Ebola outbreak - general thread #2

[trigger]

The DOT and CDC have disagreements on how to dispose of infected waste. There was a meeting with both agencies in August, if I remember correctly. So what was the outcome.? I remember reading that CDC in W Africa bought 350 plastic containers with lids to seal the waste. Why was the contaminated sheets/towels left in plastic bags in their apartment??????

 

[SCHMAE]

My family and I have been mostly doctor and medicine free for about 6 or 8 yrs. We do almost all herbal and homeopathic for flu/ colds, etc. I'd suggest everyone look into such just for a plan B. ( since clearly we are going to have to protect ourselves on this one )
Three things I would suggest a lot are Master Tonic ( you can find recipes to make your own or purchase online ) Collodial Silver and Olive Leaf Extract.

 

[Peliman]

I thought/think that an incinerator would dispose of bio-hazard waste. I don't know about this company either. I know some companies specialize in bio-hazard clean-up from murder scenes, suicides and blood clean up which I'd consider a bio-hazard.

I'd have the heebie jeebies real bad if I had to stay in the same dwelling someone stayed in with Ebola. I really do have to question how the aftermath is being handled.

 

[trigger]

I found the article....
Few hospitals have the ability to autoclave medical waste from Ebola patients on site.

"For this reason, it would be very difficult for a hospital to agree to care for Ebola cases - this desperately needs a fix," said Dr Jeffrey Duchin, chair of the Infectious Diseases Society of America's Public Health Committee.

Dr. Gavin Macgregor-Skinner, an expert on public health preparedness at Pennsylvania State University, said there's "no way in the world" that U.S. hospitals are ready to treat patients with highly infectious diseases like Ebola.

"Where they come undone every time is the management of their liquid and solid waste," said Macgregor-Skinner, who recently trained healthcare workers in Nigeria on behalf of the Elizabeth R. Griffin Research Foundation.

Skinner said the CDC is working with DOT to resolve the issue. He said the CDC views its disposal guidelines as appropriate, and that they have been proven to prevent infection in the handling of waste from HIV, hepatitis, and tuberculosis patients.

Joe Delcambre, a spokesman for DOT's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, could not say whether requiring hospitals to first sterilize Ebola waste would resolve the issue for waste haulers. He did confirm that DOT is meeting with CDC.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/09/24/us-hospitals-unprepared-to-handle-ebola-waste/

 

[atthelake]

I had the same reaction when I read that. Must not be a very successful company.

My guess is they have been operating illegally ( perhaps they did not know that was needed) and have now gotten caught because of the publicity.

Sent from my SCH-S720C using Tapatalk 2

 

[kai]

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.

Look at the first photo in the Washington post article posted in the first few posts of this thread. It shows two medical "higher ups" leaving the inside of that apartment with no gloves, masks, etc... let alone personal protective equipment. I DO think it is possible someone told her it was OK to go shopping. If the "professionals" are so laid back as to walk right into an apartment that is contaminated, then it isn't a far jump for my mind to make that the family at first wasn't as strictly quarantined as they should have been.

Sorry I can't link the article and photo I am on my phone.

 

[SCHMAE]

http://www.khou.com/story/news/2014...icers-entered-quarantined-apartment/16626777/


''The deputies are expected to ‎return to work in a few days, Dyer said.''''

Why ? Because 21 days is NOT the right amount of time? They are making this up as they go. What good is a 3 day quarantine? ( only this portion is mine, the rest of this post is from the article )

ETA
"My anger is really with the feds," he said. "Let's move that family. Let's move everybody out of that building. I don't care if it's overkill. Let's do overkill. I don't think sending a few deputies in there is the right course of action.‎"

What really raised everyone's concern was when the order came down Thursday morning that the squad cars the deputies were in Wednesday were being taken out of service, Dyer said. Those cars are reportedly being cleaned.

Dyer said deputies - both those that went inside and those that didn't - were told to bag up their uniforms and boots and turn them in. He said he contacted Valdez's second in command, asking that the deputies be put on leave and be evaluated by medical staff.''

 

[trigger]

Here is a half hour video that Frontline aired.

http://video.pbs.org/video/2365321806/

 

[Brightbird]

Well now that Liberia said they will prosecute him I am sure he will apply for (and get) asylum in the U.S. seeing as how Liberian prisons are probably considered inhumane.

I am sure he could bribe his way out of a prison sentence in Liberia, besides the Liberian government probably only made the threat so the U.S. wouldn't ban travel from there.

What? So now the Liberian government is playing reverse psychology with the American government? That's a new one.

 

[passionflower]

I really don't think the company wants THIS job.................I can't blame them.

 

[SStarr33]

I read last night that the hospital does not know how they are going to dispose of the waste in this case. Right now the waste associated with Duncan is being stored at the hospital until they can figure out how to get rid of it. The current methods they use to sanitize medical waste might not be effective on the Ebola virus.

