Quote:
Originally Posted by Outlaw 1963
This is what scares the hell out of me. The sneezing and spitting while in conversation. That's way too risky. I'm just trippin that there's not a real cure for it. This is more dangerous and contagious that HIV/AIDS.
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A) While it's more contagious than HIV, it's not more prevalent in the population. You have a much higher chance of being infected with HIV on a random one night stand than you do getting Ebola in any location of the world, except perhaps Liberia.
B) There's never going to be a true 'cure' as you think of it for a virus like Ebola. Viruses are very difficult to 'cure'--just look at how much money has been poured into HIV and we've gotten it to a very manageable infection. Viruses aren't like bacteria because they invade host cells. They can only replicate if they are inside a host cell. So therefore to truly 'cure' the infection, you have to kill the host cells...AKA you have to kill you. That's not very effective, is it? That's why the only two true options for viruses are vaccines (to prevent infection) or antivirals (to keep them from replicating)
C) In order to be infected by the average Ebola patient--not one that's essentially a human jello mold AKA late stage infection--you'd have to basically be directly sneezed/spat/vomited/pooped on OR ensure that their body fluids physically enter your mucous membranes or open wounds. How many times have you been directly sneezed on by a stranger? Probably not very many. How many times do you handle bodily fluids regularly? If you're a healthcare worker or daycare worker, then maybe. But otherwise...generally just if a loved one is ill. So if your loved ones or roommates haven't gotten it, you're probably not going to get it. One just doesn't go around licking the poles on the subway or the escalator rail, nor do we handle the dead like they do in West Africa.
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