Ebola outbreak - general thread #6

[Jersey*Girl]

He was tough to understand. The 1 thing I was glad to hear about from him is that they are working on making more of that "Z-?" drug.

It sounds like they are trying to make it super fast. It was interesting that they were looking to tobacco manufacturers to try to get more plants to create some more. I wonder what is unique about tobacco plants that helps them make the Z-? drug.

There is one type of tobacco plant that is particularly susceptible to tobacco mosaic virus and that is the one that they use.

http://www.webmd.com/news/20140804/ebola-virus-vaccine

Aug. 4, 2014 -- ZMapp, the experimental treatment rushed to two Americans infected with Ebola in Africa, is grown in specially modified leaves of tobacco -- a plant better known for harming health than healing.

“We complied with a request from Emory University and Samaritan’s Purse to provide a very limited amount of ZMapp last week,” says David Howard, a spokesman for Reynolds American Services, the parent company of Kentucky BioProcessing. The small biopharma company in Owensboro, KY, has been contracted to grow the drug.

Making the serum is slow, in part, because the plants must be grown for several weeks before they are “infected” with a type of protein. “Basically the plants act like a photocopier of the proteins,” Howard says.

Once they’re infected, Howard says it takes a week for the plants to make enough of the protein to harvest and distill into a useable drug.

“Talk about transforming tobacco,” Howard says.

 

[hockeymom]

Bring back the Surgeon General who retired. Can't remember his name. Is it Koop or something like that?

I heard someone say that Rudy Guilliano had a comprehensive disaster plan for the city of NYC when he was mayor, including a bio attack. This is why he handled 9/11 so well. Maybe he should be consulted.

 

[Isabelle]

Pot call the kettle black! About PPE Frieden wore in Africa compared to HCW in US/Texas.

 

[Woe.be.gone]

Wonder if we have anyone on this committee who is a physician.

I'm not even sure if the leader needs medical knowledge. We need someone to lay down strict laws (the person meets with experts to examine every angle of control). There is no one at the helm or who can rely confidence that everything possible is being done. It's a mess.

 

[neesaki]

He was tough to understand. The 1 thing I was glad to hear about from him is that they are working on making more of that "Z-?" drug.

It sounds like they are trying to make it super fast. It was interesting that they were looking to tobacco manufacturers to try to get more plants to create some more. I wonder what is unique about tobacco plants that helps them make the Z-? drug.

Tobacco plants? Weird, I was thinking a while back about what therapeutic benefits tobacco might have, that it surely can't be all bad. I mean, there has to be some reason God gave it to us.

 

[nrdsb4]

And the nurse told the CDC she had a fever. Because it wasn't 104 degrees (practically dead already for an adult) she was given clearance to fly on a commercial flight. Now all of those unsuspecting people/passengers (who place their faith in these government officials) are under house arrest. Poor souls, can you imagine the stress they are under all because of another mistake (that is counter intuitive to begin with) was made.

Not 104, 100.4, which in medicine is when we refer to a certain temp as a fever.

 

[chlban]

OMG.....Dr. Fanci just totally contradicted the reason why the patient is being transferred. He just said it was to get better care. That contradicts what Texas said as to staffing.

Here we go. Who do we believe. Good grief.

What's the contradiction? Better Staffing = better care.

 

[Ladylub]

Even with suspected Ebola the HCW should have been covered head to toe.

 

[Jersey*Girl]

God? Or the govt? Serious question now that I think about it. Weren't cigarettes as they're known today supplied to military during war?

 

[Hatfield]

http://www.webmd.com/news/20140804/ebola-virus-vaccine

Thank you. This is fascinating to me.

I also think this particular drug shows a lot of promise. I remember specifically where the patient said he felt better almost immediately after receiving Zmapp. And 2 have now survived after using this drug.
I hope this drug pans out and can be mass produced for all sick ebola people.

 

[Jersey*Girl]

Thank you. This is fascinating to me.

I also think this particular drug shows a lot of promise. I remember specifically where the patient said he felt better almost immediately after receiving Zmapp. And 2 have now survived after using this drug.
I hope this drug pans out and can be mass produced for all sick ebola people.

Me too

 

[SStarr33]

Spanish priest hospitalized in Madrid with Ebola symptoms: source

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/16/us-health-ebola-spain-priest-idUSKCN0I522E20141016

 

[nrdsb4]

What's the contradiction? Better Staffing = better care.

I agree. If we have nurses calling off or refusing to come in, Nina is not going to get the best care, correct?

I think we have all gotten so frustrated that we are going to nitpick every word anyone anywhere says.

I don't know for a fact, but I have suspected for a while that PHD has nurses resigning, or calling in sick, or simply refusing to go to that unit. Therefore, for Nina to get the best care, she needs to go to a place where they are not worrying about being able to staff their 7p-7a shift.

 

[Woe.be.gone]

The days, the 28th and 29th, were the days Duncan was being evaluated so nurses weren't protected adequately.

So a guy from West Africa with symptoms is being evaluated for Ebola in a hospital (shouldn't the virus be assumed positive until proven otherwise? Error on the side of caution maybe?)

 

[nrdsb4]

Oh, the irony of tobacco turning out to actually SAVE someone's life.

 

[bettybaby00]

http://www.wfsb.com/story/26802243/yale-new-haven-hospital-treating-quarantined-patient

Yale research student admitted to hospital with Ebola-like symptoms

Posted: Oct 16, 2014 8:57 AM EDT
Updated: Oct 16, 2014 12:22 PM EDT

snipped
Yale research student admitted to hospital with Ebola-like symptoms.

They confirmed that the patient was one of the Yale University student researchers that helped monitor the Ebola outbreak in Liberia last month. That student was one of two who had been tested in Liberia. Both had negative results. They came back home on Oct. 11.

BBM

(don't like the sound of this...)

i said this yesterday when it was rumored that Amber visited Kent State……..universities have to be considered one of the most problematic places IF faced with someone becoming infected.

 

[AlwaysShocked]

There was an Army general who came to New Orleans a few days after Hurricane Katrina who took charge and very rapidly got a chaotic situation under control. Lt. General Russell Honore.

This man who is the Director of CDC comes off as more of an evasive politician than a medical expert who is on top of things. They need someone at this time who is much, much stronger than this guy.

----------------------------------

I read an article late last night (I think it was in a local Cleveland area newspaper) that quoted a friend of Amber Vincent's mother. This woman stated that Amber and her mother were out at Bridal stores during the time she was home. So that means trying on bridal gowns, right?

Again, a worst case scenario. In preparing for a wedding, Amber could have been meeting with one person to look at invitations or could have visited a flower shop to discuss flower arrangements, but no, she was visiting Bridal stores!

The article also said that her mother works in the offices of the President of Kent State University.

 

[Jersey*Girl]

Great article in Vanity Fair. 3 pages & definitely worth the read. Explains from the beginning...

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/2014/10/ebola-virus-epidemic-containment

 

[Ladylub]

The days, the 28th and 29th, were the days Duncan was being evaluated so nurses weren't protected adequately.

So a guy from West Africa with symptoms is being evaluated for Ebola in a hospital (shouldn't the virus be assumed positive until proven otherwise? Error on the side of caution maybe?)

Except it seems the nurses are saying they were. Butts trying to get covered right now.

 

[Woe.be.gone]

Oh, the irony of tobacco turning out to actually SAVE someone's life.

This is good. The tobacco growers can shift focus, stay in business and maybe more people will stop smoking.
Who needs lung cancer if we don't have Ebola? :thinking: