If the intention of the government of Sierra Leone today was to show the World Bank president, how effective its coordinating strategy has been in combating the Ebola virus, then Ebola must have had a different and shocking agenda.
As the World Bank chief arrived in Freetown today, the number of cumulative Ebola cases in the capital was fast making its way to an all time high of 2,223 ”“ an increase of 396 new cases in the last thirteen days.
Figures for the country as a whole was even less flattering for the man who controls the World’s finances, as the total number of cumulative confirmed new cases rose to 6,132 ”“ a massive 93 new cases recorded across Sierra Leone in one day, bringing the total number of new cases in the country to 691 in just nine days.
I don’t mean at all to undermine the seriousness of the situation in Sierra Leone, but I can’t help but note one really bad sentence in this article:
As the World Bank chief arrived in Freetown today, [b]the number of cumulative Ebola cases in the capital was fast making its way to an all time high of 2,223[/b] – an increase of 396 new cases in the last thirteen days.
STATISTICS FAIL!!
Ummm… Cumulative numbers of cases ALWAYS go up! There will always be a new “all time high” for cumulative cases.
But that said, it is true that the situation in Sierra Leone is getting worse. It’s just that cumulative cases is not the way to report that! The important detail is number of new cases in a given period, or percentage increase in cases.
Here are a few more helpful stats:
[blockquote]The World Health Organization states in the latest situation report that transmission remains intense in Sierra Leone. 537 newly confirmed cases were reported for 23-30 November, up from 385 the previous week. Freetown is still the worst affected area and transmission remains intense and persistent in all districts except the south-west. Treatment and isolation capacity is stretched in Port Loko and Freetown by the large numbers of new cases. Eight Ebola treatment centres are currently under construction around the country.[/blockquote]
See here:
https://www.internationalsos.com/ebola/index.cfm?content_id=397&language_id=ENG
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/situation-reports/en/?m=20141203
Sierra Leone will soon surpass Liberia in total number of Ebola cases. I’ll try to do a new post at Lent & Beyond and a new graph there soon. But URGENT prayer is truly needed for Sierra Leone!
I’ve got a new post including a graph up at Lent & Beyond:
https://anglicanprayer.wordpress.com/2014/12/04/ebola-still-increasing-in-sierra-leone-pray/
In the last month there have been:
433 new cases of Ebola in Guinea (avg. 14 cases per day)
1110 new cases of Ebola in Liberia (avg. 40 cases per day)
2553 new cases of Ebola in Sierra Leone (avg. 93 cases per day)
And yet now that there are currently no Ebola cases in the U.S. or Spain, the crisis risks getting bumped out of the headlines once again.
Please keep praying…
There’s a possible case airlifted into Emory, Atlanta, now, from Sierra Leone.
If this weren’t so frighteningly serious, the line that cumulative cases are headed for a high would be funny. From what I have been reading, authorities are begging people not to wash the bodies of the dead, and people aren’t listening.
Hi Katherine, I totally agree with all you’ve written. (And I confess I DID laugh at the line about cumulative cases…, couldn’t help it!)
The washing of bodies is definitely one of the main things promoting continued spread of Ebola. It was a factor in Mali with the cluster of cases in Bamako (mourners who washed the body of the Muslim Imam from Guinea…)
What’s also tragic in Sierra Leone is the number of doctors who keep dying. Looking at the latest WHO report, the death rate among health care workers in Sierra Leone is much higher than in the other countries (in terms of the percentage of infected HCWs who die). I’m not sure why a much higher percentage of doctors are dying in Sierra Leone, but surely it can only be making it harder to recruit staff!
One of the things MSF criticized the international response team for a few days ago was that there has been a lot of effort into building treatment centers, but few personnel volunteering to staff these centers!
I read an article recently about how to survive Ebola. The answer seems to be (1) taking acetaminophen, not NSAIDs, which could accelerate the bleeding and (2) as soon as the fever begins, drink a gallon a day of dissolved rehydrating salts solution. That’s hard to do, but patients who sip away in between bouts of nausea and get the full amount in are less likely to suffer the extreme dehydration and organ failure. IV fluids are helpful, but the fluid by mouth seems to be better.
And don’t wash dead bodies!