Ebola outbreak - general thread #2

It seemed appropriate to have a general thread about this outbreak which has sadly affected so many people and is unprecedented in its scope.

I am a little surprised that interest in the outbreak which is nowhere near abating seems to have dwindled to nothing now that the US sufferers are back home and on the mend.

The latest WHO update pulls no punches about the fact that the outbreak has overwhelmed both local and international efforts and that the figures for cases and deaths are almost certainly a huge underestimate.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/ebola/22-august-2014/en/

WHO says Ebola outbreak underestimated because:

• Many families keep sick people at home, as there is no cure
• Many health centres have closed because medical staff have fled
• In Liberia, treatment centres are overwhelmed
• The existence of "shadow-zones", areas where there are reports of Ebola but which cannot be accessed because of local resistance or lack of staff

Click to expand...

For example in Monrovia, Liberia’s capital, an Ebola treatment centre with 20 beds, which opened last week, was immediately overwhelmed with more than 70 patients.

Click to expand...

In some rural areas, people are buried before being seen by PH or medics, thus potentially resulting in underestimated death figures. PH officials have taken to counting freshly dug graves in areas where Ebola is rumoured as a rough estimate of the death toll.

Because they know there is no cure, some families are loath to let their loved ones go to a distant impersonal treatment centre with the prospect of never seeing them again and knowing they will die alone and afraid with no human contact to ease their passing. They feel that their family members would rather die at home. Hugely dangerous given the features of the infection, but so understandable on a human level. What a choice to have to make.

On a more local level the latest suspected case in Ireland proved to be a false alarm, although this will be scant comfort to the victim's family since he was tested for Ebola following his death.

It is an interesting issue though - I have heard from a number of different sources that individuals showing symptoms which were extremely vague were treated as if they were definite, contagious sufferers of EVD. This resulted in them being put in isolation with no one wanting to have any contact with them. It later transpired (in some cases after the poor people had died) that they had a perfectly treatable condition and basically died due to panic and neglect. So in a way, they were also victims of the Ebola outbreak, even though they did not have EVD.

Second person in Dallas being monitored for Ebola:

http://www.whas11.com/news/Officials-Second-person-being-monitored-for-Ebola-277748751.html

DALLAS (GANNETT AFFILIATE) — Health officials are closely monitoring apossible second Ebola patient who had close contact with the first patient to be diagnosed in the U.S., the director of Dallas County's health department said Wednesday.

All who have been in close contact with the diagnosed patient are being monitored as a precaution, said Zachary Thompson, director of Dallas County Health and Human Services.

"Let me be real frank to the Dallas County residents: The fact that we have one confirmed case, there may be another case that is a close associate with this particular patient," he said. "So this is real. There should be a concern, but it's contained to the specific family members and close friends at this moment."

The director continued to assure residents that the public isn't at risk because health officials have the virus contained.

The patient left Liberia on Sept. 19 and arrived in Dallas the following day. On Sept. 26, he sought treatment at the hospital after becoming ill but was sent home with a prescription for antibiotics. Two days later, he was admitted with more critical symptoms, after requiring an ambulance ride to the hospital.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/01/texas-ebola-patient/16525649/

The patient was in contact with several children before he was hospitalized, health officials here said.

Each of those children have been kept home from school and are under precautionary monitoring, Thompson said.


There will be more from this, jmo. Let's see person comes in infected 6 days later goes to hospital and is sent home, has to go back to hospital 2 days later by way of ambulance and is admitted.
In the mean time the (kid/s) went to school and he was at the hospital and gawd knows where else in those what, 8 days. It's my opinion there will be more from this individual.

Continue discussion here...

1) Blogs must be approved before posting.
2) Snark, condescension and personalized posts need to cease.
3) Posts about the political aspects or ramifications need to be taken to the designated area on the forum.

Please adhere to the guidelines above or you may find yourself looking in from the outside for a brief time period.

So the family continued to wait, watching people come and go through the emergency room. All the while, the neatly folded blanket that hours earlier had covered the first person in this country to be diagnosed with Ebola lay on the chair next to Jallah. The virus can be contagious on surfaces from a few hours to a couple days depending on the material and exposure to sunlight.

