I saw Ebola as both doctor and patient. I wish people cared more about the Africans I worked alongside

Summary: When You Survive the Ebola Ward, But a Common Cold Puts You in a Hazmat Suit 🤧🚨

Panel 1: Meet Dr. Krutika Kuppalli. She spends months fighting the largest Ebola outbreak in history in Sierra Leone, armed with strict PPE and a prized wraparound skirt with survivor handprints.

Panel 2: She flies back to the US, gets a little jet-lagged, and spikes a 100.8°F fever. Suddenly, it’s midnight sirens, full-body hazmat suits, and being locked in a glass isolation box for the whole world to watch.

Panel 3: The diagnosis? A literal common cold. But the contrast is staggering: the US mobilized a massive, high-tech emergency response for her sniffles, while her patients in West Africa barely had basic IV fluids or electricity.

Panel 4: The hard truth? The media hyper-focuses on Western doctors getting sick, while local African nurses and doctors face the real trauma, danger, and death with zero spotlight.

Kicker: With a new Ebola outbreak in the Congo, it’s time to stop treating local African health workers as invisible. Support the real frontline heroes! 🌍👏