Thursday July 31, 2014 (foodconsumer.org) -- According to news reports, more than 600 people have been killed by a virus called ebola. The virus is highly lethal and it kills 60 to 90% of infected people. There is no known preventative that can be used to prevent the infection of ebola. The ebola virus is said to act like HIV except that it seems more virulent and aggressive.
What can people do to minimize the death risk from ebola infection?
The best thing to do is to prevent the ebola infection in the first place. To prevent you from contracting the ebola virus, it is important for you to know that the virus can spread through the air or aerosols. That is, when a patient is talking, those small saliva droplets from his mouth can carry enough viruses to transmit the virus. Naturalnews.com reports that one single virus can be sufficient to cause the infection and fully protected medical doctors have been infected with ebola.
Direct physical contact can be another route via which ebola can spread from one person to another. Therefore, it is very important to practice good hygiene to reduce contract the virus.
Some sanitizing agents can be used to kill the ebola virus, Mike Adams at naturalnews.com suggests. These agents include bleach like hydrocide that is commonly used by barbers to sterilize clippers and combs etc. Food grade hydrogen peroxide and povidone iodine may also help even though they may not be strong enough to completely eliminate ebola. UV light fixtures may be used indoors to kill airborne viruses and UV rays ae known to kil;l ebola.
Thinsg to do to boost the immunity to lower risk of death from ebola infeciton
Taking antiviral dietary supplements may not help a whole lot in preventing ebola from spreading, but may reduce the risk of death from the infection. After all, the virus has not caused death in 100% of infected patients and a person's immunity can be important in determining his risk of dying from the ebola infection.
Previous studies have suggested people some dietary supplements can help enhance the immunity against viral infections. Earlier, Z. Maggie of Central South University in Changsa China and colleagues have released a study suggesting that selenium, vitamin D, vitamin B, C and E supplements, and multivitamins can help children with HIV/AIDS.
Selenium as an antioxidant neutralizes free radicals and boosts the immunity against viral infections. Vitamin D, which is known to be important in generating antibacterial peptides can delay the transmission of HIV from mother to children and reduce risk of stunted growth in children. Vitamin B, C and E supplements also delay the progression of HIV in children, reduce oxidative stress and cut the HIV viral load.
On the other hand, the authors suggest that some dietary or nutritional supplements can do more harm than good to children with HIV/AIDS. The potentially detrimental supplements include vitamin A and zinc.
Vitamin A is known to boost the risk of death of children with HIV/AIDS who acquired the viral infection via breastfeeding. Zinc is known to promote the production of infectious viruses through its action on reverse transcription.
Some herbs may also help. According to naturalnews.com, andrographis, echinacea, black elderberry and ginger root possess antiviral properties and they may cut the risk of mortality from the ebola infection.
A recent study suggests that another antiviral supplement called spirulina may also help fight viral infections. Spirulina is high in all all sorts of nutrients including B-complex vitamins, minerals, proteins, antioxidants such as vitamin E, trace elements and other bioactive compounds, according to a study led by Kulshreshtha et al. from School of Studies in Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Jiwaji University in Gwalior-474011, India.
Other things that may reduce the immunity against viral infections include sleep deprivation, consumption of junk foods, smoking tobacco, physical inactivity, lack of sunlight exposure, nutritional deficiencies, chemotherapy and radiotherapy indicated for cancer treatment, exposure to pesticides, herbicides, glyphosate and other agricultural chemicals, and consumption of GMO, according to naturalnews.com.
It is not known how effective these anti-viral supplements are at preventing ebola from spreading though. But they may help reduce the risk of death when a person has contracted ebola virus. (David Liu, PHD)
References:
/dietary_supplements_hiv_aids_0725120341/
Kulshreshtha A, Zacharia AJ, Jarouliya U, Bhadauriya P, Prasad GB, Bisen PS. Spirulina in health care management. Curr Pharm Biotechnol. 2008 Oct;9(5):400-5.
http://www.naturalnews.com/046260_Ebola_natural_cures_medicinal_herbs.html
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