Ebola outbreak - general thread #1

[SweetT]

Coughing and sneezing produce droplets they have determined this virus can live outside a human host up to 32 hours..droplets can travel through the air or land on objects that are touched by the next person.. That's scary and I've never seen a house cleaner cleaning the er room after every patient

 

[sloane7777]

DR Sanjay Gupta just said on CNN the Friend stressed to the hospital he was from liberia and he could have been exposed and he was sent home with a z pak!

 

[nrdsb4]

Shimon Prokupecz ‏@ShimonPro 2m2 minutes ago
Associate of U.S. #Ebola patient says he contacted the CDC with concerns Dallas hospital wasn’t moving fast enough. http://cnn.it/YOXu2X

The close associate, who does not want to be identified because of the sensitivity of the case, said he contacted the CDC with concerns that the hospital wasn't moving quickly enough after Duncan's second hospital visit.

Okay, that doesn't make sense. His second hospital visit occurred when an ambulance brought him in under suspicion of ebola, according to the numerous reports I've heard on CNN today. This would make more sense if it occurred after his first visit to the ER, when he was subsequently sent home.

 

[Sonya610]

At that point he was allegedly complaining of vague symptoms such as fever and malaise. He was not actively vomiting or passing stool in the waiting room.

Yes, because 40 year old men run to the emergency room over a fever/feeling tired. Most of them wouldn't know if they HAD a fever!

He knew he had been exposed.

 

[nrdsb4]

Yes, because 40 year old men run to the emergency room over a fever/feeling tired. Most of them wouldn't know if they HAD a fever!

He knew.

I think it's very conceivable he knew. Why then didn't he say "I think this is ebola because, you know, a few days ago I carried a dying pregnant woman with ebola to the hospital." It's totally not making any sense to me.

 

[SStarr33]

Shimon Prokupecz ‏@ShimonPro 2m2 minutes ago
Associate of U.S. #Ebola patient says he contacted the CDC with concerns Dallas hospital wasn’t moving fast enough. http://cnn.it/YOXu2X

The close associate, who does not want to be identified because of the sensitivity of the case, said he contacted the CDC with concerns that the hospital wasn't moving quickly enough after Duncan's second hospital visit.

Whoever dealt with this in that hospital is seriously brain dead

 

[Uberfairy]

You don't transmit ebola simply by sitting in the same large room or "passing by" others. Why do people keep perpetuating this misinformation?

I've been in that ER waiting room many times. It's very large and people keep to themselves within it. There is no way that guy was slinging his body fluids around onto other people without them realizing it. At that point he was allegedly complaining of vague symptoms such as fever and malaise. He was not actively vomiting or passing stool in the waiting room.

You are assuming the guy is not coughing, sneezing, or blowing his nose. You are assuming he has not touched something, like a pen to fill out forms, and another person doesn't immediately use the same pen, touching the ever so slight amount of virus infected sweat from his fingers. One ebola outbreak came from a woman touching a rock in a cave and then her nose, as she tried to close her nostrils to the cave smell.

Once on a plane I had just boarded, a sick child passing by down the aisle coughed as she came to my row, as I was speaking to my husband. A little piece of spittle flew from the child's mouth directly into mine. Eewww! The mother apologized profusely. And, yes, I ended up getting sick. The good news was it wasn't ebola. So, please don't tell me Ebola can't be trans mitted by someone in the same room. It totally depends on the circumstances.

 

[Sonya610]

Coughing and sneezing produce droplets they have determined this virus can live outside a human host up to 32 hours..

Sheeshers 32 HOURS????

Guess we should be stocking up on gloves and masks (not sarcasm).

I do believe the virus is fragile and will die easily with virtually any type of disinfectant (I read the directions for coroners and such).

 

[Uberfairy]

I think it's very conceivable he knew. Why then didn't he say "I think this is ebola because, you know, a few days ago I carried a dying pregnant woman with ebola to the hospital." It's totally not making any sense to me.

Don't you think someone would have asked him, prior to boarding the plane, if he had been in direct contact with someone infected with the virus? Did that happen? Did he lie by omission to get to the states? Once here, he may have been in denial, hoping he wasn't infected. Does anyone know? Then, when he was ill, he went to the hospital and at the very least told them where he'd been. Why didn't any red flags go off? The staff was probably not on high alert, because we've been told ebola won't break out here.

 

[nrdsb4]

The good news is that sneezing and coughing is NOT a common symptom of people with ebola.

