!!Getting Out!!

[Arzosah]

Arzosah,
Please pass on any immune strengthening tips! Thanks!

Absolutely - I'll do it this evening, because there's also an issue with timing - ie your own immune response becomes the problem, like Spanish flu when it killed the healthy younger people.

I see a health worker in Texas has got it, and they're saying there were no breaches in protocol! I think most of us saw the pictures of sleeves rolled up on the hazmat suits, the guy in t shirt and jeans power washing the pavement, all of that. To assume that there were no more breaches of protocol once Duncan was inside the hospital is ridiculous, in my opinion.

The article is here: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/o ... -duncan-us

[grenfell]

Don't know about you folks, but i'm not hanging around. . . I'm getting out and going to my alternate location. I'm not waiting for any 21 day incubation period.... call me paranoid, but better to act 1 month too early than 1 hour too late.

Will leave on Monday 13th Oct 14.
My question is.. is anyone considering going to an alternate location prior to any potential mass Ebola outbreak or widespread resource shortage / panic?
and what preparations has anyone made to this specific threat?

Good luck!

Well let me just say I admire your perpetration and resolve to be able to do that. I'm with others in that there isn't anywhere for me to bug out to for what may be a very extended period. How long have you planned for out of interest ? It's not here yet and the outbreak has been going on for several months in Africa without a sign of it ending so are you planning six months , a year or perhaps even permantly ?

[Arzosah]

Okay, cutting and pasting snippets from American Preppers Network didn't work - plus I've no idea if chunks that size are copyrighted. So here's a linkie to the thread:
http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/view ... 37&t=47886

There are several extremely knowledgeable people there, and the first statement is: "There are no proven treatments for ebola in a human infection. Everything in this document is theoretical and unproven, so use this as a guide at your own risk. "

Then ... about ebola being a cytokine storm, the immune system overreacting and causing significant damage in doing so, plus seemingly needing a "critical load" of virus - once reached, its impossible to fight off, so a combination of approaches is considered most helpful.

This study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=ebola+EGCG
stopped ebola entry into a petri dish (not a person!) but apparently EGCG isn't totally benign so pre-dosing before exposure not recommended.

Second option:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3618516/
Chloroquine, an anti-malarial drug, provided 80% protection against an otherwise fatal challenge of the virus. Please note, this is a prescription drug so you must see a doctor.

Blunting the cytokine storm: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3592351/
Read the study! Delicate balance is involved. First and most accessible blunter (I'm paraphrasing) is the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor - connected to nicotine (I haven't tried to follow the science on that). "Again, with the cytokine storm blunting, this intervention is best used at the onset of symptoms, after the immune system has begun to run away, NOT immediately post-exposure. Patches, gum, or an e-cigarette are likely to be better for the general health of the patient than any tobacco product is."

Supportive care: "As with any patient, this requires hydration, nutrition, fever management and general supportive and comforting care. Treat any such symptoms as they arise according to standard medical practice and your level of ability."

There's more, a lot more, though it becomes more discussion oriented after that. The quotes above are from the first three pages of the document I made of the thread, which was 19 pages long on Thursday. The reasoning behind going into this level of treatment detail was that the hospitals may break down and not accept new patients. We know that that is already happening in West Africa (the patient in Texas carried a young woman to hospital who was refused because it was full http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/o ... ric-duncan

Hope this helps - but I really recommend you read through the thread, if you're working on medical preps.

[lighthouse]

Good luck Quaid, I think you are a tad early but who the hell knows, the "media" are not bigging this one, did anyone clock the news from Texas and the way this medico Dr. Varga at the news conference was shut up by his handler who said, a bit too close to the mic, "Get off now!"
We have seen two medical staff in full protective gear become infected, Spain and Texas, you want to try just avoiding bodily fluids? I think this is more than that.

[hobo]

Thanks Arzosah!

[Malthouse]

it is not airbourn so such an extreme pandemic is unlikely.

Ebola is spread much like HIV/AIDS the latter stages of Ebola is when infection is most likely to be transferred to another person, so avoid other peoples bodily fluids

Neither of these statements is true, I recommend doing your own research into how easy it is to become infected with the current strain.

The key phrase that applies here is indirect contact with bodily fluids, which in this case includes all bodily excretions including sweat and sweat stained clothing/bedding or other objects. Unlike HIV you can become infected with this strain of Ebola simply by rubbing your eyes with an infected hand or glove.

However survival rates for normally fit and healthy people are thought to be better than 50/50. The key is to stay hydrated with dioralyte solution etc. All of the other drugs, including nicotine, may help but the headline here is drink lots of water.

[grenfell]

I was discussing this on another forum . Conclusions were similar to what is thought here although certain questions didn't really have answers. These mainly concerned the viability of the virus in dead bodies or out of the body. Evidence seems to confirm that a body is very contagious in the later stages and especially upon death as bleeding , vomiting and other fluids leaking make it easy for another person to catch the disease. There doesn't , however , appear to be any advice as to how long a body will remain contagious , simply advice to dispose of the body as soon as possible. Good advice obviously but if someone were to die in their home and their body were not discovered for six months would that body still be contagious? Could flies or insects feeding on that dead body transfer the virus? Seeing as there are threads on this forum about scavenging post event this issue could or should be considered. Likewise there seems to be little hard fact as to how long the virus will survive outside the body. Here we were thinking vomit , blood droplets that sort of thing that could be almost everywhere in an infected person's home or envoirment .

[Devonian]

Likewise there seems to be little hard fact as to how long the virus will survive outside the body. Here we were thinking vomit , blood droplets that sort of thing that could be almost everywhere in an infected person's home or envoirment .

Apparently the virus will survive also long as it remains wet. As soon as the virus dry's up, then it dies.

So if you have wet/damp (infected) blood/vomit/faeces on bed sheets or clothing etc, then the virus should be considered alive. If however the blood/vomit/faeces has dried up, then virus will be dead.

This is part of the reason why any outbreak in the cooler, wetter Northern Hemisphere could be more dangerous, as the virus will remain active for longer when outside of its host, than it does in the hot African nations.

[Decaff]

Just a point here that nicotine is extremely dangerous, the amount in one cigarette, in liquid form, will kill you so please be careful with this! Not suggesting that anyone would do something to endanger their life but not everyone knows this fact.

[grenfell]

Likewise there seems to be little hard fact as to how long the virus will survive outside the body. Here we were thinking vomit , blood droplets that sort of thing that could be almost everywhere in an infected person's home or envoirment .

Apparently the virus will survive also long as it remains wet. As soon as the virus dry's up, then it dies.

So if you have wet/damp (infected) blood/vomit/faeces on bed sheets or clothing etc, then the virus should be considered alive. If however the blood/vomit/faeces has dried up, then virus will be dead.

This is part of the reason why any outbreak in the cooler, wetter Northern Hemisphere could be more dangerous, as the virus will remain active for longer when outside of its host, than it does in the hot African nations.

Yes that's pretty much what was assumed which could mean staying away from bodies etc potentially for years depending on the circumstances. That said one article I have read says that the virus dies as the body decomposes underground . Ok so it was a bit vague with no sort of timescale but seemed to contradict the "live while wet" view.
Another thing that came up was the destruction of the Spanish nurse's dog. From a scientific point of view this seemed a lost opportunity to study the virus in other animals and wether it affects them or wether they could be potential carriers.