Do Now Ebola

Ebola has been around for quite a while, with smaller outbreaks occurring every few years since its discovery. However, the most recent outbreak has been making headlines as it’s quickly become the largest and most deadly outbreak of the disease ever recorded.

Initially, the disease broke out in Ghana, a country in Africa, but it quickly spread to the neighboring countries of Liberia and Sierra Leone. The disease has continued to spread at an alarming rate, infecting well over 3,000 and killing over 2,500 people.

The disease has spread so quickly for a variety of reasons. Chief amongst them are cultural burial practices, social stigmas and the highly infective nature of the disease. Ebola is spread through bodily fluids, including blood, saliva, sweat and semen. Burial rituals require physical contact with the dead, through which bodily fluids are often inadvertently exchanged. These practices are a very important part of African culture, which means that people, especially in rural areas, have been understandably resistant to stop.

It is important for other nations to help to come up with preventative measures and a vaccine for Ebola. When more countries contribute to the quest to end Ebola, the process will go more quickly and the economic burden will be more spread out.

 

The spread of Ebola has affected how I think of medicine. It worries me that it’s taking so long to make a vaccine, because I’ve always held the unreasonable expectation that medicine can cure any disease. With a 90% fatality rate, Ebola obviously proves my ideal wrong. It also bothers me that there hasn’t been as significant of a push to eradicate Ebola as there would have been had it been in a “First World” country like France or England. Luckily, awareness has been spreading as the reputation of the disease has grown more sinister. No one wants to die after 7 days of constant hiccups, vomiting, rectal bleeding and fever.

For more information, here are some nice links.

WHO: Ebola Virus Facts

Center for Disease Control: Ebola Hemorrahagic Fever

History of Ebola

Pictures of Ebola Outbreak

Potential Occupation Related to Sports Medicine

I’ve always been interested in people’s injuries, especially since my mother is a medical-malpractice lawyer. There were times when I would come downstairs and sneak into her office to see the pictures that were laid out on her desk of the mistakes that doctors had made. On rare occasions, she was called upon to investigate cases of athletes who’s team physicians had not properly treated their injuries, and had permanent damage as a result. I think I would like to be a defense attorney when I grow up, and although it’s not exactly the same this as a medical-malpractice lawyer, I’m interested in all different types of law.

Medical-malpractice lawyers and personal-injury attorneys have to investigate all aspects of their cases. They also have to ensure that they are helping their clients move on with their lives and achieve the best possible result. These investigation require them to have knowledge of anatomic structures, and how trauma impacts the body. I think it would be interesting to have to combine knowledge of both medicine and the human body with law. I would also really like to help people move on with their lives.

In order to pursue this career, I would need to go to college and then apply to and attend law school. After law school, I would need to sit in on some cases in court and hopefully get hired by a law firm, where I would learn more procedure and tactics. I would also need to further my knowledge of anatomy and injuries, because this job requires both fields to be combined. If I didn’t go to a law firm, I would probably need to find a more experienced lawyer who could help me learn the things about law that aren’t covered in law school and to further develop my knowledge and perception of law. Personal injury lawyers often have a bad reputation, but if I were to be one I would make sure that I was always honest and only represent people who had actually been injured and who needed their life back.