Ebola outbreak - general thread #2

[Hiandmighty]

The conditions in the hospitals that these Dr's are working in are far from ideal.


https://time.com/3453429/ebola-healthcare-workers-fatality-rate/

Yeah, but why would doctors touch patients if they don't have a full sterile field because they know they will get Ebola and die if they do. That doesn't help them or the patients.

I've had this question myself......

 

[LaborDayRN]

Ok, wait. I'm confused. I thought he recovered and had a press conference? Or am I getting confused?

At this point he is being treated for a respiratory illness.

"Because of his recent battle with the Ebola virus, his immune system is compromised," said Smith according to SIM. "The symptoms he has are indicative of a respiratory illness and are not those of someone suffering from Ebola."

http://www.necn.com/news/health/Dr-Sacra-Treated-at-Hospital-278142391.html

 

[LaborDayRN]

Yeah, but why would doctors touch patients if they don't have a full sterile field because they know they will get Ebola and die if they do. That doesn't help them or the patients.

I've had this question myself......

I don't have an definitive answer to that question. The following may explain some of it:

Bausch recalled similar memories of when he and another doctor put on their protective suits, traveled to a Sierra Leone Ebola ward and discovered that they were the only two staff in a clinic of 60 Ebola patients. There was stool, vomit, blood and even patients on the floor. The nurses had gone on strike to demand better worker healthcare after some had fallen ill with Ebola. “In some places it’s a very negative cycle,” he said. “You have a nurse who gets sick, and the morale and willingness of the rest of the staff to keep working often goes down. Then even fewer people are working in the ward, and it gets more dangerous.”

“There’s generally an assumption [local healthcare workers] get infected in the Ebola wards, but we really don’t know for sure if they’re getting infected in the wards, or out in the community, or while working in other clinics,” Schieffelin said.

https://time.com/3453429/ebola-healthcare-workers-fatality-rate/

 

[lawstudent]

Direct contact and doesn't mean automatic transmission - not sure what the rates are, but maybe the doctors feel like someone has to take control and they just hope the odds are in their favor. They know the risks are there, but they might not get it, and they might not die if they do. There are always some doctors who risk their lives in emergency situations. If they try and stay as clean as possible and don't touch their faces, they can cross their fingers.

 

[Brightbird]

You cant tell me all these Drs don't know or follow infectious protocol and yet are getting infected.

As well as not having all the necessary equipment at all times, I have read personal accounts from doctors and nurses working in affected areas that the conditions are very hot and humid, and they are overworked due to lack of staff, and that unfortunately small lapses in protocol do occur due to fatigue and stress. They need people power to fight this in West Africa. Australia is offering (relatively) small amounts of money which has been knocked back because what they really need are medical personnel. It's crazy to me that several under-funded charities are taking the lead in fighting Ebola, because the affected countries don't have the health care systems to do it themselves. I'm guessing that fewer Dr's and nurses would be infected if they just had more trained staff to relieve the pressure.

 

[CARIIS]

But HOt was rivoting....................impacted sleep for a brief peroid of time I loved it I will get Spillover now especially interesting!!

The Hot Zone is very sensationalized and full of inaccuracies., including about how the symptoms present in people. I highly recommend Spillover, by David Quammen. Spillover is very well written, reasoned, well researched and also more up to date. It covers a bunch of zoonotic viruses, not just Ebola.

 

[CARIIS]

Direct contact and doesn't mean automatic transmission

I wish the media would say this a lot more!!!

Direct contact and doesn't mean automatic transmission - not sure what the rates are, but maybe the doctors feel like someone has to take control and they just hope the odds are in their favor. They know the risks are there, but they might not get it, and they might not die if they do. There are always some doctors who risk their lives in emergency situations. If they try and stay as clean as possible and don't touch their faces, they can cross their fingers.

 

[CARIIS]

OH no I was confused by this earlier is the first one who was at Emory? I do not remember this guy??

At this point he is being treated for a respiratory illness.

http://www.necn.com/news/health/Dr-Sacra-Treated-at-Hospital-278142391.html

 

[Hiandmighty]

OH no I was confused by this earlier is the first one who was at Emory? I do not remember this guy??

I think he is the third? American doctor? I thought maybe he had an ebola relapse, but looks like he may have a secondary infection now?

As an aside, did anyone see the sarah Silverman "fault in our stars 2" parody on SNL tonight? (I have a bunch of teens, so we still watch SNL)

 

[CARIIS]

Airplane:

He was kind of incoherent

bending over towel over face

No knowledge that he vomited

Took him to back of plane

humm on the flight they let people in the front rows off much earlier than the back ones !


