MERS: Middle East Respiratory Syndrome
First of all, DON’T PANIC!
I realize CNN and other media outlets are trying to blow the situation out of proportion and freak out as many people as they can, but really, it’s not that bad.
Two confirmed cases in the US and possible exposure of other people that have not shown signs of the virus. As in, blood cultures and what have yous don’t show the mass outbreak the media is trying to scare the public with.
Unless you were exposed in the waiting room where one victim waited for FOUR HOURS before he was seen by a physician, or on one of the planes or the bus he rode in on, you should be fine.
The CDC advises that you:
- Wash your hands often with soap and water for 20 seconds, and help young children do the same. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
- Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze then throw the tissue in the trash.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
- Avoid close contact, such as kissing, sharing cups, or sharing eating utensils, with sick people.
- Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces, such as toys and doorknobs.
Basically, don’t let people cough in your face, and please don’t cough in the faces of anyone else. Wash your hands after using the bathroom, coughing, or before handling or eating food. And if you have cough or cold symptoms, please do not rush to the hospital or hang out in places full of people.
Otherwise, unless you’ve been to the Middle East or hung out with someone that’s just come from the Middle East, you’re probably okay. The virus incubates between 2-14 days after exposure.
My first thought:
Dear United States Congress,
Stop cutting the budget for the CDC. Underfunding the people that keep us from being overrun by diseases is ridiculous. As is cutting Medicaid so poor people have to hang out in emergency rooms for care versus being able to make an appointment and see a doctor like should be the norm in a civilized country. (And don’t even get me started on the subject of medical care costs in this country, which are ludicrously expensive. You wait four hours to see a doctor, then you get charged $800 for someone to feel up your lymph nodes and give you a prescription for super Benadryl that costs you another $40.)
Thanks a lot Congress. You totally rock your job (if your job involves either not doing anything or ruining the things that work). I love how you constantly give yourself raises while cutting Federal aid programs and raising the taxes of the middle class.
I mean, kids don’t need food or educations. If they’re tough, they’ll figure things out on their own and everything will be okay. That or they’ll be so outraged and ignorant when they reach adulthood that violence and robbery is their answer to everything and “steal from the rich” will become the widely accepted way of solving all problems. But that’s no big deal, ‘cos when you’ve got money you can afford bodyguards and powerful security.
So thank you, Congress, for making the world a worse place. And oh yeah, I’m kinda blaming global warming on you too, since you guys refused to believe it was real until this =>West Antarctic Glacier Loss: “We have passed the point of no return”<= happened.
Someone that works with livestock says that when you buy animals from other countries (including Mexico) you are required to quarantine them for 14 days. Why don’t we have this practice when people fly in from other countries? I know some people will decry human rights violations and not being able to get where they want to go, but come on. Nothing stops international airports from having nice facilities on hand for people to stay in before they get released back into the public. Things don’t have to work like a Third World country, and if everyone is stuck in the same facilities … I’m sure all those uber rich travelers that like to hop a plane and go all around the world will come up with the money to make the facilities awesome, or at the very least not like something out of the movie Hostel.
Besides, telecommunication was developed for a reason. In most cases, people don’t really have to go to another country.
And if you’re there to take care of the sick — you know, people infected with MERS or SARS or ebola and need medical professionals to tend to them — I would hope you would voluntarily quarantine yourself. At least wait the 14 day incubation period before hanging out in high traffic areas.
Links of note:
CDC – Coronavirus: Middle East Respiratory Syndrome: http://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/mers/index.html. On May 11, 2014, a second U.S. imported case of MERS was confirmed in a traveler who also came to the U.S. from Saudi Arabia. This patient is currently hospitalized and doing well. People who had close contact with this patient are being contacted. The two U.S. cases are not linked.
CDC MERS – Frequently Asked Questions: http://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/MERS/faq.html. Q: Is MERS-CoV the same as the SARS virus? — A: No. MERS-CoV is not the same coronavirus that caused severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003. However, like the SARS virus, MERS-CoV is most similar to coronaviruses found in bats. CDC is still learning about MERS.
Wikipedia – Middle East respiratory syndrome: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Eastern_Respiratory_Syndrome. Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is a newly identified syndrome resulting from infections with an apparently new pathogen, the MERS-coronavirus.
NPR Health News – MERS 101: What We Do (And Don’t) Know About the Virus: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/05/14/310407444/mers-101-what-we-do-and-dont-know-about-the-virus. Symptoms: Affects the lower and upper respiratory tracts, leading to coughing, shortness of breath, fever and pneumonia. The virus aims for cells in the lungs and possibly the , which may explain instances of kidney failure. But some people who have been infected report no symptoms.
Reuters – Florida MERS patient sat in busy ER for hours: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/14/us-usa-health-mers-hospital-idUSKBN0DU06520140514. The second U.S. patient to be diagnosed with the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) spent at least four hours in the public waiting room of a busy Florida emergency department before he was seen by a doctor, a hospital official said.