Ebola. Facts and advice

It is a curious fact, that one of the primary defences against Ebola is something we should be doing everyday anyway – washing hands properly with soap and water  As well as a defence against Ebola, clean hands help protect us against such winter ailments as colds, flu, sore throats etc. So here then is a gangnam style NHS video on how to get those hands clean after going to the toilet, after touching animals, after treating wounds and before preparing and eating food.

Another fact overlooked in much of the headlines about Ebola is that it is very hard to catch. It cannot be spread by air or water and is less contagious than measles. However, Ebola, with a fifty percent mortality rate, is a frightening illness, but by separating facts from lurid headlines we are able to get a better perspective on it.

The HSE Health Surveillance Protection Unit has issued an advice and risk assessment  for child care, school and college settings, which is worth taking a look at.  The assessment confirms that: ‘transmission of Ebola virus disease from person to person is by direct contact with the blood and body fluids of an ill person with the disease. Unlike influenza, the virus is not spread through the air. Persons without symptoms do not transmit the infection’. 

The assessment also states: ‘any child/students arriving back in Ireland having travelled from any of the affected countries, and who are without symptoms, are not infectious and there should be no restrictions on their childcare/school/college attendance or normal activities.

Finally, the Health Unit ofNUI Galway , advices students who do feel unwell, and have visited affected countries in the last 3 – 4 weeks to contact the Student Health Unit by telephone 091 493758 before presenting to the clinic.

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Related article: Contact with Ebola – What is likelihood ofinfection?

Worried about winter bugs? Check out Sick Happens

 

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