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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| U.S. scientists say uncertainties loom about Ebola's transmission, other key facts |
| 2014-11-04 |
| Nov 3 (Reuters) - Even as government officials express confidence that researchers know the key facts about Ebola, many questions crucial to preventing an outbreak in the United States remain unanswered, scientists told a workshop at the National Academy's Institute of Medicine in Washington on Monday. Virtually all the unknowns have practical consequences, participants emphasized...penetration through intact skin has not been definitively ruled out, said hemorrhagic-fever expert Thomas Ksiarek of the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), who co-led a session on Ebola's transmission routes. "Does bleach or hand sanitizer," which people in West Africa are using to protect themselves from Ebola, "make the skin more susceptible" to being penetrated by the virus?, Peters wondered. "It's a question that has to be asked." ...[The question of whether Ebola can be spread by someone without symptoms, that is,]"subclinical transmission" remains very much open, said Dr. Andrew Pavia, chief of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Utah. Nor do experts know whether the infectious dose of virus depends on how it enters the body, Pavia said. Also unknown is whether the time between exposure to Ebola and the appearance of symptoms depends on which bodily fluids someone contacted... ...people are not thought to be infectious until they run a fever of 100.4 F. (38 C). But at what temperature patients start shedding virus is not definitively known, said Dr. Michael Hodgson, chief medical officer of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. [What cleanup methods are most effective is not known, along with whether or not Ebola virus can survive in sewers.] |
| Posted by:Anguper Hupomosing9418 |
| #1 Well, if we could figger out man-made global climate change, give us a few million-dollar grants, and we'll settle the science on Ebola. A couple of months ago, I read how bacteria and virus 'lie low' until they reach a critical mass, and then they attack. Like the immune system ignores a few little viruses. Then somehow, like fire ants, the bugs communicate the attack. Sounds like science fiction? But the CDC knows all about it! |
| Posted by: Bobby 2014-11-04 13:22 |