Kevin Hendrick 3/22/15
Biology Mrs. McClellan
Kim, Jim Yong. "The Path to Zero Ebola Cases." The New York Times. The New York Times, 12 Dec. 2014. Web. 24 Mar. 2015. “The Path to Zero Ebola Cases”
By Jim Yong Kim
I read the article, “The Path to Zero Ebola Cases”, by Jim Yong Kim, which describes the steps required to fully extinguish the Ebola epidemic in Western Africa. First, the author writes that resources need to keep being sent to Western Africa to aid the patients. Kim states, “For Senegal, the cost to treat one patient and all of his contacts was more than $1 million . For Nigeria, one infected person led to 19 other cases, and more than 19,000 contacts traced by over 800 health care workers at a cost of more than $13 million.” It will cost a lot of money, but to quell the spread of Ebola it is worth the money to the millions of innocent lives. The second and third steps are about the people tracking down the virus, and the scientists analyzing the data to see if Ebola is further spreading. The fourth step is that national agencies must adapt to the conditions of local towns, and if this is done right than the number of patients and their contacts will drop greatly. Finally, the fifth step is that not only regional groups need to keep fighting the virus, but international powers such as the United States and the United Kingdom need to keep sending resources to fight Ebola. If all these steps are taken, then one of the most fearsome epidemics in the Modern Age will be removed, and the scare of Ebola will end.
Although there has not been a case of Ebola in the United States, this affects me because Ebola has been spreading for almost a year now, and I believe that that is way too long for these innocent lives to be put at fatal risk. I chose this topic because I wanted to know how close we were to stopping the spread of Ebola. Obviously, this would have a momentous impact on the rest of the world, primarily Western Africa. If Ebola was extinguished, than that already devastated region could move on from this time of loss and tragedy.
Jim Yong Kim wrote an impressive article on what is still such a pressing topic in our world. I liked that he elaborated on each of the five “steps” which could help to stop Ebola, and also the statistics he gave on the disease. For example, he wrote, “More than 11 months into the crisis, thousands of people are dead and more than 17,000 have been infected.” I thought Jim could have given a background on Ebola and its effects, and also he did really expand on the specific resources necessary to stop the spread. Overall, Jim Yong Kim wrote a great article on an important topic that is affecting the lives of millions, and is in the sorrowful minds of billions.
You immediately get the idea established about the topic and get me interested. You provide a general background and details of the article to allow us to get an understanding of the article. When it comes to talking about providing care for the people with ebola, you make a strong argument to why we should provided the needed funding to aid these people. I was impressed by the use of information to help deepen the understanding of the article and the arguments you put in to support why we should try to fight ebola with what resources we can. The one suggestion is include some ways countries are trying to combat the ebola virus.
ReplyDeleteKevin all around gave a great intro to what the article was about, and what he was going to talk about. Kevin provided a great background, and was able to support his background with facts about Ebola and certain details that made me enjoy his current event. Kevin was able to give step by step analysis of how to stop the spread of Ebola. His use of detailed information made this easy to read and easy to follow. All around, I really enjoyed reading this current event because of how well it was written.
ReplyDeleteKevin did a great job getting me intrigued into his blog post, because he picked an article about solving Ebola not another case of it. There was a good amount of exposition, to create the scene for people that are not tuned in as much to this issue. Kevin also kept the idea that this post was about solving Ebola throughout the post. I was impressed by his use of facts and quotations, which gave his post credibility. I was also impressed by his ability to stay on topic about solving Ebola, since this epidemic is such a big issue it would have been easy for him to stray off of ideas for solutions. I don’t see much wrong with this post, so I would suggesting additions to it like giving examples of countries who are successful and unsuccessful against Ebola, or giving us other doctors’ point of views of how to solve this epidemic and then comparing them to Dr. Kim’s ideas.
ReplyDeleteWow Kevin. Ebola is quite a popular topic so in that way you picked an intriguing article. I especially enjoyed how you chose an article that discussed possible solutions for the virus rather than another shock story of an outbreak. In addition, I appreciate how you gave a little appetizer to the issue, so that there was enough background information for people who are not as up-to-date with this topic to understand. Another aspect of your review I was impressed with was your knack for intertwining quotes therefore displaying credibility in what you are writing about. Perhaps to add a little meet to your write-up I would have included contrasting views to Dr. Kim’s on how we may go about stopping the growth of Ebola, just for another perspective of what’s out there.
ReplyDeleteKevin and I did the same article and I thought Kev did a splendid job. He summarized the steps like a champ. He did an amazing job of connecting it to us and the article selection was superb. We can all relate to this terrifying disease.
ReplyDeleteI learned a lot about Ebola because I haven't been paying much attention to what has being going o with it lately. I stopped following it a few months ago and it is good to have it back on my radar.
Kev could have checked his facts a wee bit better. There has in fact been a case of Ebola in the states.