Ebola Panic

Are you near panic about Ebola?  It is true that the Ebola survival rate is anywhere from 10% to 50%.  That sounds really scary.  But that is the survival rate in West Africa, not the US.  The US has had 8 cases, 5 cures, and one death.  We are in a panic.  Panic is not rational and this round of panic clearly meets that criteria.  And now schools are closing due to this fear.  Wow.  I believe one of the roles of educated people is to inform those who are more prone to emotional response so that their lives improve.  I am not in a panic regarding Ebola.  I am worried about the outbreak and am particularly concerned with those in West Africa who continue to die from this virus.  But I am not in a panic.  Am I stupid?  Do I have my head in the sand?  Perhaps perspective will reduce fear and panic, or not.

Suppose I wanted to contract Ebola.  Short of a trip to West Africa what would I have to do to ensure that I became an Ebola “victim”?  Ebola is not air borne.  I would have to have physical contact with someone already infected, the best candidates being those who are vomiting or experiencing diarrhea.  I would not only have to have contact, I would have to somehow get one of their bodily fluids into my body.  Shaking hands could do it if I touched my mouth or nose or ears after hand-shaking and before washing my hands.  So, I need to get friendly with someone infected with Ebola.  Where would I find such people?  Five citizens have been treated and released.  Three people were in the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas.  Now one is dead and the other two moved, one to Bethesda and one to Atlanta.  It would be somewhat difficult for me to get to either of those out of state hospitals, but I could.  However, I suspect I could not get to the floor where they are isolated, much less arrange physical, unprotected contact.  Seems to me I am flat out of luck if I want to catch Ebola in the US.  If you are afraid of contracting the disease I encourage you to relax.  At the current level of this epidemic we appear to be very safe.  Yes, we should take steps to contain, monitor and treat those infected and those exposed, but 8 cases hardly merits panic.

For instance, do you remember the Swine Flu epidemic in 2009?  One in 5 people world-wide contracted swine flu, including yours truly.  H1N1 killed 12,000 people.  However, the survival rate was much higher.  Only .02% died from the bug.  We were concerned, but those in real panic mode were a much smaller group than the current Ebola panickers.  How quickly we forget.

How about enterovirus?  This nasty little bug (EV-D68) has infected hundreds of people in at least 46 states.  And the death toll is rising, well beyond US Ebola cases.  Are you in a panic?  Same strategies that keep one safe from a cold, the flu, Ebola, etc., work with EV-D68.  Wash your hands and avoid the exchange of bodily fluids.

I find other issues more fascinating.  On the average, 12 high school and college football players die each year during a game or practice.  This number represents a much higher percentage than Ebola deaths as the number of high school and college football players is a smaller population than all the rest of us.  I do not hear a panic regarding football, I do not hear about schools closing because they have a football program, I do not hear a demand from communities to stop such a sport that is literally life threatening to participants. 

Harder to explain is the fact that there are about 30,000 deaths in this country each year due to firearms.  I hear no panic regarding this horrendous number.  In fact, I hear passionate almost panicky rhetoric defending the ownership of firearms.  Imagine someone today standing up and defending travel to and from West Africa as their Constitutional right regardless of outcomes.  I can hear it now, “Ebola does not kill people, infected people kill people.”  Yes, we have had a death from Ebola.  One death compared to 30,000 does not merit the panic we are experiencing.

Bottom line for me is that panic by its very nature is irrational.  Fear can be helpful.  Our fear mechanism can give us wisdom and teach us lessons as in the walk down a dark alley late at night.  Fear heightens our senses and informs our behavior.  Fear run amuck is panic.  Ebola merits fear, respect, and precautions.  It does not merit panic.

You are much more likely to be struck by lightning, die from playing football, die from contracting enterovirus, or killed by a firearm today than you are to contract Ebola.  Even if you contracted the disease you are much more likely to survive it than not.  Ignore the panic mongers and seek the facts.  And please, keep schools open!

Relax.