A year ago, Dr Kent Brantly became the first person treated for Ebola in the US. The director of Emory University’s Serious Communicable Disease Unit looks back at we have – and haven’t – learned.
Try to predict the outcome of a single coin toss and you’ll have only a 50-50 chance of being correct.
Pauli Antero/Flickr
Predicting infectious disease outbreaks is a tricky task to begin with. And it’s made harder still by the fact that any individual outcome is subject to unpredictable – or stochastic – effects.
There’s some evidence to suggest transmission can be prevented in crowded locations with the use of simple face masks.
Maridav/Shutterstock
Ebola has been blamed for a surge in untreated malaria cases in west Africa that could have led to an excess numbers of deaths from malaria, greater than the total caused by the Ebola virus.
Prior to world war one, many more soldiers died of infection rather than combat.
Navy Medicine/Flickr
Rupert Brooke was commissioned in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve as a Sub-Lieutenant. Without seeing combat, he died aboard a French hospital ship, from a mosquito bite that turned septic.
Military needs drove the development of vaccines we still use today.
US troops storming beach via www.shutterstock.com.
During World War II the US military forged partnerships with industry and academia that translated laboratory findings into working products at an unprecedented pace.
Recommended antibiotic courses are often arbitrary.
Katy/Flickr
Advice that you have to finish the whole course of antibiotics reflects long-standing convention or the drug manufacturer’s decision during an initial trial, rather than scientific evidence.
From January, conscientious objectors to vaccine will lose up to $15,000 of childcare and family tax rebates.
Daria Filimonova/Shutterstock
Food distributor Patties Foods has recalled two brands of frozen mixed berries — Nanna’s and Creative Gourmet — due to reports of three people in Victoria, four in Queensland and two in New South Wales…
Ebola virus disease was first discovered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1976, and by 2013 had caused about 20 recorded outbreaks across East and Central Africa. These had been restricted to…
We’re in a protracted war against superbugs because we’ve overused existing antibiotics: a key weapon against disease.
Nomadic Lass/Flickr
We’ve heard a lot lately about superbugs – bacteria that are resistant to current antibiotics. But as the threat of superbugs continues to rise, the number of new treatments available has flatlined. This…
Air travel can turn epidemics into pandemics.
Bobby Yip/Reuters
More than 8,000 people have died from Ebola in West Africa since February 2014 and it has spread beyond the three countries initially affected. So, it’s an epidemic, right? Or is it an outbreak? What about…
Eradicating Ebola is worth every penny spent.
Arie Kievit/EPA
The Ebola pandemic cutting a swathe through West Africa is thought to have begun in December 2013. A year later the WHO estimates more than 20,000 men, women and children have been infected with the virus…
By sharing their insights and knowledge, African leaders can improve health throughout the world.
The Aspen Institute/Flickr
Ebola has focused the world’s attention on the challenges of health care in Africa. The continent has 11% of the world’s population but 25% of the world’s disease burden. It also has just 1.3% of the global…
When it comes to the spread of infectious diseases, not all infected persons are equal. Some individuals seem to have a greater ability to spread infections than others. Indeed it is believed that around…
Some rat, possum and mozzie species thrive when living close to people.
Mark Philpott/Flickr
Our world is becoming increasingly urbanised. In 1950, just 30% of the world’s population lived in urban areas. This number is now over 50% and rising. By 2050, two-thirds of the world’s population are…
Ebola is less infectious than other diseases but has a high fatality rate.
EPA/Ahmed Jallanzo
The West African outbreak of Ebola has claimed more than 4,800 lives and this number is sure to rise. There is understandably a lot of fear about Ebola, but how does it actually compare with other fast-spreading…
Telling people not to panic doesn’t achieve its desired effect.
EPA/Remko de Waal
An epidemic disease such as Ebola brings suffering to more than those who get ill or die. Social and economic threats can actually outstrip the medical ones. The outbreaks of SARS in 2003, for example…