A long year.

Hello all,

True to its title, this blog has indeed had a rocky few months. My posts have been sporadic at best, but with Summer in full swing, if only in name and not in terms of glorious sunshine, it is high time to coax this blog into some semblance of order.

So, where to begin?

My time has been consumed rather callously by those pesky exams over the last few months, along with all the other crucial aspects of my life that will eventually form the basis of my application. It has been without doubt, hectic, challenging and not a small bit terrifying, but the end is nigh. Well, sort of.

The seemingly insurmountable hurdles that take the forms of aptitude tests and personal statements are still looming, however, as I said, the end is nigh. I have, of course, undertaken the customary race across the country to open days near and far, and all of these abstract longings for a career in medicine are seeming to become tangible.

In short, and to make sense of my ramblings, I shall be continuing this blog, and I will try to keep my posts fairly regular, in-between the arduous UKCAT revision.

Ben.

A voracious virus- Is Ebola the route to ruin?

The word “Ebola” has been thrown through news stories for weeks, gathering speed within the international community, yet not instigating any real action. Is now the time for action?

The Ebola epidemic that has formed in west Africa, began it’s journey as an isolated case within Guinea, in 2013. This isolated incident should have been stopped; the lifeline of this abhorrent affliction should have been severed. Immediately. And yet, now, in 2014, the “isolated incident” has spread it’s claws throughout western Africa, inhabiting it’s usually doomed hosts across Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal.
The virus itself first begins to show symptoms within it’s hosts between 2 days and three weeks after contraction. Symptoms first appear as headaches, a fever, sore throat and pain within the muscles. As the virus develops, the symptoms become both more pronounced and difficult. The liver and kidney function within the body decreases fairly severely, in conjunction with vomiting, diarrhoea and a rash. This eventually progresses to internal and external hæmorrhaging and if untreated, death. The Ebola virus is passed through the body fluids; there has been no evidence found to suggest that the virus can be transmitted via the air. The virus is thought to have originated within bats, yet unlike in humans, it has no detrimental affects upon its host.
I think it is high time to brush the cobwebs from my unloved comments section, and get some of your views.
So I ask you this: do you think the Western powers responded to the outbreak in the right way? Do you think more money should be given to foreign health care systems to combat the viruses of the future? Please share your views, as they are more than welcome!
All the best,
Ben.
P.S. I apologise for any typos, this has been written primarily via a phone.