16 Life Saving Facts about EBOLA (Prt 2)

1.       WHAT CAN BE DONE IN RAILWAY STATIONS, SCHOOLS OR OTHER PUBLIC PLACES TO PREVENT CONTAGION?

There are strict decontamination procedures by Public Health England that must be followed. Any area visibly contaminated – where there is blood, vomit or faeces – and toilets and surfaces lots of people touch, such as door handles and telephones, must be wiped with disposable towels to remove any visible fluids, then cleaned with detergent or soap and water and allowed to dry. Then they must be disinfected, for instance with diluted bleach – one part bleach to four parts water. Those who do the cleaning must be fully covered, with long sleeved shirts tucked into disposable gloves and trousers tucked into socks and closed shoes. Any cuts or abrasions must be covered with plasters. But there is no need to clean corridors or areas that the person has just passed through.

2.     HOW LONG CAN THE VIRUS SURVIVE?

The virus is quite fragile and is easily destroyed by UV light, drying out, high temperatures (which is helpful in west Africa) and disinfectants including soapy water and alcohol gel. The longest it is likely to survive is a few days, if left in a pool of bodily fluid in a cool, damp place.

3.     IS FOOD SAFE?

Yes, if it is cooked. The Ebola virus is inactivated through cooking. Raw bush meat is a risk. Past outbreaks of Ebola in Africa came from the hunting, butchering and preparing of bush meat for people to eat.

4.     IS EBOLA VIRUS AIRBORNE? SHOULD I WEAR A MASK?

No. The virus is not airborne. In spite of speculation, the UN Ebola Mission for Emergency Response says extensive studies of the virus have not shown any airborne transmission. Patients do not cough and sneeze a lot with this disease and the WHO states in an advisory notice: “Epidemiological data emerging from the outbreak are not consistent with the pattern of spread seen with airborne viruses, like those that cause measles and chickenpox, or the airborne bacterium that causes tuberculosis.”

5.     WHAT IF SOMEBODY COUGHS OR SNEEZES IN MY FACE?

There is a theoretical possibility that a person heavily infected with Ebola could cough violently and send wet, heavy droplets into the face of somebody nearby. The person most at risk of catching Ebola this way would be whoever is nursing the patient, and they would hopefully be wearing protective clothing including a mask.

6.     COULD THE EBOLA VIRUS MUTATE TO CHANGE THE WAY IT IS TRANSMITTED?

Although viruses do mutate, scientists say no virus, to their knowledge, has changed its mode of transmission, and there is no evidence that it is happening with Ebola.

7.     ARE SPACEMAN-STYLE PROTECTIVE SUITS ANY GOOD, GIVEN THAT SOME HEALTH WORKERS WEARING THEM HAVE GOT EBOLA?

They work as long as they are used properly. There are strict procedures for taking them off when the gloves and outside of the suit may be covered in virus. The US Centers for Disease Control has a guide for safe removal, to ensure bare hands do not touch contaminated material.

8.     ARE SCANNERS THE ANSWER FOR DETECTING INFECTED PEOPLE ENTERING THE UK?

No. All that scanners can detect are raised body temperatures. That could be caused by a cold virus or even the menopause, rather than Ebola. Every person with a raised temperature would then have to have a blood test for Ebola. There are two other problems: people could arrive from west Africa by any port, not least because airlines are not flying directly here from affected countries, so logically there would have to be scanners also at the seaports and the Channel tunnel. And the biggest issue is that people are likely to arrive in the days before symptoms show, so they will not have a high temperature and there is no way to they are carrying Ebola.

 Courtesy: Sarah Boseley, health correspondent

The Guardian, October 2014