, in fact, taken. If that were the case, we hope that such a failure has been addressed and remedied.
On the other hand, if proper precautions were taken, then how did the disease transmit?
And, of course, we don't know with whom this infected doctor came into contact, and whether he was in a state that could have more easily transmitted the disease.
These are simple observations and questions that bubble up to the surface despite the bald assurances from Mayor DeBlasio that there's nothing to worry about. Remember to discount officials' statements. Even better, use your reason and common sense to understand the truth lingering behind those politicians' and other public officials' pronouncements.
So no worries...sort of.
When you drill down and look at how the disease is transmitted, you realize that the "It's only transmitted if..." scenarios, while few, aren't impossibly remote. For example, the doctor who's infected in New York got infected in Africa and is now being treated here. That's what happened with the guy in Dallas who died. And he infected medical staff - those who presumable came into contact with his bodily fluids and weren't properly protected. Why weren't they properly protected, when our health care professionals supposedly know the dangers of contact, and also know how to protect themselves/ We don't know; no one's really explained that.
Will this doctor infect medical staff? We'll find out. If they are infected, will someone explain how that could happen if we know how to protect health care workers? We'll find out.
The point of all this cogitation is that one can put one's thinking cap on and apply one's reason to the current Ebola outbreak and if one does, one comes up short of answers at certain critical junctures. It's not the facts - if they are known as authorities claim - that are in dispute. The disease doesn't spread easily under most circumstances. But the actual events we've all observed to date tell us that circumstances do exist where the disease has been transmitted even given the benefit of our knowledge of all the facts.
To sum up, so far, despite being transmitted, Ebola's been stopped in its tracks here in the U.S. But it shouldn't have been transmitted in the first place if proper precautions were taken. We don't know whether transmission occurred because proper precautions were not, in fact, taken. If that were the case, we hope that such a failure has been addressed and remedied.
On the other hand, if proper precautions were taken, then how did the disease transmit?
And, of course, we don't know with whom this infected doctor came into contact, and whether he was in a state that could have more easily transmitted the disease.
These are simple observations and questions that bubble up to the surface despite the bald assurances from Mayor DeBlasio that there's nothing to worry about. Remember to discount officials' statements. Even better, use your reason and common sense to understand the truth lingering behind those politicians' and other public officials' pronouncements.
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