‘You Don’t Want This Going Places’
How does this virus spread?
Through very close contact with patients. A lot of misinformation that's being spread is that it's transmitted through the air, but generally you have to have pretty close contact with somebody who's pretty seriously ill.
What about the doctor who traveled from the outbreak area to Kampala and died there? Are you concerned that he might have taken the outbreak to Kampala?
If he was relatively well when he traveled to Kampala, it's unlikely that the people he had casual contact with resulted in any infection. We'll check to see if he's had any unusual exposure to individuals after that. There's always concern. There tends to be a lot of reaction and misinformation that can border on panic. What we attempt to do is refamiliarize people with past outbreaks rather than speculating on what might happen.
So you're not worried too much about a wider transmission of the virus than in the past?
There's always some concern. Let's be clear: this is a disease you don't want to get. But the outbreaks generally occur in underresourced areas where it's necessary to get folks in and help them with things like infection control practices and protective gear, so the outbreak stops. There's a lot of concern—you don't want this going places. But in a developed country transmission probably wouldn't get started.
Should travelers avoid Uganda?
There's been some stuff in newspapers that might tend to make people overly concerned. We don't advise people not to travel to Uganda. If you were a medical missionary and were treating patients in these areas, that would be cause for concern. But if you're traveling to see animals, you don't need to worry too much.
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Member Comments
Posted By: Nins @ 07/06/2008 11:56:29 PM
Comment: Did you know that if McCain is elected you will have to pay income tax on the value of the medical insurance that your employer gives you? Worse still, he is offering a tax break for people who pay their own insurance, BUT only $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families.
Let's say you have a family of four. Your insurance policy costs would be at least $1,500-2,500 per month under a self-pay plan, which cost more than employer group plans. So, you pay $18,000 -$30,000 per year for insurance, and you get to deduct only $5,000 of that. If you paid $25,000 for you insurance, you would be out of pocket $20,000 per year. This is FAR WORSE than the current system, where if you are self employed you can deduct 100% of you medical insurance costs.
So, if you're not self employed, you would stick with your Employer's plan. Employer plans for a family of four have a value of $900-$1,500 per month totaling 10,800-$18,000 per year. Surprise! On April 15th, you owe tax on all of that as INCOME to you. Say your bracket is 25%, and the value of your Employer medical plan is $14,000. You will OWE THE IRS an additional $3,500, and that's ON TOP of whatever monthly premium you already pay to your employer for your insurance.
Many analysts say that McCain's new rules would encourage employers to stop offering health benefits. If that happened, then far fewer Americans would be insured than are insured today, because what family of four can afford $18,000-$30,000 out of pocket per year for self-pay health insurance?
Furthermore, McCain's plan does not require insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions of people who self-pay their insurance. People under employer group plans have all of their pre-existing conditions covered. This is a hugely unfair aspect of the current system. Insurance companies can afford to cover the pre-existing conditions of the much larger pool of people with group insurance, but they refuse to pay the pre-existing conditions on the smaller pool of self-pay customers. They have been allowed to price gouge the self-pay customers, which is a form of market manipulation that should be illegal.
So let's say one of your kids had diabetes and you have high blood pressure, then your employer stops offering insurance. You now have to buy your own, but you and your child are INELIGIBLE due to pre-existing conditions. Oh, yeah, they will let you buy the insurance, but you can't use it for any pre-existing condition until you have paid on time every month for two years. And you know what happens at one year and 11 months? You get a letter saying your policy has been cancelled. I have many patients this has happened to.
McCain's plan SUCKS.
It does nothing to help middle class working Americans afford or obtain medical insurance. In fact, it makes the current system WORSE.
Posted By: Bornita @ 12/12/2007 11:35:12 PM
Comment: Viruses have nothing to do with anti-biotics. Anti-biotics are for bacteria and viruses are a totally different thing.
Posted By: Evolutionist @ 12/12/2007 10:23:25 AM
Comment: rofl theres gonna be a day that medicine and vacines dont work anymore. Viruses change too quickly, they actually adapt to anti- biotics. What Im about to say is just a theory, I believe some of these viruses are man made to decrease the African population. It would be easy for a scientist to release different strains of the virus onto people. Its gonna take Americans to almost completely die off to exterminate everything that is a threat. This is not far fetched.