Five infections an hour in Sierra Leone. Ebola is winning. Yahoo/AFP

An aid worker in Sierra Leone. Yahoo/AFP

The charity, Save the Children, says that every hour there are five new infections of Ebola in Sierra Leone. Yahoo/AFP. The charity warns the rate could increase to ten infections an hour if nothing is done by the end of October. The group is desperate for more isolation beds for the many victims of  Ebola. Just last week 765 new cases occurred but only 327 beds were available throughout the country. Britain has pledged more beds but Save the Children says more must be done. Again, the number of cases has been "vastly under reported." Children especially have been hit by the epidemic, dying at home or in the streets. 

My Comment:

The case in the United States is dominating the media coverage, and for good reason, but it is important to not forget that West Africa is dying. I hadn't realized that the outbreak was quite this bad in Sierra Leone. 5 infections a day adds up to 840 new cases a week, and given the high fatality rate and the absolute lack of medical care, most of those people will die. And the rate of infection is almost certain to increase. 

Of course the scary thing is that the situation is much worse in Liberia then it is in Sierra Leone. If you look at the numbers directly it almost appears that Sierra Leone is worse but you must remember the country came off of a country-wide lockdown were hundreds of bodies and sick people were discovered. If Liberia did the same thing the numbers would not be even. There just isn't a good way to get a count of the numbers in Liberia. The situation is so dire they can't even tell how many people are dying. Both of these countries seem to be beyond hope now and I don't see the outbreak in either going away anytime soon. I almost wonder if it wouldn't be worth it to divert resources away from them to Guiana where the outbreak has a better chance to be contained....

And as a side note, I know I am covering Ebola a lot these days, but given the fact that it is all over the news, it's probably the most important story right now. Out of all the situations in the world now I think it is the biggest threat and therefore most deserving of coverage.