Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Ebola - It Only Seems To Get Worse (or we are in deep - deep - deep shit)

Yes folks, here I am again with more doom and gloom about Ebola. by now, you should know that a nurse has contracted the disease in Spain. It is believed that she caught it from a priest who had been brought to Spain from Sierra Leone to treat his case of Ebola. The thing is that there is a conundrum over how she could have contracted the disease from the priest since each of the two times she had contact with him, she was reportedly wearing a hazmat suit (source). If that is correct, several questions immediately come to mind and they need to be answered without delay because the lives of everyone treating Ebola patients could well depend on the answers. Some of those questions are:

If she was protected by a hazmat suit, each time she came in contact with the Ebola patient, how did she get Ebola?

Did the hazmat suit fail or was it flawed?

Are certain hazmat suits ineffective or less effective than others against Ebola and did she wear that type?

Did she don the suit correctly or incorrectly and thus cause a breach in the protection it offered?

Did she contract the disease from touching the suit as she put it on because it had been used previously and was not decontaminated properly?

Did she get it when being decontaminated, after contact with the patient (after the suit was cleaned and then as she took off the suit that maybe was not cleaned properly)?

If none of the above are found to be the reason she became infected then we must ask tougher questions:

Has Ebola mutated to be able to penetrate hazmat suits?

Did she purposefully expose herself by compromising the hazmat suit?

Did she unknowingly come in contact with someone else, in Spain, who also had Ebola?

As far fetched as the last three questions may seem, if it is determined that the hazmat suit was worn properly, that it was not faulty and that the decontamination was effective - then you must ask them too.

Several folks have been quarantined because she contracted the illness. They include her husband. Sadly, Spanish authorities have decided to kill their dog, over the objections of the nurse and her husband, and will incinerate its carcass (source). I think that quite foolish because were they to medically observe that dog under quarantine they might learn something that leads to a vaccine, a cure or a preventive measure. 

Then I remember that these are governments at work and I think we are frigging doomed.

All the best,
Glenn B

Off To A Running (and walking) Start

I restarted my exercise program yesterday, went to the gym last night and did 6.5 miles on the treadmill. I alternated between running and walking a quarter of a mile for 5.5 miles, then walked the remainder at a small incline. Not too sure if I was up for quite that much, my hips are just about screaming right now. That though has been par for the course for years when I walk or run. Also, my knees are aching and so are my ankles, feet and calves too, along with some of the upper parts as well. 

That all will work its way out somewhat as each exercise session passes or so has been my past experience although the hips and legs and some other areas around joints have been and likely will remain a problem. They have been hurting after any exercise ever since a few docs first suspected I had Lyme disease about 25 years ago. Never diagnosed it back then, always said the test results were inconclusive. Years later I was twice diagnosed with it. Guess the hips will never again be very happy campers. Lately though, I have been paying more attention to how the pain comes on and how my legs in total are effected, I wonder if the pain may be more due to tendon problems as it seems more that than pain deep in the joints. I wonder if taking Levaquin many years ago is what led to most of the problems. I digress.

Anyway, the exercise program is back in action - or should I say - I am back in action. I suppose that is much better for me than being a couch potato. Plan to hit the treadmill again tomorrow - figuring on three to four das per week for now BUT I may try gain tonight if the hips are not too sore.

All the best,
Glenn B