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Message Subject Theoretical Ebola spread and death based on 1.86 infection rate monthly.
Poster Handle Anonymous Coward
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Worrying indeed, but I fear you are greatly underestimating the crisis. The rate of spread is going to go exponential. We have no idea of the real numbers in the epicentre of the current outbreak, but they are likely much, much higher. Now that the virus has reached major cities, and much more mobile populations, and now that it has been admitted it spreads during the incubation period, then it has to go exponential, not linear.

We already know that the guy who flew into Lagos infected at least three people, but they are suspicious of many more. But anyway, lets be ultra conservative and say he just infected two people. And then they each infected just two people (given that you have three weeks to infect before you know you are infected yourself, then it seems an absurdly low number). Then, by the end of August this year we should be somewhere around one and a half billion infected.

The linear model of spread is unrealistic because it assumes that something is going to be limiting the spread - because the infection rate will naturally increase as more people get it, thus going exponential - but in your model something is holding back that increase. In past outbreaks, or in outbreaks of other viruses that are treatable, then there can be retarding factors like that, but Ebola, when given an unlimited amount of fuel (ie. people) has no effective retarding factors other than effective quarantine. The quarantine can be natural (as in isolated villages etc) or man-made. Up until the point that the virus hitched a ride on board an airliner to a major city, such as Lagos, then although it was spreading, there was a natural retardation in the fact that the populations it was spreading through were poor, not very mobile, and confined mostly to that region of west Africa including Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. This meant that although the numbers were rising, they were rising in a slowed manner.

Now, however, the virus appears to be in developed countries. We are seeing the vanguard infected developing symptoms now - but they were likely infected weeks ago. So, considering the average citizen of western countries, especially those in cities, comes into close proximity/contact with hundreds, if not thousands of people per day, then it becomes absurd to believe that the average infected is not going to give it to more than two other people in the three weeks that they are incubating the virus. This is quite apart from anyone they infect whilst they are showing full Ebola symptoms.

This is now about social physics. I will be accused of fear mongering for saying this, but it isn't. It is just looking at the physics of the situation. We can wish it away, or try to believe the downplay of the officials, but this is the nightmare scenario that many people have talked about for decades. In all previous outbreaks there have been retarding factors in the spread. Those are now gone. You can't quarantine something at this point because it would be impossible to figure out who to quarantine. The fact is that the infected are likely all around us right now. I may be infected, you may be infected. We won't know until the obvious symptoms develop, and that could still be weeks away for millions of people.
 Quoting: Anonymous Coward 53990064


I agree that the x1.86 multiplier can change but that is where it is statistically today based on the current information hence why it gives a theoretical forecast.

There was a thread discussing that it spiked to %346 percent infected:
Thread: Ebola Cases increase by 345% in 4 days!!

So here is a recalculation increasing the Rate of Infection ROI to 5% each month and let's see what happens.

Mar, 2014 - Infected: 104 Dead: 62 ROI: 1.86
Apr, 2014 - Infected: 203 Dead: 122 ROI: 1.95
May, 2014 - Infected: 417 Dead: 250 ROI: 2.05
Jun, 2014 - Infected: 898 Dead: 539 ROI: 2.15
Jul, 2014 - Infected: 2,031 Dead: 1,218 ROI: 2.26
Aug, 2014 - Infected: 4,821 Dead: 2,892 ROI: 2.37
Sep, 2014 - Infected: 12,016 Dead: 7,210 ROI: 2.49
Oct, 2014 - Infected: 31,448 Dead: 18,869 ROI: 2.62
Nov, 2014 - Infected: 86,421 Dead: 51,853 ROI: 2.75
Dec, 2014 - Infected: 249,365 Dead: 149,619 ROI: 2.89
Jan, 2015 - Infected: 755,513 Dead: 453,308 ROI: 3.03
Feb, 2015 - Infected: 2,403,461 Dead: 1,442,077 ROI: 3.18
Mar, 2015 - Infected: 8,028,264 Dead: 4,816,958 ROI: 3.34
Apr, 2015 - Infected: 28,157,589 Dead: 16,894,553 ROI: 3.51
May, 2015 - Infected: 103,695,185 Dead: 62,217,111 ROI: 3.68
Jun, 2015 - Infected: 400,969,208 Dead: 240,581,525 ROI: 3.87
Jul, 2015 - Infected: 1,627,993,821 Dead: 976,796,293 ROI: 4.06
Aug, 2015 - Infected: 6,940,388,486 Dead: 4,164,233,092 ROI: 4.26

If the multiplier grows even at 5% each month, it gives us less than a year before the entire planet is infected, much less time to resolve the problem et al.

I do believe this is airborne based on the 100+ protective gear health workers infected. That tells me it's far more contagious than what the CDC/WHO claims.

Without accurate data this is all speculation but something to put some perspective on how fast and crazy it could be.

Since this is a little script I programmed, I added in a multiplier of 1.05% to the original +5% increase per month on the ROI... it's far more doomworthy if what you say is correct that the multiplier grows exponentially too.

Mar, 2014 - Infected: 104 Dead: 62 ROI: 1.86
Apr, 2014 - Infected: 203 Dead: 122 ROI: 1.95
May, 2014 - Infected: 438 Dead: 263 ROI: 2.15
Jun, 2014 - Infected: 1,092 Dead: 655 ROI: 2.49
Jul, 2014 - Infected: 3,308 Dead: 1,985 ROI: 3.03
Aug, 2014 - Infected: 12,791 Dead: 7,674 ROI: 3.87
Sep, 2014 - Infected: 66,280 Dead: 39,768 ROI: 5.18
Oct, 2014 - Infected: 483,273 Dead: 289,964 ROI: 7.29
Nov, 2014 - Infected: 5,206,195 Dead: 3,123,717 ROI: 10.77
Dec, 2014 - Infected: 87,006,523 Dead: 52,203,914 ROI: 16.71
Jan, 2015 - Infected: 2,368,515,378 Dead: 1,421,109,227 ROI: 27.22
Feb, 2015 - Infected: 110,276,479,124 Dead: 66,165,887,474 ROI: 46.56
 
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