By Chris Brosey-
Ebola has been the cause of a recent media scare, and doctors in Louisville want residents to have accurate information about the disease. Dr. Ruth Carrico, an infection control expert with UofL Physicians and one of 14 people on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee, provided concrete answers to questions about Ebola.
According to multiple U of L students, Ebola is not a major concern.
“Honestly, I think it is just another thing that the media is trying to blow out of proportion,” said freshman Evan Partenheimer. “I have a lot more important things to worry about.”
A recent graduate of Louisville, Brian Baxter, said that Ebola is not even a distant worry.
“I think if any college student has time to worry about Ebola, then he must not be working very hard,” he said. “Ebola is the last thing on my mind and I know none of my friends are worried about it either. Students should focus their time on more important things.”
Carrico shares the same opinion as the students.
“Despite what the news wants you to think, there have been no deaths from Ebola yet amongst Americans. There have been handfuls that have contracted the disease but most have recovered and others are still fighting,” said Carrico.
One Liberian national, Thomas Eric Duncan, died of the disease on Oct. 15 in Texas.
“There is value in having good health before the disease, as that gives you a much better chance at fighting it,” said Carrico.
“Anytime a disease is out of control, we need to have some level of concern. However, we need to balance our concern with reality. Ask yourself what you can do to protect yourself. Be realistic about the disease. Every year people die from the flu in our country simply because they do not get a flu shot. We are not concerned about flu every single day like we are with Ebola, and yet statistically the flu has been drastically more deadly.”
