Ebola outbreak - general thread #1

[trigger]

Isn't it airborne when someone sneezes? Then wipes their nose with their hands ? Then they touch the seat or table or doorknob? Its a bodily fluid.

How many people have tissues with them on a airplane?

 

[Dogface]

It is spread through bodily fluids/medical equipment but requires contact with an open membrane site(broken skin), or via mucus membranes. There are other modes of transmission, via animal, but those are not likely to be an issue here. One of the reasons it's spreading so quickly in Africa is the fact that a lot of those dying from it are still being buried by relatives and prepared in a traditionally fashion. Health squads have been attacked while trying to bury people in a safe manner.

 

[trigger]

Lol found this article about Ebola-

Could There Be an Outbreak in the U.S.?
Although movies and books describe major outbreaks of Ebola-like disease in the U.S., they're just fiction. So far serious Ebola cases have only shown up in Central and West Africa.

The CDC says there’s no significant risk of Ebola in the United States. It has strong safety measures in place for people who have Ebola and are brought to the U.S. for treatment.

http://www.m.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/ebola-fever-virus-infection

 

[Dogface]

I have a family member who works at cdc, and while they may have a calm front it is a serious concern. It isn't likely to reach an epidemic level, but, we have to be better at pinpointing individuals who may have this. A hospital discharging someone who is presenting symptoms and was from an area of concern is a huge slip up. I understand how it happened, however, it should come as a serious wake up call to those in the field.

 

[fruity]

There's no reason why people flying into the US from Africa can't be screened for elevated temperatures. In some countries when Avian flu was a risk, there were heat sensors which each passenger passed through to ensure they were not actively infected with Avian flu.
Ebola would be detected as fever is the first sign of the illness.
Other people with fevers would also be scrutinized, but the case here in TX could have likely been detected if we had body temperature screening for people coming from areas of active infection.

Yes, all US hospitals with up to date infection control measures should be able to safely care for a few Ebola- infected persons. I say " a few" because with something as deadly as Ebola, the nurses taking care of the Ebola- positive patient should not have any other assigned patients to prevent accidental cross- contamination, which does not occur in a " perfect world" but does occur in practice because humans aren't perfect.
Negative- pressure isolation is said to not be needed for Ebola treatment as it is not a respiratory- borne illness. Direct contact with secretions ( blood or other bodily fluids) is required for transmission according to the CDC conference here in TX today.

BBM

The news is reporting that this man was screened before he flew to the US.

The man, who was visiting relatives in the United States, was not ill during the flight, health officials said at a news conference Tuesday evening. Indeed, he was screened before he boarded the flight and had no fever. Because Ebola is not contagious until symptoms develop, there is “zero chance” that the patient infected anyone else on the flight, said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the disease centers. Ebola is spread only by direct contact with body fluids from someone who is ill.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/01/h...-ebola-is-under-treatment-in-dallas.html?_r=0

 

[Dogface]

The issue is the relatively long incubation period...you contract it and don't present with symptoms right away typically.

 

[fruity]

The issue is the relatively long incubation period...you contract it and don't present with symptoms right away typically.

Yes but they're saying that if you don't have symptoms you're not spreading it. Or am I missing something else? (totally possible. I have been sick and I'm sleep deprived).

 

[jjenny]

The issue is the relatively long incubation period...you contract it and don't present with symptoms right away typically.

Even after he had symptoms here in US, and went for treatment, Ebola was not recognized and he was send home. Somebody has a lot of explaining to do. Did they ask his travel history as they are supposed to?

 

[Yoda]

There are only four units in the country capable of isolating Ebola patients (as we were told when Dr. Branly was flown over here).
I don't believe Dallas is one of them.

There are four places in the United States set up to handle a patient sickened by the Ebola virus, and Missoula is one of those.

The three rooms are qualified to handle Level 4 safety concerns.
Level 1 has protection against things generally not dangerous to healthy people, like brewer's yeast.
Level 2 is the safety margin of the standard hospital microbiology lab, where clinicians test for routine diseases like chicken pox or staph infections.
Level 3 spaces can handle infectious diseases spread by air, like influenza, bubonic plague or yellow fever — that have known cures.
Level 4 units are for exotic agents that may or may not have cures available, or appear in highly concentrated or modified forms from a research institution.

The other U.S. sites cleared for Ebola treatment are in Bethesda, Maryland; Atlanta; and Omaha, Nebraska

https://www.ksl.com/?nid=151&sid=31778124&title=missoula-hospital-1-of-4-equipped-for-ebola-virus

 

[Yoda]

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings confirmed an EMS crew and ambulance that was used to transport a patient now confirmed to have the Ebola virus in Dallas has been isolated.

