Amanda Boeing
HESA 110_Reflection Paper

The Ebola Scare

On almost every social media site, the word, “Ebola,” is mentioned in some way, whether people are making jokes or freaking out. When I first saw this word, I had no idea what it actually was or why it was such a big deal, so I did a little research to find out what all this hype was about. On MedPage Today, I found an interesting article, “Ebola: Dallas Patient Gets Investigational Drug,” written by Michael Smith. While reading this article, I not only learned about what Ebola was on the surface, but I also got a deeper look into the subject. Ebola, which is a disease that is high in West Africa and is exchanged through contact with body fluids, came to the United States, specifically in Dallas, from Thomas Eric Duncan, who is still in critical condition. Under the Emergency Investigational New Drug application, Duncan is receiving the drug, brincidofovir, “an oral nucleotide analog.” What exactly is brincidofovir? At first, the word just looked big and scary to me, but as I continued to read the article, I learned what it meant. It is a “broad-spectrum antiviral that is active in the test tube against a range of viruses” (Smith, 2014). It also derives from the drug, cidofovir. According to the article, the drug has also been given to other patients with different diseases, such as people without kidney or bone marrow toxicity, as well as it is in “phase III trials against cytomegalovirus in adult hematopoietic cell transplant” (Smith, 2014). The article then proceeds to list a few people who have acquired the disease, all new information to me. One America, Rick Sacra, became ill with Ebola while in West Africa, but was successfully treated in Nebreska, while to other Americans, Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, also caught the disease but were cured. In order to help stop the spread of Ebola in the United States, there are screenings at border crossings for people traveling from West Africa to test for Ebola. In Texas Governor, Rick Perry’s, opinion, the U.S. needs to have tighter screenings for these people. Considering I knew almost nothing about Ebola, this article taught me a lot. I was able to learn about the drug that they are giving a few Ebola patients. That information was definitely foreign to me; I have never even