In the meantime, we hope there is some clarity by then about the Ebola crisis as it pertains to the transmission of the disease and the threats to the general public.
In the next issue we will address Ebola but also pursue topics that, on the surface, may not be as frightening as the deadly Ebola virus but are nonetheless just as threatening or more so.
As of this writing, there have been four cases of Ebola in the United States. And although that is obviously a concern, the virus has yet to reach proportions eclipsing threats from other diseases, including influenza, which killed more than 100 kids last year, most of whom were healthy when they got the flu. It is estimated that more than 200,000 Americans will be hospitalized with the flu this year. And since Ebola symptoms of nausea, vomiting and fever are similar to the flu, people should be getting a flu shot to avoid even more confusion and hysteria.
Then there are measles and pertussis, which are usually not fatal but troubling in that they are making a comeback.
Pertussis, or whooping cough, has seen a sharp increase (30 percent) in cases this year compared to the same time period a year ago. Last year there was a dip in cases to 28,639 as compared to 48,277 cases (and 20 deaths) in 2012, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Measles has reached a 20-year high in the U.S. Between Jan. 1, 2014, and May 23, 2014, 288 cases were reported, the largest number of cases reported in a five-month period since 1994. More than one in seven cases has led to hospitalization, the CDC says. The outbreak is mostly driven by unvaccinated people.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) can be fatal. MRSA is a staph bacteria that doesn’t respond to antibiotics normally used to fight such an infection. There are more than 75,000 cases in the U.S. right now. It’s usually spread in hospitals or other health-care settings, and it’s constantly adapting, which worries researchers.
The CDC has admittedly dropped the ball for its initial handling of the Ebola cases and things may get worse before they get better. But Ebola, so far, doesn’t seem to have the capacity to spread and threaten the U.S. like some of these other health threats.
My prediction is we will see the hysteria over Ebola fade as officials get a better handle on it and the public gets a better understanding of its limitations, and as we head into the next year, we will be left with flu deaths and the nagging comeback of other, heretofore, virtually eliminated diseases.