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2014/09/30/dallas-mayor-ems-crew-and-ambulance-used-in-ebola-case-isolated/

 

[Mzkity62]

This is the most outrageous thing I have heard in a long time. I knew when they first started talking about Ebola being so bad in Africa then sending people here to be treated that it wouldn't be long before it was on American soil. This is very scary stuff. I don't mean to set off a panic, but come on......how are they going to contain it now???? How many people was this man in contact with...the flight, the ER, going home, then to the ER again. This can become widespread very quickly. Dallas is a place that people come in and out of a lot. Next we will see a case in another region.

 

[WillenFan21]

What about the doctor that this guy went to when he was showing symptoms?? I mean what if that doctor has the bacteria on him/her and also has been seeing other patients. Hell even the guy going to the doctor could have passed it on to people in the waiting room or the staff there. Not good.

 

[WillenFan21]

This is the most outrageous thing I have heard in a long time. I knew when they first started talking about Ebola being so bad in Africa then sending people here to be treated that it wouldn't be long before it was on American soil. This is very scary stuff. I don't mean to set off a panic, but come on......how are they going to contain it now???? How many people was this man in contact with...the flight, the ER, going home, then to the ER again. This can become widespread very quickly. Dallas is a place that people come in and out of a lot. Next we will see a case in another region.

My thoughts exactly... The fact that this man was sent home when having symptoms is not good because god knows how many people he's been in contact with since then.

 

[trigger]

The CDC has failed us . This. Government has failed us . Why in the world are we allowing anyone come into the United States from, Liberia or anywhere with a outbreak of Ebola? Why?

They can't protect the White House and they cannot protect us from Ebola now . I fear this is just the beginning of the end.

 

[jjenny]

The CDC has failed us . This. Government has failed us . Why in the world are we allowing anyone come into the United States from, Liberia or anywhere with a outbreak of Ebola? Why?

They can't protect the White House and they cannot protect us from Ebola now . I fear this is just the beginning of the end.

Not only that, this patient showed up for treatment after showing symptoms and instead of isolating him, he was send home. For two more days. Doctors here can't even recognize Ebola despite all the warnings.

 

[jjenny]

Yes but they're saying that if you don't have symptoms you're not spreading it. Or am I missing something else? (totally possible. I have been sick and I'm sleep deprived).

I think the point dogface was trying to make, is that during the incubation period those infected with Ebola can travel long distances. Like this patient did. So screening them in the airports is not going to be all that effective, since they might not show symptoms yet. They should have stopped allowing people from infected regions to come in if they wanted to prevent it from spreading.

 

[nrdsb4]

This is the most outrageous thing I have heard in a long time. I knew when they first started talking about Ebola being so bad in Africa then sending people here to be treated that it wouldn't be long before it was on American soil.

This event in Dallas has absolutely ZERO to do with the patients who were brought into Atlanta to be treated. Absolutely zero. If those patients had never been brought to Atlanta, it would have had no impact on this guy's ability to get into our country after being infected but not symptomatic.

 

[1&2&3]

Okay, this is for those who say a regular isolation unit will suffice. How many workers in the hospital will come down with Ebola? I hope the number is zero! Personally, I just don't believe that will be the case. If I had a family member in that hospital, I would demand they be transferred.

The ugly MRSA, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, got its foothold in hospitals due to unsanitary conditions. A known by hospital staff, but no one wants to admit it or even discuss it. To this day, it is one of those things that is passed off as if "no big deal". However, if you or someone you know has it, it is a nightmare! Therefore, my doubts as to how well this Ebola case can be contained is zilch!

I hope I am wrong. . . .

ETA: Doctors are still not recognizing MRSA in its initial stages after all these years. So they need to get on the ball with Ebola symptoms!

 

[jjenny]

The ambulance crew that transported him to the hospital is now in quarantine (is this the first time? the second time?). Ambulance remained in service for two days after he was transported (per cnn).
He is in Dallas, which doesn't have one of the four super special Ebola isolation units.
He was out for at least four days after experiencing symptoms.
He went for treatment the first time but was send home.
None of it is good.

 

[danzn16]

Not only that, this patient showed up for treatment after showing symptoms and instead of isolating him, he was send home. For two more days. Doctors here can't even recognize Ebola despite all the warnings.

Ebola symptoms early on are the same as the flu. And we are entering flu season now. We are not going to be able to tell who has the flu and who may have Ebola until it is advanced. It is a horrible time for this to happen. And if more people come down with it it is going to be disastrous.


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