Insisting that this disease is easily transmitted to others who happen to merely be in the same large room doesn't make it true. The patterns of infection in Africa, even in the most hard hit areas, do not support that position.

It's very important to take this illness seriously, but I think some people will actually be disappointed to find out it doesn't fly across large rooms and attack people indiscriminately. Do people enjoy the drama?

 

[Sonya610]

Don't you think someone would have asked him, prior to boarding the plane, if he had been in direct contact with someone infected with the virus?

He was flying from Liberia? Heck no they wouldn't have asked him, it is LIBERIA not Germany.

 

[nrdsb4]

Don't you think someone would have asked him, prior to boarding the plane, if he had been in direct contact with someone infected with the virus? Did that happen? Did he lie by omission to get to the states? Once here, he may have been in denial, hoping he wasn't infected. Does anyone know? Then, when he was ill, he went to the hospital and at the very least told them where he'd been. Why didn't any red flags go off? The staff was probably not on high alert, because we've been told ebola won't break out here.

Medical people have NOT been told that ebola won't break out here. I'm a nurse in Dallas, and we have all been aware that as long as people are allowed to travel to the US from these areas, someone who was asymptomatic was going to end up showing symptoms once in the US and that infection was inevitable. I think what happened at this hospital probably has more to do with denial. They'd never seen ebola, they see people with these symptoms on a daily basis, etc. It's called complacency. ERs above all are constantly getting missives from the CDC on this kind of thing.

As much as it pains me to say it, there really is no excuse for what happened once that patient interfaced with the ER.

 

[SallyLu]

He definitely lied by omission! He speaks English and understands it. He could have used the words but he didn't.

It was an intent to deceive.

 

[SallyLu]

Medical people have NOT been told that ebola won't break out here. I'm a nurse in Dallas, and we have all been aware that as long as people are allowed to travel to the US from these areas, someone who was asymptomatic was going to end up showing symptoms once in the US and that infection was inevitable. I think what happened at this hospital probably has more to do with denial. They'd never seen ebola, they see people with these symptoms on a daily basis, etc. It's called complacency. ERs above all are constantly getting missives from the CDC on this kind of thing.

As much as it pains me to say it, there really is no excuse for what happened once that patient interfaced with the ER.

The ER issue bothers me but he could have volunteered the word "Ebola" but he didn't as his sick plan would be up. He wanted the ER to tell him and that didn't happen.

 

[SallyLu]

Please don't slam me for saying this out loud.

If he lives - the doors will open wide.

 

[SweetT]

They're out of zmapp so don't know what medicine they'll be using.

 

[SallyLu]

Last thing for today - I've never talked as much!

Stanley Gaye, president of the Liberian Community Assn. of Dallas-Fort Worth, said Duncan is his 50s and came to Dallas to visit his fiancee. He declined to provide the woman’s name, but said that she too is in her 50s and that she has two children at home.

Gaye spoke to the woman Wednesday and said she was at home, watching the news. “She’s upbeat. She’s doing well,” he said.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-ebola-texas-20141001-story.html#page=1

 

[1&2&3]

EL PASO — Troops from Fort Bliss will help combat the spread of Ebola in West Africa.
Nearly 500 soldiers from El Paso could be sent to Liberia to provide support for health care workers. The post is now notifying soldiers in the 1st Armored Division about their role in containing the Ebola epidemic.
As many as 490 troops from Fort Bliss could be deployed to Liberia. Their mission will be to provide logistical and transportation support for U.S. personnel and international health care workers.

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/loca...-africa-operation-united-assistance/16520033/

I could get really snarky right now but I'll be a good girl.

Don't want to tho":thinking:

This is horrific! Why are we exposing our troops to a deadly disease? War is bad enough, this is unacceptable!!!

Watch out, ebola will become an epidemic in the United States! These brave troops all have to have leaves - time off. Are they going to be quarantined for 21 days upon return to the USA to make sure they
are not returning with the disease? Of course not! Our government is not going to be that careful or pay them for the quarantined time. We are looking at a nightmare in the making.

My opinion only!

 

[sherbetjello]

Please don't slam me for saying this out loud.

If he lives - the doors will open wide.

Scary to even think about.

 

[trigger]

They have 2 weeks from today to wonder if they are next. Pretty awful. The fact that he knew he'd been in contact with a dying ebola patient-how could he bring himself to put his family members, children among them, at risk like this? I find it next to impossible to believe that he wasn't aware he was at risk. This is one of the more bizarre things I have ever read.

And there could be more people coming here once the news spreads.