US experts: Fighting Ebola is falling into "five misunderstandings"

Release date: 2014-10-14

The president of the 69th UN General Assembly, Kutesa, said on the 10th that the Ebola epidemic may become a global crisis. All parties should step up their efforts to support Ebola in terms of funds and personnel. According to statistics released by the World Health Organization on the 10th, as of the 8th, 8399 cases of Ebola were diagnosed, suspected and likely to be infected, including 4033 deaths. WHO officials believe that the true number of deaths may be much higher than this figure.

Laurie Garrett, a senior researcher at the US think tank's Foreign Relations Committee, who is working on global health issues, said in the Washington Post on the 10th that the US fight against the Ebola virus is in "five misunderstandings."

Myth #1, I believe that the Ebola virus will not spread in rich countries.

Rich countries in Europe, North America and Asia have always been confident that they can curb the virus with its advanced medical facilities. Tom Frieden, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, once said: "We have the ability to curb the spread of the Ebola virus in the United States." Of course, if this guarantee is simply to alleviate people's nervousness, it is naturally understandable. However, it must be noted that humans have yet to find a protective system that is 100% safe and free from Ebola virus infection. For example, the Spanish government has confirmed that Teresa Romero, a female nurse infected with Ebola in Madrid, was infected when she took off her protective clothing and touched her face with an unsterilized hand. According to human understanding of the Ebola virus and the "SARS" virus, they are mainly transmitted through physical contact. The SARS virus spread throughout Asia in 2003, including Hong Kong in developed regions, where a large number of medical staff were infected.

Garrett believes that some developed countries are "arrogant" that advanced technology and good contingency plans can guarantee that the Ebola virus will not spread. Because of "arrogance," the top hospitals in Toronto, Canada, had to fight the SARS virus that year. In contrast, Vietnam, which is much poorer, has already controlled this infectious disease. Because of “arrogance,” in 2013, WHO cut the organization’s budget for “outbreak-response” of infectious diseases and paid more attention to cancer and heart disease treatment. Because of "arrogance," politicians have proposed cutting public health budgets whenever infectious diseases are brought under control. However, when a new epidemic occurs, people will only shout in despair.

Misunderstanding 2, I believe that the emergency response capability accumulated after the "9.11 incident" in the United States is enough to fight the Ebola virus.

After the "9-11 incident", an anthrax mail incident broke out. At the time, US President George Bush signed an order to prepare for the prevention of a large-scale bioterrorism attack. From the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Defense to hospitals, community clinics, and rapid response teams, a series of exercises were conducted on possible epidemics and terrorist biochemical attacks. According to the pre-set procedure, every health department in the United States is ready to treat high-infectious diseases. Military and health agencies receive billions of dollars in special funds for rapid diagnosis, vaccine development and treatment of highly pathogenic microorganisms. In each exercise list, the Ebola virus is among them. It seems that after spending billions of dollars and countless drills, the assumption that "the United States is ready" seems to be reasonable.

However, Garrett does not think so. He said that both the military and the public, most of the exercises assume the experience of "bio-attacks": police, fire and epidemic prevention personnel wearing biochemical protective clothing; infected people are diagnosed, isolated and treated, and then the harm is eliminated. In each exercise, there was no treatment for infectious patients, resulting in repeated exposure of health workers to polluted environments. Today, in response to West Africa’s request for assistance, the United States Agency for International Development’s response is “there is no mature experience in dealing with the epidemic.”

Misunderstanding 3, think that Ebola virus can spread through the air.

Garrett believes that the Ebola virus is indeed mutating, but not a genetic mutation. A study published in the August issue of Science showed that the virus had more than 300 mutations. However, it should be understood that viruses attached to the endothelial cells of the circulatory system do not enter the alveolar cells. The so-called "gene mutation" exists only in science fiction.

In general, viruses can mutate in two situations, namely "random error" and "natural selection." Based on the "random error" phenomenon, the view that the nature of the virus is mutated is undoubtedly absurd. Viruses that only infect vascular cells cannot rapidly mutate into a completely different virus that attaches to the lungs. The virus can only be "mutated" under the enormous pressure of forcing its change or demise, that is, under "natural selection." Because Ebola can easily spread and infect tens of thousands of people in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the external pressure that forces it to complete the variability does not exist. Since the virus does not enter the alveoli, the so-called "Ebola virus can be transmitted through the air" lacks scientific evidence.

Garrett believes that people are currently most concerned about the response of the virus, such as mutation, after being recognized and attacked by the human immune system. The occurrence of "mutation" means that those who survived the Ebola virus infection may be infected again. At the same time, vaccines that have been successfully developed and applied to the clinic will lose their effectiveness.

Myth 4, I believe that the travel ban can prevent the Ebola virus from spreading in the United States.

Garrett said that after the "9.11 incident", the United States had issued a travel ban to slow down the spread of the virus, and the US Eastern Airport was forced to close. However, the flu did not stop the outbreak, but it was delayed by about two weeks.

Garrett believes that some countries have refused flights from countries in the affected areas, hoping to stop the import of SARS pneumonia and influenza A (H1N1) virus. However, this travel ban is not effective and the virus is still being introduced. This time, the Ebola virus is no exception.

Misunderstanding 5, think that the breakthrough in the development of Ebola virus vaccine is imminent.

Currently, scientists from various countries have developed several vaccines, two of which have recently been endorsed by the WHO expert group. According to Garrett, scientists will next test the effects of Ebola vaccine on human volunteers. If the test results show that the vaccine has no side effects after a few weeks, the next phase of trial may be carried out in the West African countries. If the vaccine is effective at this stage, the vaccine product will be transferred to the final and most difficult stage, namely, clinical and placebo injections in hundreds of people in the affected area. Therefore, it is too optimistic to think that the Ebola virus vaccine development breakthrough is imminent.

Source: Guangming Daily

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