Flu or Ebola?

[uppityperson]

http://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/flu-or-ebola-us-hospitals-prepare-for-confusing-season/Content?oid=3341146

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The end of October marks the start of influenza season, bringing with it the predictable sniffles, sneezes, fever and aches that can extend well into the spring months.

But this year is different for two reasons. First is the Ebola epidemic in West Africa that spilled into the United States when a Liberian man traveled to Texas in September and infected two nurses who helped care for him. The second is the late summer outbreak of enterovirus D68, a respiratory illness that has sickened more than 1,100 people in 46 states since August, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

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Flu and Ebola share some common symptoms, such as fever, headache, fatigue and aches and pains. But there are big differences, too. Influenza causes cough, sore throat and runny nose, while Ebola does not. Ebola leads to vomiting and diarrhea within three to six days, severe weakness and stomach pain, as well as unexplained bleeding and bruising.

To illustrate these differences, the CDC has issued a flyer titled "Flu or Ebola?" that offers a side-by-side comparison, available at www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/pdf/is-it-flu-or-ebola.pdf. The simple, bold print is accompanied by graphics, including one person sneezing on another to show how flu transmits by droplets spewed when sick people cough, sneeze or talk. Ebola transmission is illustrated by a bright red blood drop and needle. "Ebola can only be spread by direct contact with blood or bodily fluids," the flyer says....(more @ link)

http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/pdf/is-it-flu-or-ebola.pdf

[SheilaT]

1. The death rate from Ebola is far higher than that from flu.

However, at least in this country, a whole lot more people get flu.

[uppityperson]

3. The flu is spread more easily and is contagious BEFORE you show symptoms, unlike ebola.

Which is a really good thing, regarding ebola.

[SheilaT]

4. Exactly. If Ebola could spread from a non-symptomatic person

the quarantines would make sense and we'd all support them.

Meanwhile, a huge number of people with flu or a cold never bother to stay home to limit the spread of those things.

[Recursion]

2. One important point is that the majority of ebola patients don't bleed

It's not really a hemorrhagic fever.

[uppityperson]

7. Fictionalized literature aside, indeed. Vomitting, diarrhea, severe weakness, stomach pains

unexplained bleeding and bruising. But that "bleeding out of every orifice" is atypical for ebola.

[Orrex]

5. Ebola is Obama's fault.

Wait. So is the flu.


Gosh, I just can't tell the difference anymore!

[uppityperson]

8. And no, kale is not a cure for either.

[B2G]

9. Cough has been a symptom in 30% of the cases this time.

Sore throat can be a symptom as well.

In fact, both are more common than bleeding this time.