Later, on the airport speaker they told officers not to let anyone leave airport....

Filled out contact cards then let go

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2014/10/04/nr-sick-passenger-seatmate-newark.cnn.html

 

[Hiandmighty]

UMass Memorial Medical Center says patient reported to have Ebola concerns was Holden doctor who previously contracted the virus. Officials do not believe he has had a relapse.

Hum. Do not believe he has had a relapse. (From the above link)

 

[jjenny]

At this point he is being treated for a respiratory illness.

http://www.necn.com/news/health/Dr-Sacra-Treated-at-Hospital-278142391.html

Hmm. I hope they didn't release him too soon the first time.
They are retesting him for Ebola virus.

 

[Paulette]

'In 1976 I discovered Ebola, now I fear an unimaginable tragedy'


"Peter Piot was a researcher at a lab in Antwerp when a pilot brought him a blood sample from a Belgian nun who had fallen mysteriously ill in Zaire."

"I think it is what people call a perfect storm: when every individual circumstance is a bit worse than normal and they then combine to create a disaster. And with this epidemic there were many factors that were disadvantageous from the very beginning. Some of the countries involved were just emerging from terrible civil wars, many of their doctors had fled and their healthcare systems had collapsed. In all of Liberia, for example, there were only 51 doctors in 2010, and many of them have since died of Ebola."

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/04/ebola-zaire-peter-piot-outbreak

(I've googled Sierra Leone slums, Lagos slums, Liberia slums, etc. The images are simply heartbreaking. The terrible conditions these poor people have to contend with every single day of their lives is beyond anything we in the west could imagine.)

 

[lawstudent]

I highly doubt the guy in Massachusetts has ebola. He went to an ER because he thinks he has pneumonia since his immune system is compromised. Sounds like they wanted to be extra careful and test him again. But he's not showing typical symptoms of ebola, and I doubt he would have waltzed into an ER if he thought it was an ebola recurrence.

 

[jjenny]

I highly doubt the guy in Massachusetts has ebola. He went to an ER because he thinks he has pneumonia since his immune system is compromised. Sounds like they wanted to be extra careful and test him again. But he's not showing typical symptoms of ebola, and I doubt he would have waltzed into an ER if he thought it was an ebola recurrence.

Where exactly would he have waltzed in if he thought he had an Ebola recurrence?

 

[CARIIS]

Now would be great time to start mailing your apps to present CEU classes in Infection Control !!!

I am confident they would waive number of participants per presentation!

Lets go $90 3/CEU they let you present to 175 people you could retire in 6 months!!


HA!

 

[CARIIS]

Intense stuff huh, just drinking water and waste is atrocious forget Ebola - ugh I agree it was pretty intense and so corrleated with what is happening over there.

Informative website :

http://www.starnewsonline.com/artic...A/140929801?Title=Interactive-Ebola-outbreak-

'In 1976 I discovered Ebola, now I fear an unimaginable tragedy'


"Peter Piot was a researcher at a lab in Antwerp when a pilot brought him a blood sample from a Belgian nun who had fallen mysteriously ill in Zaire."

"I think it is what people call a perfect storm: when every individual circumstance is a bit worse than normal and they then combine to create a disaster. And with this epidemic there were many factors that were disadvantageous from the very beginning. Some of the countries involved were just emerging from terrible civil wars, many of their doctors had fled and their healthcare systems had collapsed. In all of Liberia, for example, there were only 51 doctors in 2010, and many of them have since died of Ebola."

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/04/ebola-zaire-peter-piot-outbreak

(I've googled Sierra Leone slums, Lagos slums, Liberia slums, etc. The images are simply heartbreaking. The terrible conditions these poor people have to contend with every single day of their lives is beyond anything we in the west could imagine.)

 

[CARIIS]

https://www.google.com/search?q=Ivy...192944-dallas-ebola-first-response%2F;690;490

 

[lawstudent]

Where exactly would he have waltzed in if he thought he had an Ebola recurrence?

Called the doctors who had been treating him/his colleagues and figured out a way to get admitted directly with proper precautions at a hospital that was expecting it. I guess going to the ER could mean rushed by ambulance or something, but I doubt he went in there and waited among people if he thought he was contagious. Obviously it seems like Worcester is where they put him, so that must have better quarantine abilities. I think he would have went straight there instead of going to a Boston ER if he thought they would quarantine him. The symptoms don't sound like ebola so I doubt he thinks there's a recurrence - does it even recur?

 

[Footwarrior]

This Frontline report on the Ebola outbreak shows the difficulties facing those trying to stop the epidemic:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/ebola-outbreak/