The person is a nurse who cared for the Ebola patient, and had extensive contact with the patient while wearing personal protective equipment (PPE). At the press conference they said there was a break in protocol--that is, the nurse accidentally had an exposure, probably while taking off the PPE after contact. Medecins Sans Frontieres provides extensive training and repeated practice for health care workers in donning and doffing PPE before they ever are allowed to enter the Ebola ward. They also have staff who carefully monitor the process of donning and doffing, to make sure the barrier is complete when donning and to help the health care worker be sure they aren't contacting body fluids when taking the PPE off. I believe some Ebola wards have bleach spray to reduce infectivity of heavily contaminated PPE before attempting to remove it. The CDC should probably have better standards for what should be done to make U.S. hospitals ready to care for Ebola patients. It seems like so far they have said that because medical care is advanced here, any hospital can care for an Ebola patient using contact & droplet precautions. It might be a better idea to arrange to transport patients to special care centers (like the biocontainment unit in Nebraska) where everyone is very well-trained and where it is expected that caring for the patient will require huge amounts of time and generate huge amounts of waste that has to be specially handled and incinerated. Both MSF and the CDC itself offer extensive (3 full days) training in using the PPE to health care workers who are going to be caring for Ebola patients in Africa. Accounts of the training say that trainees practice putting on and taking off the PPE many times before they are able to do it correctly, consistently. The idea that any hospital in the U.S. is prepared to care for Ebola patients is flawed, because our hospital personnel are not getting this kind of training. By the time an Ebola patient is admitted there's no time for an in-depth 3 day training.Here is an analysis of the public health response to the first case of Ebola diagnosed in the U.S.:Ebola in the U.S.—Politics and Public Health Don’t Mix | Molecules to Medicine, Scientific American Blog Network
What is your stance on Ebola? Are you worried?
My stance is...hide your head in the sand if you want to. In my opinion the facts are we are the verge and on the 1st step of this possibly becoming a epidemic in the US within the next year. Recent polls show 60% of Americans agree with me, and 67% think the government and medical industry are not doing enough to protect America. The fact Obama said just over 30 days ago there would never be a Ebola case in the US and now there's been 3 and possibly 4. That the infected nurse was told to fly by the CDC against their own CDC rules and now all 142 on the flight may have been exposed and are being monitored. That 84 other people are in quarantine or being monitored from the other cases. That 2 victims were health care workers and that health care workers can't protect themselves much less the public. That all the medical establishment/ government is concerned with is not creating 'panic' and covering up the situation. Means to be they are lying...the facts are there for this disease to spread and spread rampant.
We provide physiologic support to keep the patient alive[1].The idea is to buy the patient's immune system as much time as possible so it can figure out how to target and clear the virus from the body. Here is a non-comprehensive list of some examples of symptoms and how they can be supported:Airway/breathing problems: supplemental oxygen; if severe, can consider intubationBleeding (significant): blood transfusion and correction of illness-induced clotting disordersDehydration: oral or intravenous fluid resuscitationFever: tylenolPain: tylenol if mild, opioids such as morphine if severeSeizure: anti-convulsant therapies such as AtivanVomiting: anti-emetic medications, intravenous nutritionAs of this writing there are not yet FDA-approved disease-specific vaccines or therapies for Ebola.The experimental therapy that has been making the news recently is "ZMapp", which has been shown to prevent death in Ebola-infected monkeys. It has been experimentally given to humans known to have Ebola with some mixed results thus far, but that was NOT in the context of a formal study, and hence more data is needed before definitive conclusions can be drawn. More info on ZMapp here: Questions and Answers on Experimental Treatments and Vaccines for EbolaMore articles, for those interested in primary literature:Hemorrhagic Fever VirusesEbola Hemorrhagic Fever and Septic ShockWHO Pocket Guide for the Front-line Health Worker[1] There is, of course, the caveat that if further resuscitation is medically futile and the patient is expected to pass away despite all available measures, then the goals of care should transition to making sure the patient is not in distress during this time.
What's the deal with the Ebola virus?
Ebolavirus is much less contagious than the flu. But unlike the flu, 50% to 90% who get sick with Ebolavirus will die. Yes, it is a very serious epidemic, with worldwide implications. And of course, the commercial Media are having a heyday with it. They do not bother to get the facts or to put any real thought into it. They spread rumors, misinformation, and thoughtless panic. They are using the Ebola epidemic, like they used the Malaysia airline tragedy, to inflate their profits. Ebola is a messy and horrible disease; if you look it up, you can see why health care workers are at risk, and get an idea of what kinds of precautions will be needed to prevent them catching it. Even so, even in western Africa where they often have little in the way of protective equipment, most caregivers are not being infected. The trick is to understand how bad Ebola disease is, how it can be transmitted, and not to panic but to look for solutions. As for now, though, it will get worse for a while, before it gets better. Even if they decide to release unproven vaccines [not a bad idea really; they are less dangerous than Ebola disease] it will take time to create the equipment to produce them in large quantities. And since Ebolavirus is primarily a disease of certain jungle animals, there will always be a chance of it breaking out again. er. Over 4,000 people have died of Ebolavirus in Africa, where it originated. That is not a small number, but most Africans even in the affected regions have not come down with Ebolavirus.
Will there be more Ebola cases in the US?
Possible, but not that likely. Most of the claims regarding Ebola are massively exaggerated by a combination of the press and general panicmongering. It is NOT considered a particularly infectious disease. Medical workers have to date been using only the basic, standard, hospital gown, face mask and gloves - NOT "Racal suits" or decontamination showers etc. They are now considering adding a disinfectant wash or shower to reduce the chance of infection by someone accidentally touching the outside of their gloves etc. as they remove them. That's believed to be how the medical staff became infected.
Ebola Virus!?
The media will cause people LIKE ME to do something horrific. That's their job. The Pharmaceutical complainers will make billions making a vaccine That's what they want. This virus was contained in the 70's Why not now This America is full of greed they send young men to die for them in made up wars like IRAQ. I am going to do something bad . I need help and the media is causes me stress and I do not have the and to get help for it. I hope wel all DIE> I HATE AMERICA I HATE AMERICA I CURSE AMERICA
Ebola virus from hot zone?
I figure what you are referring to is either a book or some movie/show, so I can't comment on the context, nor what the creator was thinking, but I can offer this piece of information: Ebola is not an airborne virus - it can only be spread through transmission of infected bodily fluids. It can apparently exist as suspended droplets, but viruses like these are often not transmitted in this manner (most Ebola outbreaks in Africa are through contaminated water supplies, or by physically coming into contact with an infected animal/person). Therefore, although it is probably a measure that anyone in real life would use, a respirator is probably not 100% absolutely required in most cases, which is probably why the creator did not include them. Hope that helps. =]
Why can't President Ebola react to any crisis?
What do YOU think he should do? I hear a lot of static and flak from Republicans, but I don't hear any ideas coming from them. I've heard (1) that we should ban flights from countries we don't like, (2) that we should shoot down planes if someone onboard develops a fever, and (3) that we should humanely euthanize anyone who gets Ebola. All those non-serious suggestions came from Republicans. The Republicans are committed to a program of all-out opposition to anything Obama does or says or wants. They want him to DO something, but anything he tries to do, they will react with the same predictable fake outrage. And they can't come up with workable alternatives because Obama has the annoying habit of going along with their plans, and then they have to turn 180 degrees and decide it's the worst idea ever. And God Forbid the CDC helps. Our govt. infrastructure for dealing with epidemics. Because that would mean that govt. actually DOES do some good things. And we can't have that, now, can we? 8^P