Ebola Evacuations by Air

Here's a great story about an American company that specializes in transporting potentially infected medical personnel from the heart of Ebola country.

Despite much of the hype, Ebola - a disease that kills in a grisly manner - may not be that easily spread. If you don't touch a patient, you have a very low chance of being infected. That's not what I'm reading from many bloggers. One is Raconteur Report, who has been updating regularly on the Ebola situation for years.

My take? Don't panic, but don't travel into dicey places, either. Probably the best protection against any major epidemic is to maintain a healthy immune system; eat right, exercise regularly, stay away from crowds. Use good sense in hygiene - wash your hands, follow recommended food prep directions, when possible, grow/shoot your own food. Particularly with fresh fruits and vegetables, wash thoroughly, or, preferably, grow your own/source locally. Other countries use raw sewage as fertilizer, and may not have their production facilities inspected as rigorously as ours are (Hah! That's a joke - of COURSE they aren't all that sanitary!).

Most important? Let your kids get dirty outside. Don't scrub them within an inch of their lives, and lay off the hand sanitizer. Use soap and water instead. Seriously - just water alone with remove all but a fraction of the pathogens, and soap just increases the effectiveness of the rinse.

Hand sanitizers contain alcohol - a LOT of alcohol, which is drying to the skin. That leads to tiny cracks in the skin surface, which is an entranceway for pathogens. Instead, finish hand washing with lotion, which will lightly coat the surface, and provide a protective barrier.

RSS Feed