Click to expand...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...d51488-4a5f-11e4-891d-713f052086a0_story.html

Bringing my post over from the other thread where I posted it, not knowing that the thread was closing.

Family that hosted Ebola patient under armed guard (http://www.nola.com/health/index.ssf..._most-comments)

DALLAS—" Four members of a family the U.S. Ebola patient was staying with were confined to their Texas home under armed guard Thursday as the circle of people possibly exposed to the virus widened..........

The unusual confinement order was imposed after the family failed to comply with a request not to leave their apartment, according to Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins."

Unbelievable. They have absolutely no concern for the public. All it takes is a few inconsiderate ignorant people to start a huge epidemic that could quickly spread around the nation and the world.

From other thread right before the door shut.

LinasK said:

Well I am glad the daughter Jallah called an ambulance for him, otherwise he would have died there, and noone would know it was Ebola. At least she had the common sense to recognize that his eyes were bloodshot and took his temperature.

Click to expand...

Oh it would have been bad if she hadn't have called. He would have gotten sicker and surely exposed and passed the virus on to others - if he hasn't already.

SwampMama said:

Bringing my post over from the other thread where I posted it, not knowing that the thread was closing.

Family that hosted Ebola patient under armed guard (http://www.nola.com/health/index.ssf..._most-comments)

DALLAS—" Four members of a family the U.S. Ebola patient was staying with were confined to their Texas home under armed guard Thursday as the circle of people possibly exposed to the virus widened..........

The unusual confinement order was imposed after the family failed to comply with a request not to leave their apartment, according to Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins."

Unbelievable. They have absolutely no concern for the public. All it takes is a few inconsiderate ignorant people to start a huge epidemic that could quickly spread around the nation and the world.

Click to expand...

And from the other thread: They were told they could go grocery shopping, that's probably where they were. The markets should be disinfected as a precaution.

SwampMama said:

Bringing my post over from the other thread where I posted it, not knowing that the thread was closing.

Family that hosted Ebola patient under armed guard (http://www.nola.com/health/index.ssf..._most-comments)

DALLAS—" Four members of a family the U.S. Ebola patient was staying with were confined to their Texas home under armed guard Thursday as the circle of people possibly exposed to the virus widened..........

The unusual confinement order was imposed after the family failed to comply with a request not to leave their apartment, according to Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins."

Unbelievable. They have absolutely no concern for the public. All it takes is a few inconsiderate ignorant people to start a huge epidemic that could quickly spread around the nation and the world.

Click to expand...

Hi swampmama
Please fix your link. It says 'page not found'. Thanks!

I cannot believe the ignorance of some people. This is not something to be ignored. This is honestly one of the plagues of the Revelation book of the bible to be held to accord. This is not a play and not something to be taken lightly. We are all at the verge of being in the mist of it. This man did something that no honest human being would do. He got on a airplane and exposed others to a dire infection that you can get from being next to someone. I really don't care what the CDC says about it. It is here now. Those kids went to school and you all know how kids spread infections. This is big time people. I cannot see how others cannot see this. Yes, I do think this is political. Sorry if I offend anyone with this, but if it were from the Philippines, or from Australia, There would be no question of if people were quarantined before they stepped foot on American soil. This is all political. Not only that, it is politically correct. PM me if you don't agree, as I am sure I will be banned after this.

Oct. 2 Press Conference w/ VIP
Watch As Texas Officials Battle Journalists During Tense Ebola Press

[video]http://bcove.me/nzi5uyab[/video]

Contractors who cleaned the porch of the affected building where the patient lives were not wearing any protective garments. A baby stroller stood close by the porch. The US is not very well prepared, especially private medical waste and cleaning companies.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/02/ebola-patients-waste-remained-texas-apartment-two-days

chipmunk said:

Contractors who cleaned the porch of the affected building where the patient lives were not wearing any protective garments. A baby stroller stood close by the porch. The US is not very well prepared, especially private medical waste and cleaning companies.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/02/ebola-patients-waste-remained-texas-apartment-two-days

Click to expand...

Not very well prepared is an understatement. Sounds like the only thing we can count on is our own immune systems.

Dayum. That was not a confidence inspiring press conference. At all.