Edit to add link to article: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/03/us/dallas-ebola-case-thomas-duncan-contacts.html

I saw an interview Matt Lauer had with the doc who had Ebola. They talk about how the hospital contained all of his waste during his stay and how they dealt with it. Of course, that hospital was one of the four that is set up to handle ebola pts.

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/eb...ent-brantly-reveals-near-death-ordeal-n194111

 

[passionflower]

80 people so far in quarantene............by the end of the day, how many more?

Common sense needs to be used here!
Even the doctor didn't use common sense entering that apt.
Even when a family member has a cold, flu etc..........wash everything using bleach and hot water.
This family never did that? Oh my, is the place filthy also?

 

[SCHMAE]

I saw an interview Matt Lauer had with the doc who had Ebola. They talk about how the hospital contained all of his waste during his stay and how they dealt with it. Of course, that hospital was one of the four that is set up to handle ebola pts.

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/eb...ent-brantly-reveals-near-death-ordeal-n194111

That doctor lives locally. I wonder if he will/ can assist. Also, does anyone know if once you have the virus you are immune . That is true with some viruses. I wonder if the doctor who had it and lived , could now assist and not be worried about catching it? Something tells me NO. Just speculating out loud.

 

[jjenny]

That doctor lives locally. I wonder if he will/ can assist. Also, does anyone know if once you have the virus you are immune . That is true with some viruses. I wonder if the doctor who had it and lived , could now assist and not be worried about catching it? Something tells me NO. Just speculating out loud.

Most likely the doctor is immune but nobody knows for sure.

 

[trigger]

DALLAS — Thomas Duncan shivered in the king-size bed, even though he was tucked under the covers and fully dressed — pants, socks and two shirts. It was Sunday morning, Sept. 28, and Duncan, from Liberia, had been in the United States visiting Louise Troh at her Dallas apartment for the past week. He felt weak and cold, he told Troh’s daughter, Youngor Jallah.

So Jallah took a quick trip to Wal-Mart and bought a $50 brown cotton blanket. When she returned, she draped it over Duncan’s shoulders and then gently lifted him by his back to try to get him to drink some hot tea. That’s when she looked into his eyes and knew in her heart that things were very bad.

“I’ve been seeing Ebola on TV, how it starts, with muscle pain, red eyes. When I see his eye, it is all red, and I think maybe this time it is Ebola virus and I should be careful,” Jallah, 35, said in an interview with The Washington Post at her nearby apartment, where she and her family have been quarantined.

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

 

[Redux]

That doctor lives locally. I wonder if he will/ can assist. Also, does anyone know if once you have the virus you are immune . That is true with some viruses. I wonder if the doctor who had it and lived , could now assist and not be worried about catching it? Something tells me NO. Just speculating out loud.

Supposedly you are immune after you've had it. Not sure I'd want to test out that supposition though.

 

[WillenFan21]

My sister read on Daily Mail that he was walking around longer than they thought before diagnosis.

 

[Sonya610]

I read last night that the hospital does not know how they are going to dispose of the waste in this case. Right now the waste associated with Duncan is being stored at the hospital until they can figure out how to get rid of it. The current methods they use to sanitize medical waste might not be effective on the Ebola virus.

The CDC has already turn out instructions for mortuaries and such advising them to use a "broad spectrum disinfectant" (which is very non-specific). Either that is bogus advice or this hospital is clueless.

One would think they could incinerate all of the linens and trash and such, then get advice on how to sanitize hard non-porous surfaces.

I am betting a lot of disinfectants WILL kill it but none have gone for the gov approval yet (which requires testing and documentation) so they can't say their disinfectant will work as of yet.

They could also contact the WHO and ask what they are using in Africa.

This hospital sounds scary IMO.

 

[IndianSummer]

autoclave cost?

A basic autoclave for a general acute care hospital should cost between $100,000 and $250,000 installed. Autoclaves with integrated grinders and compactors (capable of handling all of a hospital’s solid waste) ...Typical equipment lifetime is 10 to 15 years.

http://www.abag.ca.gov/bayarea/dioxin/pilot_projs/MW_FAQ.pdf

Most American hospitals don’t contain incinerators or large autoclaves (oven-like devices) capable of decontaminating the large amount of soiled linens and other waste associated with Ebola patients, said Dr. Jeffrey Duchin, chair of the Infectious Diseases Society of America’s Public Health Committee.

http://www.newsweek.com/could-ebola-medical-waste-help-spread-disease-274840

 

[Redux]

I am wondering if the virus is more or less likely to spread quickly in the U.S.

Yes, we have hospitals and medical infrastructure, but I would hazard to guess that the average person in the U.S. comes into contact with many more people on a daily basis than a lot of people in Africa which would make it harder to identify all points of contact of an infected person.

Any thoughts from anyone on whether this would be easier or harder to contain in the U.S. than other areas?