
Containing Ebola: What it would take - justinzollars
http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/national/containing-ebola-what-it-would-take/1366/
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danieltillett
The numbers here are are a real wake up call. We need 10,000 to 15,000 bed
right now and we have only 1100. The 1700 beds the US is contributing might
arrive in mid-November (assuming the clowns in congress stop playing politics)
by which time we will need 100,000 beds to get on top of the outbreak.

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anigbrowl
'Clown' is too kind a term for Senator James Inhofe, who is essentially
blocking the funding: [http://thehill.com/policy/defense/220288-house-
approves-750m...](http://thehill.com/policy/defense/220288-house-
approves-750m-in-ebola-funding-still-held-up-in-senate)

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x0x0
He's first in line for relief when disasters hit Oklahoma, but when they
happen elsewhere -- Hurricane Sandy, or ebola -- well, times are hard; we
can't afford to help. Ladies and gentlemen, the embodiment of the republican
party: fuck you, I've got mine.

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justinzollars
You should consider a contribution to Doctors without Boarders.

[https://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org/monthly.cfm?source=...](https://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org/monthly.cfm?source=AZD140001D51&utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc&gclid=CjwKEAjw5NihBRCZmdLkuuTHyWYSJACtCY0JW1TkLmXelo7ujAK3nakvS8uYj_zC0rTTJrCa3bsuKRoCznnw_wcB)

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danieltillett
As much as I support donating to MSF as they do an amazing amount of good with
a limited budget, the head of MSF has come out and said that this outbreak is
beyond them to handle. Who does this leave - the WHO doesn’t build or run
hospitals, the countries involved obviously can’t cope...

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x0x0
Perhaps nato governments, once they realize that massively destabilizing
africa is one of the ways wars start?

Also, is there any serious way to build 100k+ beds worth of ebola isolation
wards in 2 months, baring sending essentially the entire army corps of
engineers to these countries?

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danieltillett
No. If this is what we need then the only way to get there is going to be full
mobilisation of the military and conscription of the required health care
personnel.

I wish we had more good data of what was happening on the ground. The
statistics we have are very poor as nobody seems to be gathering data on what
is happening in the community. We need to know the R0 number - if it is 1.1
then all is fine - if it is 2.5 then it is a disaster.

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x0x0
I'm not sure treating them is all that complex, or there aren't enough
doctors. There appear to not be enough isolated beds, which can be fixed by
the military building them.

Frankly, the level of nursing required for this is probably not that high and
can be staffed by locals. They just need facilities, equipment, and supplies.

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danieltillett
The medical needs are pretty great with Ebola (it is nasty), but if the aim is
to control the outbreak the most important thing is isolation. The hospitals
can’t be seen as a death camp or else we won’t get people to come to the
hospital in the first place defeating the purpose of the setting them up. Any
hospital will have to offer real treatment where your chance of survival is
greater in the hospital than it would be being cared for by your family at
home.

Even if we go down the path of training locals they will still need to be
supported so we will need a lot of trained medical staff - even assuming one
trained nurse per every 10 beds we would need 10,000 nurses (the norm in most
hospitals is 1 nurse per bed). We might be able to reach this number with
volunteers, but my feeling is people are going to be reluctant to go.