In answer to a question about what hospital any second patient would be taken to, the answer was that they are "discussing it". When asked if the medical personnel who treated Patient #1 were going to be quarantined the answer was a vague "we're evaluating the situation". IMO these people came off as being defensive and irritated with the questions being asked by members of the media. And they cut off the questioning far too quickly.

As far as anyone telling the daughter, who had had direct contact with the patient, that it was okay to go to the store, that was ANOTHER screw up. SHE had direct contact with his body when helping him to sit up in bed to drink the tea she brought him. So why wouldn't she now be confined?

The black guy from the Dallas County Health Dept. seemed like he knows his stuff and came across much better than others.

I sure hope these folks get things under control. The Health Dept. should be taking the lead in this situation.

DALLAS (AP) — A woman who has been confined to her Dallas apartment under armed guard after a man infected with Ebola stayed at her home, said she never imagined this could happen to her so far from disease-ravaged West Africa. Louise Troh said Thursday that she is tired of being locked up and wants federal health authorities to decontaminate her home.

She said she and her family are "stressed" about being quarantined.
"Who wants to be locked up?" she said.

Troh was waiting for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to collect the bed sheets and towels that Thomas Eric Duncan used when he stayed at her home before his Ebola diagnosis.

A hazardous material crew arrived to decontaminate the apartment Thursday evening but didn't have the required permits to clean and remove hazardous waste, city spokesman Richard Hill said. The crew, contracted by the county and state, would return Friday to complete the job.

The family must be relocated before the cleanup can begin, Hill said. He had no information on where the family would go.

more at the link

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/59e0...9e7/family-hosted-ebola-patient-confined-home

People with direct exposure to Ebola, that's who "wants" to be locked up.

SMH

Peliman said:

DALLAS (AP) — A woman who has been confined to her Dallas apartment under armed guard after a man infected with Ebola stayed at her home, said she never imagined this could happen to her so far from disease-ravaged West Africa. Louise Troh said Thursday that she is tired of being locked up and wants federal health authorities to decontaminate her home.

She said she and her family are "stressed" about being quarantined.
"Who wants to be locked up?" she said.

Troh was waiting for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to collect the bed sheets and towels that Thomas Eric Duncan used when he stayed at her home before his Ebola diagnosis.

A hazardous material crew arrived to decontaminate the apartment Thursday evening but didn't have the required permits to clean and remove hazardous waste, city spokesman Richard Hill said. The crew, contracted by the county and state, would return Friday to complete the job.

The family must be relocated before the cleanup can begin, Hill said. He had no information on where the family would go.

more at the link

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/59e0...9e7/family-hosted-ebola-patient-confined-home

Click to expand...

Oh my gosh. You have got to be kidding me. You know...I do feel for the family - they did not ask to be in this situation, but at the same time they need to understand the gravity of the situation and understand that they are being quarantined (not locked up) for dang good reasons! Just WOW! And OH MY HEAVENS regarding the clean up crew! Seriously....they didn't have a permit to clean? They've known for 2 days now about this! What a MESS! I just hope that other cities are watching this closely and learning from all these mistakes and mishaps being made and learn from them so when the next city gets an Ebola case they can do a better job than Dallas is doing.

chipmunk said:

Contractors who cleaned the porch of the affected building where the patient lives were not wearing any protective garments. A baby stroller stood close by the porch. The US is not very well prepared, especially private medical waste and cleaning companies.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/02/ebola-patients-waste-remained-texas-apartment-two-days

Click to expand...

I do hope this first incident is a learning experience and that medical personnel and much of the public are paying attention.

What a mess the handling and logistics of this situation is. The errors, obstacles and how a town needs to prepare in advance should be written up in a case report. The report, along with a How To should be required reading of every elected official and city planners nationwide. ID resources in the community, get them trained now. It sound like the waste company didn't have a permit for this type of contamination? It makes sense if education about protective gear, etc is the reason for a nosiness to have a permit. But the permit can be supplied the next day?

Imagine how slow work would be in countries such as Liberia would be if a permit were need to clean each home, each building that's been exposed. Let's sleuth and find out what permit they're talking about exactly.

I do NOT believe the authorities told her they could go to the store, I think she is lying.

Did they authorities also TELL HER they could send the kids to school? Because they did that too.