Ebola outbreak - general thread #2

[Lyra500]

Lyra500-

Great info on airborne fluids. A poster did catch the humans vs primates though. Please clarify. I know what you mean. A virologist on twitter was explaining this exact info a few weeks ago.

Interested in your opinion about the potential of cleaning sprays dispersing the virus I as suggested earlier as a theory in cross infection in the caged monkey event. It depends on distance between the animals & force of the sprayer. Surfaces close to the spray could be contaminated from droplets. Do you agree? Thx.

Clarification: What I should have said was that I was talking about the transmission of Ebola Zaire in humans and not the transmission of Ebola Reston in monkeys. They are not exactly the same. Ebola Reston is different in some way for starters, as it appears to have no effect on humans if The Hot Zone is anything to go by.

I have to say that when I read The Hot Zone I did wonder how they were so sure that it was the air ducting system that caused the spread. I did wonder whether the people responsible for cleaning the facility and feeding the moneys had actually transferred the virus between rooms. We know that infection control is pretty ropey even these days, and Reston was quite a while back and at the time I don't think the people working in the facility would have realised what they were dealing with at the start at least.

If Ebola Reston is the same as Zaire in that it can survive on surfaces etc, then I would have thought slapdash procedures by the people working in the animal house were at least as likely to have facilitated the spread between monkeys in the different rooms as airborne transmission.

Also - if airborne transmission was an issue now, then we would already be suffering serious outbreaks world wide - think about how influenza travels around the world each year. So at the moment we are OK, but I do fear that we may be living on borrowed time if we do not get control of the situation in west Africa.

 

[SeekingJana]

Apparently not all nurses are prepared according to this http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpr...they-are-unprepared-to-handle-ebola-patients/

Then they are negligent. We are taught isolation technique when employed by a hospital. I've gone through so many isolation " days" in orientation, been fitted with so many N-95 respirators..
And so were nurses who were going to be working in non-direct care. We all received the same training in my experiences.

I've taken care of one patient with CJ-V disease in ICU also, and if you think that's not scary, it really is.. Death rate is 100% for those infected.

 

[popsicle]

Lol, just trying to reduce any possible overly anxious fear. Not that I think the hospital necessarily knows what its doing.

I think if you go back and look at the Atlanta facility... when they had the 2 Ebola patients there, their families did not visit them at first and when they finally did it was thru glass at first. jmo

 

[chipmunk]

I know. Yet I'm still seeing some who think they're experts suggest the use of a spray. Guess they're too lazy to use gloves. The RN who attended my mom didn't know bleach doesn't kill C-diff. I had to train her. I bought the right solution and had them use it.

About sprays, I'm always irritated when people don't have common sense.

 

[elfie]

Since the Liberian government made statements saying they intended to prosecute Duncan then I would assume it HAS been all over Liberian radio and tv. The gov is no doubt worried that other countries will ban travel from Liberia so they would have every reason to advertise that is ILLEGAL to lie about having contact with ebola patients and then travel on the airlines.

We're not certain that he was convinced that the woman he helped to transport, M. Williams, had Ebola. He went by the families statement of the diagnosis and to some extent, must have been in denial.

 

[chipmunk]

Clarification: What I should have said was that I was talking about the transmission of Ebola Zaire in humans and not the transmission of Ebola Reston in monkeys. They are not exactly the same. Ebola Reston is different in some way for starters, as it appears to have no effect on humans if The Hot Zone is anything to go by.

I have to say that when I read The Hot Zone I did wonder how they were so sure that it was the air ducting system that caused the spread. I did wonder whether the people responsible for cleaning the facility and feeding the moneys had actually transferred the virus between rooms. We know that infection control is pretty ropey even these days, and Reston was quite a while back and at the time I don't think the people working in the facility would have realised what they were dealing with at the start at least.

If Ebola Reston is the same as Zaire in that it can survive on surfaces etc, then I would have thought slapdash procedures by the people working in the animal house were at least as likely to have facilitated the spread between monkeys in the different rooms as airborne transmission.

Also - if airborne transmission was an issue now, then we would already be suffering serious outbreaks world wide - think about how influenza travels around the world each year. So at the moment we are OK, but I do fear that we may be living on borrowed time if we do not get control of the situation in west Africa.

Yes, there's the proof right there than the current Ebola strain is not airborne.

Btw I'm an admirer of the UK health/medical system, & esp the Leeds docs. A clinician and researcher there led the trial of a med I'm on that saved my life.

 

[Lyra500]

We're not certain that he was convinced that the woman he helped to transport, M. Williams, had Ebola. He went by the families statement of the diagnosis and to some extent, must have been in denial.

Indeed. Sadly I cannot remember which FM posted a really good article on attitudes about Ebola and death in Liberia. It provided great insight into why people might think or behave in certain ways.

Apparently there is a huge amount of denial and there is fear of being ostracised.

I saw an article in The Guardian today which mentioned that there were 3700 Ebola orphans. Not only had they lost their parents, but many of them had also been abandoned or shunned by their remaining relatives due to fear and suspicion. Their trauma is just huge. In many cases, the last time they saw their parents was when they were being taken away by strangers in space suits and now they have no one.

So very tragic.

