Everybody is talking about Ebola at the moment and there are lots of misconceptions and untruths about the virus in the media.
NHS Choices have a useful article about the illness and the BBC have written many articles about it as well. However, here are a few facts about it.
The current outbreak was first reported in Guinea in March 2014, but Ebola was first documented in 1976. There is no cure or no vaccine currently available for it, although scientists are currently working on some experimental treatments.
Ebola isn’t an airborne virus, you can only contract it from touching the blood, fluids or organs of an infected person. It is speculated that Ebola was first present in fruit bats, who passed it on to mountain animals who humans caught it from them through handling them after they’d died.
The symptoms of Ebola usually show up approximately a week after a person becomes infected, but can be quick as quick as 2 days and sometimes up to 3 weeks after contraction. Signs to look out for include fever, headache, sore throat, muscle weakness and joint and muscle pain. Diarrhoea, rash, vomiting, stomach ache and impaired liver and kidney function follow, before a person begins bleeding internally and occasionally from the ears, eyes and mouth.
To reduce your risk of contracting Ebola, don’t have unprotected sex, avoid anyone who has symptoms of Ebola, don’t eat bushmeat or handle dead animals and wash your hands as much as possible. As we said, the risk of getting Ebola is very low in the UK, so do not panic.
People in England shouldn’t panic about Ebola. The UK is far better prepared than countries in Africa to deal with the virus and our health facilities are superior too.
If you are worried about Ebola, speak to a pharmacist at one of the many Sykes Chemist branches across the country.
