Ebola coming to the US

[PrincessFiona]

Kris, how does Thomas feel about it? My lack of worry is that I look to the ID docs and do not see any concerns other than the usual precautions. What I do see that they are mostly concerned about is trying to keep up with their normal patient load PLUS all the additional ebola scare consults, the multiple infection control meetings and the constant interviews/press conferences.

DH has some very unpopular opinions on this issue. He has no patience for the fact that in this country we aren't currently limiting giving Visas to people from W. Africa. Several other european countries have done this and he thinks we're a bunch of dumbasses over here for not doing it. His opinion. He is pretty outspoken on his views. Beyond that, he doesn't seem terribly concerned. He has been asked to give a talk on Ebola next week that will be televised across the state. He's being active in that way. He has fielded a lot of nurse/physician concerns. It seems like there are a lot of worried healthcare workers.

Kris

[Sheherezade]

The nurses who cared for the now-deceased ebola patient in TX actually didn't wear any protective gear until after his positive ebola test results came back. Two days worth of contact with the man and his bodily fluids sans appropriate gear. It's a miracle there aren't more positive results in the people who cared for him during that time.

The hospital official in the Congressional hearing today said the exact opposite. The two nurses in question treated him in the ICU and were wearing PPU when treating him. They said some other nurses may have treated him without gear before the confirmed diagnosis.

These are new tidbits on Vinson. Kind of disturbing that they are saying she may have had symptoms as early as Friday and that her case is atypical. I want to know her viral load.

http://www.cleveland.com/akron/index...oy_vinson.html


Angie

[Pollyanna]

These are new tidbits on Vinson. Kind of disturbing that they are saying she may have had symptoms as early as Friday and that her case is atypical. I want to know her viral load.

Angie

Yes, that entire hearing made me feel less comfortable. My concern is that no one knows whose on first so the potential for things to get worse is large. I'd also like to read more about the guy at Purdue who has been doing Ebola research for the last decade. He seemed most concerned about a change in the transmission, but I only saw a small quote so need to read more. We need to be ahead of the curve on that.

[WolfpackWife]

Yes, that entire hearing made me feel less comfortable. My concern is that no one knows whose on first so the potential for things to get worse is large. I'd also like to read more about the guy at Purdue who has been doing Ebola research for the last decade. He seemed most concerned about a change in the transmission, but I only saw a small quote so need to read more. We need to be ahead of the curve on that.

See, and I read the other day this quote from an article from Reuters: No virus that causes disease in humans has ever been known to mutate to change its mode of transmission. This means it is highly unlikely that Ebola has mutated to become airborne. It is, however, droplet-borne — and the distinction between the two is crucial.

No source, and I have no idea if that'st true - like you, I need to look further but I'm finding it really hard to feel as though I can trust anything I see/hear. I don't want to get all doomsday-preppers but I sort of don't trust what the government entities say - at least about what happened in TX, etc. - maybe their factual disease info but I'm getting a bit skeptical.

And to expand on that - last night I read that part of the complaints the TX nurses had were that they didn't even HAVE proper PPE gear when treating Duncan. That they were upset their necks were exposed and were told to use medical tape to cover their necks, which obviously wasn't correct protocol and also was painful during removal. NO CLUE if that's since been disputed or is utter horseshit but it's just like...there's SO much info swirling around.

[Sheherezade]

Yes - and there is NO definitive timeline or clear answers being pushed out by the CDC or Texas Presbyterian. That's what was weird about the hearing. It was hard to get a direct answer to questions like "did they wear protective gear?" or "did x have symptoms?"

It feels like the officials aren't certain. I get that - as a scientist, I totally get not being certain and wanting to hedge. Still, it isn't comforting that they are reserving judgement on some critical facts. " We don't know" isn't what you want to hear.


Angie

[Pollyanna]

And Freden saying, "we are open to ideas" was a low point for sure. The guy just comes across as way over his head.

[Deebs]

We know that Doctors Without Borders has been treating Ebola for a long time with very low transmission rates to healthcare workers (in much less than ideal conditions, no less). For some reason the CDC still hasn't implemented the protection and decontamination protocols they use. I think we're at the point they need to look at what's working in Africa and, even if it seems like overkill in a first world country, do the same things.

[PrincessFiona]

And Freden saying, "we are open to ideas" was a low point for sure. The guy just comes across as way over his head.

He is.

[scrub-jay]

We know that Doctors Without Borders has been treating Ebola for a long time with very low transmission rates to healthcare workers (in much less than ideal conditions, no less). For some reason the CDC still hasn't implemented the protection and decontamination protocols they use. I think we're at the point they need to look at what's working in Africa and, even if it seems like overkill in a first world country, do the same things.

I read that the CDC just (today/yesterday?) updated their PPE requirements using Doctors without Borders guidelines. Here's the article:
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/10/16..._r=0&referrer=

[Deebs]

They did change the guidelines, but it's still evolving - H has been on calls with them daily. They're still not quite there as far as being as strict and haven't implemented a plan for what/how emergency departments, EMS units, etc will really function. There's yet another call scheduled for Monday so maybe by then a plan will be more definitive and stringent.

[scrub-jay]

I'm glad H is on it! I wasn't super impressed with the new guidelines, headed in the right direction, but not there yet. This should've been done in July. It's not like we didn't know it would come here, WHO and the CDC were pretty open about it. There is no reason these protocols aren't in place. *end rant*

[JDAZ11]

My DH just got his FIRST email about ebola. He isn't medicine, so maybe earlier emails went out.... But still kind of crazy to me.

[Deebs]

Ebola coming to the US

Ohio Department of Health just released their updated guidelines. I haven't seen any specifics, but heard from a couple of our fire service friends that they're now more stringent than the CDC guidelines. H is headed to Michigan for a Go Ruck race, so I have no clue if he's heard anything.

The thing is, this isn't something that needs to be secretive. I'm fully under the assumption that if healthcare workers haven't been notified with details it's because agencies are lagging behind what they're supposed to do and have inadequate plans.

With any luck, this will all be much ado about very little, but we'll end up better prepared for any public health crisis.

[v-girl]

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[PrincessFiona]

Lol