 

[chipmunk]

Then they are negligent. We are taught isolation technique when employed by a hospital. I've gone through so many isolation " days" in orientation, been fitted with so many N-95 respirators..
And so were nurses who were going to be working in non-direct care. We all received the same training in my experiences.

I've taken care of one patient with CJ-V disease in ICU also, and if you think that's not scary, it really is.. Death rate is 100% for those infected.

Ok but the RNs are saying care of ebola patients requires a step above general infectious disease control practices. That it has some unique issues such as donning protective gear, not sure what else. No doubt fear makes many feel inadequate and doubt their abilities as well.

 

[Sigh Sister]

Then they are negligent. We are taught isolation technique when employed by a hospital. I've gone through so many isolation " days" in orientation, been fitted with so many N-95 respirators..
And so were nurses who were going to be working in non-direct care. We all received the same training in my experiences.

I've taken care of one patient with CJ-V disease in ICU also, and if you think that's not scary, it really is.. Death rate is 100% for those infected.

I think that the concern may stem from reports back in August:

"Emory says it is just 1 of 4 hospitals in the United States capable of treating a patient with the Ebola virus. Hospital officials on Friday said the first patient will come in the next several days and the second patient will arrive a few days after that. The Ebola patients will be in a special containment facility, nowhere near any other patients at the hospital."

http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/story/26171011/ebola-patient-atlanta-hospital

It sounded like only "elite" hospitals could treat an Ebola patient.

 

[Footwarrior]

We're not certain that he was convinced that the woman he helped to transport, M. Williams, had Ebola. He went by the families statement of the diagnosis and to some extent, must have been in denial.

He is guilty of being a Good Samaritan. Just like the people working for organizations like Doctors Without Borders.

 

[SCHMAE]

Indeed. Sadly I cannot remember which FM posted a really good article on attitudes about Ebola and death in Liberia. It provided great insight into why people might think or behave in certain ways.

Apparently there is a huge amount of denial and there is fear of being ostracised.

I saw an article in The Guardian today which mentioned that there were 3700 Ebola orphans. Not only had they lost their parents, but many of them had also been abandoned or shunned by their remaining relatives due to fear and suspicion. Their trauma is just huge. In many cases, the last time they saw their parents was when they were being taken away by strangers in space suits and now they have no one.

So very tragic.

But they lived !

 

[ClaireNC]

Actually I was just reading on Reston earlier and saw this pretty disturbing news ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reston_virus

''On 11 December 2008, pigs from farms slightly north of Manila, Philippines tested positive for the virus. The CDC and the World Health Organization are investigating.[18] On 23 January 2009, Philippine health officials announced that a hog farm worker had been infected with the virus. Although the man was asymptomatic and the source of the infection is uncertain, this could represent the first case of pig-to-human transmission of Reston virus'''

A ) It is wiki, so it may be untrue. B ) if it were true, it sure did not spread beyond that , which leads me to believe it may have been a false test result. All food for thought though.

ETA Its' important to remember that a virus can mutate at any time without warning into something new and different. Remember there was a time when Swine Flu was only found in a SWINE ! Somehow it jumped species...... that is a story for another day though

Here is an interesting map showing where ebola outbreaks have occurred in humans and animals. Apparently there were some outbreaks in the US among monkeys imported from the Philippines. http://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/global_ebolaoutbreakrisk_20140818-1.png?ua=1

 

[chipmunk]

He is guilty of being a Good Samaritan. Just like the people working for organizations like Doctors Without Borders.

I was thinking the same thing! Just an apparently uneducated one.

 

[1&2&3]

Friend of Texas Ebola patient who visited him in hospital has been told he can return to work as nursing assistant... but his family must remain in quarantine


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...rsing-assistant-family-remain-quarantine.html[/SIZE]

Snipped by me for space

Now this is the dumbest thing I have heard or read yet! Allow this man to go back to work in a nursing home where all the residents have compromised immune systems! Is the CDC playing Russian roulette?! On what level was this decision made? And why?

 

[Lyra500]

@ClaireNC

Thank you for the interesting Map.

I didn't realise that Ebola Reston had been found in France as well as USA - and also from monkeys imported from the Philippines.....

 

[SweetT]

Nursing assistant can work anywhere not just a nursing home from what I understand. But nursing homes are big places for nursing assistants

 

[Yoda]

But they lived !

Actually, some did not get ebola or haven't started showing symptoms yet.
Katie Meyler is one of the volunteers taking in children. She ran a school for girls until ebola closed the schools. She has been written about in several articles. I've been following her on instagram and it's heartbreaking. She will post pictures of the children she has taken in, and then one will start showing symptoms and they have to be taken away to the ebola treatment center- all alone.

 

[SCHMAE]

If you care ..

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/pe...ns-united-states-widespread-epidemic/1GmGhBKW

 

[SCHMAE]

Actually, some did not get ebola or haven't started showing symptoms yet.
Katie Meyler is one of the volunteers taking in children. She ran a school for girls until ebola closed the schools. She has been written about in several articles. I've been following her on instagram and it's heartbreaking. She will post pictures of the children she has taken in, and then one will start showing symptoms and they have to be taken away to the ebola treatment center- all alone.

Oh no .......

 

[Harmony 2]

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