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Original poster

To think the hysteria about Ebola is totally unjustified

66 replies

kaffkooks · 08/10/2014 20:50

This article makes me so angry: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-29535905
How can such narrow minded, hysterical people prevent a little boy from going to school? He is not unwell, therefore does not have Ebola and is not infectious.
Even if someone with Ebola did come to the UK we would be able to deal with it as we have a decent health system. The reason it is spreading so quickly in West Africa is because they do not have a properly equiped health service and there are a lot of cultural practices that are preventing patients and their relatives from seeking help.

OP posts:

formerbabe · 08/10/2014 20:54

He is not unwell, therefore does not have Ebola and is not infectious

Ebola has an incubation time of up to 3 weeks.

SauvignonBlanche · 08/10/2014 20:54

There's an Ebola topic now.

"As posted in site stuff:

"There are loads of threads popping up about ebola - with the media coverage people are bound to get concerned. There are people with some really good knowledge about epidemiology and disease control who can provide reassurance and real facts and information. It's quite hard work finding the threads at present and people are having to repeat themselves over and over.

If we have a new section it means that people can find facts quickly and easily - those advising will be more able to help. It was in invaluable during the early part of the swine flu epidemic and I think it would be again."

So basically this is a safe place for people to share concerns and gain reassurance. Hopefully we wont need the topic for too long. As we talk about this, one thing to remember, is whilst people might be worrying here, its is nothing to the fear and hopelessness of those countries in West Africa who are suffering hugely from the epidemic and we need to respect that."

IrenetheQuaint · 08/10/2014 20:57

Poor kid, that's awful!

A friend of mine was telling me she had recently been on a short ferry crossing in the US, where one of her fellow passengers, a middle-aged black woman, was coughing frequently and (understandably) keeping herself to herself. Apparently the other passengers gave her a wide berth in case she had Ebola

Of course the situation in Western Africa is horrible and anyone with potential exposure to the disease needs to be monitored very carefully... but there is also a lot of ignorant panic, often directed at Africa/Africans generally (or as in my example anyone who happens to be black!!) rather than the actual region in question.

KenAdams · 08/10/2014 21:01

I think the school did the right thing. Ebola has an incubation period where there are no visible symptoms.

Bowlersarm · 08/10/2014 21:02

It's worrying. People are worried.

hiddenhome · 08/10/2014 21:04

I think more cases like this will emerge over the coming weeks.

I think it's worrying that the Spanish nurse became infected in spite of all the precautions that the staff were taking.

WannaBe · 08/10/2014 21:05

ridiculous. "misguided hysteria" is about right. Just because you are from a country where people have died/have contracted ebola does not automatically make you at risk. Has he been in contact with many dead bodies of late? no? then people need to GAFG...

formerbabe · 08/10/2014 21:08

Surely it's better safe than sorry....they just need to wait 3 weeks and then if the boy is not ill he can attend.

Original poster

kaffkooks · 08/10/2014 21:09

Sorry, didn't realise there was already an Ebola topic or I would have posted there. People are not infectious during the incubation period. If he has a fever or is unwell then definitely keep him off school but otherwise there is no risk to anyone else. Also, he's not been near anyone with Ebola.

OP posts:

AgentZigzag · 08/10/2014 21:10

I agree with Bowler, you can assess the risk of it coming to your front door just as much as those who are more concerned about it.

What makes you so sure you're right?

LuisSuarezTeeth · 08/10/2014 21:10

Ebola has an incubation period of up to 3 weeks. This is not hysteria, it is highly sensible.

It can be contracted from the tiniest amount of airborne bodily fluid. If the whole school subsequently became infected, you'd change your tune entirely.

You are, at best, naive OP.

LuisSuarezTeeth · 08/10/2014 21:13

People are not infectious during the incubation period.

Quite. But at what point, when symptoms of illness appear, are they identified as Ebola? Realistically, too late.

Flipflops7 · 08/10/2014 21:13

I think 'they' should have contained it and stopped flights from affected areas back in the summer. Seems reasonable to let the child start school after the incubation time has passed. Schools are criticised for taking much lesser risks than this.

formerbabe · 08/10/2014 21:14

People are not infectious during the incubation period. If he has a fever or is unwell then definitely keep him off school but otherwise there is no risk to anyone else.

Whilst you only become infectious once the symptoms show, there must be a moment where you go from non contagious to contagious...what if a child becomes unwell whilst at school or vomits in the classroom? Why take the risk for the sake of a couple of weeks.

Bowlersarm · 08/10/2014 21:20

My 13 year old son informed me in the car on the way home from school that Ebola would be in Britain by 20th October. And that survival rate in this country would be 50% of infected people. They had discussed it in one of his classes. Extraordinary. He never tells me anything he's learnt at school

I'm a half glass full type of person. An optimist. But I would say that precautions would actually be a good thing, not hysterical.

This young boy needs to stay away from school for a limited time. The same as you would for a cold or flu or vomiting. That's all.

OhYouBadBadKitten · 08/10/2014 21:23

Kaffkooks, I've reported your thread so that mn can move it if you are happy for them to do so.

AgentZigzag · 08/10/2014 21:23

I think the HT should have kept her personal opinions to herself. The lad and his mum are probably lovely people, and it's this that's influencing how she's trying to turn it round onto the parents expressing their (legitimate IMO) concerns.

She has a duty of care to all the children at the school, and she's taken the decision to not let the lad to come to the school at this time, so no need for her to start having a go at parents on the back of that.

Make the decision, announce it, and then be professional and keep your personal opinion to yourself.

The mum said she hasn't been in contact with anyone with ebola, and she knows that for sure does she? How?

WannaBe · 08/10/2014 21:28

fgs how many millions of people are there in sierra leone. And how many people have been thought to have been infected with ebola? We're talking millions vs thousands... and no, ebola is not highly infectious from a few drops of bodily fluid - not in terms of children coming into contact with one another.

I think the HT was spot on with her comments tbh. it's not ok to label someone purely because of the country they live in. and to be "safe than sorry," and the sooner this hysterical response is stamped out the better IMO.

OhYouBadBadKitten · 08/10/2014 21:28

That poor lad. If you aren't displaying symptoms, you aren't contagious. There is absolutely no need to quarantine every person who has travelled from west Africa recently.

MajesticWhine · 08/10/2014 21:28

I have some sympathy, rather than anger, for the parents in this case. They may be misguided, but I don't think it makes them narrow minded or hysterical. They are just trying to keep their children safe, which is understandable.

OhYouBadBadKitten · 08/10/2014 21:29

Luis, it isn't airborne.

MajesticWhine · 08/10/2014 21:30

Thing is, surely you could go from not displaying symptoms to displaying symptoms in the time of a school day.

OhYouBadBadKitten · 08/10/2014 21:40

True Majestic but there doesn't seem to be a step change in infectivity, it seems the later you are into the illness the more infective you are, with it being worst at death. Look how Sawyer travelled whilst displaying symptoms yet didn't pass it to anyone on his plane.

meditrina · 08/10/2014 21:49

You become symptomatic as your temperature rises.

This boy had had no contact with anyone with Ebola (according to the interview I saw with his mother) and have been assessed by the Health Protection Agency and put in the lowest risk, totally unrestricted category.

Are you saying HPA is not fit for purpose? Or that our most experienced doctors who set the criteria are not to be relied on? For if so, then no-one should rely on any part of the health planning in uk

BoredPanda · 08/10/2014 21:51

Poor boy. Although I do feel sympathetic to the parents with their worries, still, he and his parents must be feeling very hurt. My friend recently told me that one family she works with told her they wanted to see someone else, because she'd recently come back 'from Africa' and was therefore an Ebola risk.

She's from Ethiopia. Which has been overrun with Ebola, of course.

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