By James Demetriades
Monday, Oct. 6 brought a new wave of Ebola revelations: a female nurse being treated in Spain became the first case in Europe, 121 people died in one day in Sierra Leone, a man in Dallas remained in critical condition and the White House held meetings with senior health, Homeland Security and national security advisors. The threat of Ebola is real, and the Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization both have detailed pages explaining signs, symptoms, prevention and resources to consider. Still, the Obama administration has assured the public that there is “little chance of a U.S. Ebola outbreak,” while noting today in a statement that other countries have not stepped up “as aggressively as they need to.” Despite these statements of reassurance, the American people continue to panic.
Late night TV hosts John Stewart and Stephen Colbert have critiqued the American media for perpetuating fear, causing panic and failing to spread accurate information. These comments include swipes from the right and left wings. Some highlights include Fox News’ Andrea Tantaros asserting that The United States is broke. It is broke. And I don’t think we’re prepared to handle this if it escalates beyond this in a way that they say that they are.”
Joe Scarborough on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” said to former White House Advisor David Axelord that “a lot of Americans are seeing what happened in Dallas and looking at your laundry list, what happened with the Secret Service, what happened with the IRS, what happened with the VA, what happened with ISIS being a JV team. So when anybody, any member of the government says, ‘Hey, just relax, everything’s going to be okay,’ Americans don’t believe that.”
Headlines from CNN and Fox News trumpet that the disease could soon become airborne, a claim that does not have the endorsement or support of the scientific community. These fears are compounded by Twitter and the Internet, where rumors have spread of a Zombie-like resurrection of Ebola victims, secret cases in Dallas and a U.S. government cover-up. Fears from these sources are clearly effecting people. Dallas’ Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, where the first patient in the United States is being treated, has reported that the ER, which normally has a waiting time of 45 minutes, currently has little to no wait, with patients forgoing treatment or visits for other healthcare needs due to fear of infection.
The reasoning behind this widespread fear is unfounded. Medical professionals continue to echo the same precautions and reassurances. Officials at both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health have reported that, while America will see some Ebola infections, we will not have an outbreak thanks to the health care system in our nation.
Additionally, the likelihood of transmission is low. It is not transmitted through the air, water or insect bites, but only by an infected person’s bodily fluids entering another person’s blood stream through broken skin. Washing your hands often and avoiding contact with the bodily fluids of the infected is enough to protect yourself. In other words, maintaining good hygiene and doing what you would do to protect yourself from the common cold should protect you from Ebola.
Meanwhile, the hype and sensationalism of the media does nothing to inform the public or help prepare for disease prevention. Instead of believing every word of your favorite media pundit, follow the health experts whose job it is to track, monitor and treat infectious diseases. They are actively working to help protect the public and promote public health, while media moguls are looking for website hits, hiked ratings and attention.
James Demetriades, FCRH ’15, is a history and political science major from Cromwell, Connecticut.
