Ebola - Sometimes it comes back

Some time ago I posted a news release
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/05/08/ebola-is-living-in-an-american-doctors-eye/

Although the patient was not considered dangerous for the Ebola was inside his eye, it was still living and very contagious should it pass into his body fluids and he become symptomatic once again. Now everyone is getting excited about  the U.K. person re-admitted with Ebola after being cleared. Why is this a newsflash? 

We have, over the last few years watched people with Swine Flu, Avian Flu, and Norovirus unable to get rid of it and despite being cleared and told they were healthy, are still infected.

So what are the implications as far as Ebola in West Africa and the tens of thousands infected with it that were cleared? 

It's not over.  The symptoms could come back and it could spread outside West Africa and not only become epidemic but Pandemic.

None of this thinking is new. I have been posting how some people got Swine Flu and are still suffering years later with relapses and problems.

There is a process called symbiosis where a disease does not kill the host but just hides. Some very nasty forms of TB are like this. We have had parasites, and these are like viral parasites around for hundreds of millions of years.

Could viruses be getting smarter?  For one thing some of them can teach or communicate with other viruses or act together in infecting someone.

For one thing our tests for Ebola may not be that accurate. Just because a person gets a 'no' one time, may not mean much. Some people who tested negative came back and up to 3 times later finally tested positive. Some of this occurred after they were dead.

This presents a huge problem for the protection of the world in the sense if a person is carrying Ebola and is not symptomatic. Can they spread it? 

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/

The final question is - if they were symptomatic - then were pronounced cured - and then once again become symptomatic - is the virus in their system during that period contagious?

Bottom line is if this is true and so many people are still carrying it in West Africa - sometimes it comes back - and it will.

Medclinician

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2015/10/study-indicates-ebola-may-persist-semen-months

The release of two new studies today sheds new light on the threat of sexual transmission of Ebola by survivors, one hinting that the virus can persist in semen for as long as 9 months, and the other providing strong genetic evidence of sexual transmission.

Both studies appear in the latest online edition of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) and come at a time when medical issues in Ebola survivors are making headlines in the wake of a Scottish nurse who is now critically ill with Ebola complications after her initial hospital discharge in January.

Survivors can harbor the virus in immune-protected areas, such as the eyes and testes, but researchers haven't yet pinpointed for how long. Efforts are well under way in the outbreak region and elsewhere to assess the risks, including today's findings.

Though sexual Ebola transmission is thought to be rare, the risk has health implications for not only survivors and their contacts, but also for the control of the virus in outbreak regions. Of about 17,000 Ebola survivors in West Africa's outbreak, more than 8,000 are male.

Medclinician

Albert wrote: This has got to be beyond rare.  It's been over 9 months since Ebola peaked in cases, and they're now seeing around 50 cases per week for all of W. Africa, which tells me it's very rare.   And considering the sexual habits of the people in W. Africa, it's even more rare.  Was about a 20,000 - 1 odds for that Scottish nurse.  She had real bad luck.

There simply must be something else going on here. The most obvious conclusion is that a person is not cured from Ebola even when modern tests say people are in some cases. The question is - how many cases? Considering the outbreak in West Africa - and that this disease can be active and transmitted sexually for over a month after it is said to be cured - we do not need another HIV mistake.  Ebola has much too high a case fatality rate for them not to take every effort to contain it while that is still possible.

Medclinician