Ask HN: What can we do about ebola?

Foldit helped AIDS researchers. Is there a similar game that could help with ebola?

There is not much you can do beyond lobbying for serious action to be taken. While in the long term we need drugs and vaccines, working on these will not help us in the short term.

I like Nate Silver's take on disasters. Model it like Earthquakes and anything else bad that happens on a log scale. Then make a plan for every possible contingency. Although it is already an outbreak there is still a range of possible endgames. Unfortunately policy planners don't do any of this IMO.

The immediate action is clear: Donate generously to an organization like http://doctorswithoutborders.com/

They're on the ground and trying hard to treat people. They need resources.

Slightly longer term is figuring out a cure and vaccine.

Longer yet is improving the health care systems in Africa and around the world.

First off contact your rep. and sen. to raise concern, questions and ideas. Donate to charities that are making a difference.

Here are some general thoughts . . .

I'm not an expert on anything healthcare related . . . but I would like to throw some ideas out there of what I think could be done . . . I have been thinking about this lately . . . a lot of this is thinking out loud . . . but maybe this can generate some ideas/brain storming and be passed along to someone who can implement any ideas that would be helpful.

My first thought is containment . . . we need to quarantine anyone leaving W. African countries for 21 to 30 days . . . this might sound extreme but we have to contain the spread of the virus (this could apply to US cities as well and should apply to those who have had contact with an infected person anywhere including the US). It would probably be worth setting up quarantine areas near airports that are a comfortable place to stay during the quarantine. Internet, TV, free food, easily disinfected, etc, etc . . .

So now we generally have the virus contained to W. Africa. Now we need to pour aid and doctors in to those countries to prevent further infections and stamp it out.

-Tom Frieden (CDC) is saying that a travel ban will make the outbreak worse . . .

-Here's his quote:

"We really need to be clear that we don't inadvertently increase the risk to people in this country by making it harder for us to respond to the needs in those countries," he said, "by making it harder to get assistance in and therefore those outbreaks would become worse, go on longer, and paradoxically, something that we did to try and protect ourselves might actually increase our risk."

Frieden added that a travel ban could make it difficult to get medical supplies and aid workers to the affected regions in West Africa.

Ummm, I think controlling people leaving the country can be done while at the same time increasing supplies and medical personnel. Volunteers are risking their life to go help, I don't think they would be deterred by a quarantine before they come back.

I'm asking for a simple quarantine for people leaving W. Africa and increasing travel and supplies to W. Africa I don't see how a quarantine for those leaving would affect supplies and Aid coming in . . . they could allow pilots and ground crews to leave and fly back as long as they aren't interacting with anyone on the ground . . . and medical staff should understand a quarantine period before leaving . . .

Treat infected personnel outside the US and other countries . . . setup a state of the art hospital in Africa to treat infected healthcare workers . . . this would further isolate the virus from un-infected countries. If this isn't possible I would treat them at a central location in the US initially till they can setup a central location in W. Africa.

Ok so we have limited people leaving W. Africa if they are infected and we are pouring in supplies and experts to help.

In the US we need to prepare better.

Sounds like lots of people were exposed in Dallas before the patient was quarantined.

All hospitals and urgent care should have an area, maybe even outside where they evaluate patients with fever and other ebola symptoms where they are isolated from other patients. Basically prevent an emergency room full of people waiting in the same room with an Ebola infected patient.

Counties should have special ebola response units. Basically an ambulance that is only used for transporting suspected ebola cases. Even some that might only be pick up only where they go by and the patient comes out and rides alone in the back . . . setup the ambulance where it can be disinfected easily . . . and then other ambulance crews where they have an EMT suited up in full bio gear to interact with the patient if needed.

Family members should immediately be moved to a new location for their quarantine, not confined to the location where the patient was . . . this location should monitor thei...

Compartmentalization is key to stopping an epidemic.

1.)

Quarantine health workers caring for ebola patients in high risk setting (contact to patient, infectious material)

like a tour of duty in the military:

you take the assignment and move into combined quarantine & work, no family contact, no contact to general population.

after your tour ends you stay in post-action quarantine until your incubation period has passed and you get the all clear.

Very important:

taking are of an ebola victim even in 1st world top tier medical facilities is - as shown by the cases which have developed in america and europe - still a high risk operation. Anyone willing to knowingly take that risk is brave. Imposing a quarantine on them still is the sane thing to do to curb secondary infections from the care givers to their families and the general population.

there is no place for talking down care providers on tv or media that they "breached protocol", e.g. they did something wrong and they are to blame. Just find out what went wrong, publish it, correct it. Help the victim. no blaming.

There would be no need for panic since you quarantine the heros giving care to the ebola victims thus stopping tertiar infections to get R_0 (spread of infection) down.

2.) research if ebola survivors carry an immunity to ebola. If they do, they are the most useful group at the frontline of care. Train the survivors and let them (with reduced risk to themselves) help.

3.) Anyone with contact to a victim into quarantine, not let them stay in the house in the rooms where the ebola victim lived. Extract them to proper facility. Desinfect the places where the victim stayed.

4.) get a Vaccine

5.) get a treatment