Questions for reflection and Perspective
Choose and respond to six of the following options. Your responses should provide in-depth information, ideas, and opinions. You may need to conduct research to answer some of the questions.
1. Compare and contrast a computer virus and a human virus. You may want to use a specific format, such as a Venn digram, to support your answer.
2. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has identified four different risk categories for people exposed to Ebola. Information on these categories is located at http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/exposure/risk-factors-when-evaluating-person-for-exposure.html. Review the risks listed in each category. Based on what you have learned about Ebola, do you agree with the CDC's categorization of the various risks? Why or why not? Choose one risk from each of the four risk categories and explain why this risk is placed in the listed category based on what you have learned about Ebola.
3. In 2014 there was another Ebola outbreak in Africa that is unrelated to the 2014-2015 outbreak in West Africa. This outbreak occurred in Boende, Equator, which is an isolated area in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Most people likely do not know about this outbreak. Why has it not been publicized like the 2014-2015 outbreak in West Africa? Which strain of the Ebola virus caused this outbreak?
4. People are intentionally going to countries where the Ebola outbreak is widespread to serve as doctors, nurses, aid workers, and reporters. What are the risks associated with being a heath care worker or a reporter in the Ebola outbreak areas in West Africa? Would you voluntarily travel to West Africa to serve as a health care worker or a reporter? Why or why not?
5. American aid workers who have been infected with Ebola while treating patients in West Africa have been flown back to the United States for treatment. Do you agree or disagree with this and why? Have these patients presented any dangers to the general public? Support your answer with data and information. Would your answer be different if you or one of your family were the sick person?
6. Several words were used in the videos on the "The 2014-2015 Current Outbreak" page on stigmatization. These words include prejudice, discrimination, ostracize, and stigmatization. Do these words all have the same meaning? How are these words similar or different? Should someone who is from Liberia, but living in the United States be shunned? Why or why not? What should happen to people who have recovered from Ebola? Should their families and communities accept them or not? How would you feel if you were some of the orphaned children shown in the videos? How should families, communities, and the world respond to these orphaned children? How do you feel about what you learned and watched on “The 2014-2015 Current Outbreak: Stigmatization” page?
7. A nurse in Spain contracted Ebola after treating patients who had Ebola. Officials euthanized her dog. Nina Pham, a nurse in the United States, contracted Ebola after treating a patient who was diagnosed with and later died from Ebola. Nurse Pham's dog was quarantined and monitored for Ebola symptoms and then released after 21 days. Which approach do you agree with and why?
8. In several of the videos, workers and areas in Africa are constantly being sprayed. What is being sprayed and why?
9. In one video, a young female joined a burial team in West Africa and earns $15 per day. Would you join a burial team? Why or why not? What if this was the only job you could find? Would you work on a burial team for $15 per day? Why or why not?
10. Why is contact tracing critical to the control of Ebola? The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that it may take six to nine months to stop the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Why will it take so long? What factors are contributing to the spread of Ebola?
11. Would you participate in vaccine trials on humans? Why or why not? What are the possible risks for people who participate in vaccine trials? What are the potential benefits of human vaccine trials? How do doctors know if a vaccine is successful?
12. Many cultures in Africa have funeral and burial practices that include communal washing of the deceased. Governments in the affected West African countries have banned these practices because they spread Ebola. Burial teams remove the dead and bury or cremate them. Even if you do not agree with or practice similar funeral and burial practices, consider how the people in Africa are affected by this mandated change in their practices and beliefs. Why are people in Africa hiding the dead or lying about how people died? How would you feel if you could not follow your traditions when a family member died? What would you do? Would you try to follow your traditions even if the government banned these traditions and practices? Explain your answers.
1. Compare and contrast a computer virus and a human virus. You may want to use a specific format, such as a Venn digram, to support your answer.
2. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has identified four different risk categories for people exposed to Ebola. Information on these categories is located at http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/exposure/risk-factors-when-evaluating-person-for-exposure.html. Review the risks listed in each category. Based on what you have learned about Ebola, do you agree with the CDC's categorization of the various risks? Why or why not? Choose one risk from each of the four risk categories and explain why this risk is placed in the listed category based on what you have learned about Ebola.
3. In 2014 there was another Ebola outbreak in Africa that is unrelated to the 2014-2015 outbreak in West Africa. This outbreak occurred in Boende, Equator, which is an isolated area in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Most people likely do not know about this outbreak. Why has it not been publicized like the 2014-2015 outbreak in West Africa? Which strain of the Ebola virus caused this outbreak?
4. People are intentionally going to countries where the Ebola outbreak is widespread to serve as doctors, nurses, aid workers, and reporters. What are the risks associated with being a heath care worker or a reporter in the Ebola outbreak areas in West Africa? Would you voluntarily travel to West Africa to serve as a health care worker or a reporter? Why or why not?
5. American aid workers who have been infected with Ebola while treating patients in West Africa have been flown back to the United States for treatment. Do you agree or disagree with this and why? Have these patients presented any dangers to the general public? Support your answer with data and information. Would your answer be different if you or one of your family were the sick person?
6. Several words were used in the videos on the "The 2014-2015 Current Outbreak" page on stigmatization. These words include prejudice, discrimination, ostracize, and stigmatization. Do these words all have the same meaning? How are these words similar or different? Should someone who is from Liberia, but living in the United States be shunned? Why or why not? What should happen to people who have recovered from Ebola? Should their families and communities accept them or not? How would you feel if you were some of the orphaned children shown in the videos? How should families, communities, and the world respond to these orphaned children? How do you feel about what you learned and watched on “The 2014-2015 Current Outbreak: Stigmatization” page?
7. A nurse in Spain contracted Ebola after treating patients who had Ebola. Officials euthanized her dog. Nina Pham, a nurse in the United States, contracted Ebola after treating a patient who was diagnosed with and later died from Ebola. Nurse Pham's dog was quarantined and monitored for Ebola symptoms and then released after 21 days. Which approach do you agree with and why?
8. In several of the videos, workers and areas in Africa are constantly being sprayed. What is being sprayed and why?
9. In one video, a young female joined a burial team in West Africa and earns $15 per day. Would you join a burial team? Why or why not? What if this was the only job you could find? Would you work on a burial team for $15 per day? Why or why not?
10. Why is contact tracing critical to the control of Ebola? The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that it may take six to nine months to stop the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Why will it take so long? What factors are contributing to the spread of Ebola?
11. Would you participate in vaccine trials on humans? Why or why not? What are the possible risks for people who participate in vaccine trials? What are the potential benefits of human vaccine trials? How do doctors know if a vaccine is successful?
12. Many cultures in Africa have funeral and burial practices that include communal washing of the deceased. Governments in the affected West African countries have banned these practices because they spread Ebola. Burial teams remove the dead and bury or cremate them. Even if you do not agree with or practice similar funeral and burial practices, consider how the people in Africa are affected by this mandated change in their practices and beliefs. Why are people in Africa hiding the dead or lying about how people died? How would you feel if you could not follow your traditions when a family member died? What would you do? Would you try to follow your traditions even if the government banned these traditions and practices? Explain your answers.