Has Ebola gone airborne? re the US doctor & nurse who have caught it & possible case in Hong Kong

[Anonymous]

This is really scary. The physicians over there wear the "hot suits" when they are in contact with Ebola patients, so how the heck did they catch it?

And, if this suspected case of the woman in Hong Kong who was returning from Kenya turns out to in fact be Ebola, HOLY CRAP! Can you imagine an Ebola outbreak in such a highly populated and internationally connected city as Hong Kong?

This is really getting scary

[Anonymous]

No, it is not "going airborne"

Doctors can contract it if they make any mistakes when wearing containment suits.

There will not be an outbreak in Hong Kong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is really scary. The physicians over there wear the "hot suits" when they are in contact with Ebola patients, so how the heck did they catch it?

And, if this suspected case of the woman in Hong Kong who was returning from Kenya turns out to in fact be Ebola, HOLY CRAP! Can you imagine an Ebola outbreak in such a highly populated and internationally connected city as Hong Kong?

This is really getting scary

Quit trying to freak me out. I am already nervous after hearing about Patrick Sawyer, and he was a plane ride away.

Ebola has a tough time to infect others because it is only contagious (via contact with bodily fluids such as sweat) when symptoms show, and when it does the person is not in a mood to travel anywhere.

[Anonymous]

You have to be in contact with body fluids in order to catch it. The medical professionals dealing with the outbreak get exhausted and let their guard down and are exposed to this very messy disease that way. Imagine a scenario where they wear the biohazard suits all day but slip up when they take it off and touch the outside of the suit with bare hands, etc.

[Anonymous]

I am a bit worried.

Watching CNN videos though you have to realize that the conditions of the hospitals in the African countries is pretty primative. The "fence" was made of that flimsy orange netting between some flimsy wood poles. Given that, I think there is bound to be some holes and issues with their other procedures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have to be in contact with body fluids in order to catch it. The medical professionals dealing with the outbreak get exhausted and let their guard down and are exposed to this very messy disease that way. Imagine a scenario where they wear the biohazard suits all day but slip up when they take it off and touch the outside of the suit with bare hands, etc.

I read somewhere (can't remember where because I have been reading a ton about it since it first started as I have a friend who is a medical worker on Sierra Leone right now) that that is how they think they were exposed to it. Likely in the decontamination area set up and they touched something that had been in contact with a patient.

That said, I do think it is a bit scary how easily it could travel because people could be exposed to it, travel to another country, and then come down with the symptoms. That mans family is on a 21 day fever watch in case they begin to show symptoms. Must be terrifying for them.

An epidemic in the us is unlikely because of the access to medical care we have here. Early detection is key in preventing the disease from becoming fatal, and hospitals here are equipped and knowledgable about how to deal with serious infectious diseases. Not so much in developing countries. Between unsanitary conditions, lack of adequate medical care and space to harbor those who are infected, plus general lack of knowledge by the people who live there on how to deal with the sick and dead, have all led to the widespread epidemic there. I don't think you'd see the same spread in a developing country.

[Anonymous]

I feel like I have to keep posting this: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/06/25/324941229/could-the-ebola-outbreak-spread-to-europe-or-the-u-s

It's VERY hard to pass along Ebola without direct contact with bodily fluids. There are two cases where very sick people travelled internationally with the disease and didn't infect anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have to be in contact with body fluids in order to catch it. The medical professionals dealing with the outbreak get exhausted and let their guard down and are exposed to this very messy disease that way. Imagine a scenario where they wear the biohazard suits all day but slip up when they take it off and touch the outside of the suit with bare hands, etc.

But, they are only allowed to wear the hot suits for 1 hour at a time, then they have go to through a decontamination station and are helped out of the suits by a decontamination team (they do not remove them themselves, and the outside of the suits are sprayed down with disinfectant before removing anything), then they have to re-hydrate for 2 hours after that because of all the fluids they loose while inside the suits. It seems like infection would be pretty difficult given all those procedures

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have to be in contact with body fluids in order to catch it. The medical professionals dealing with the outbreak get exhausted and let their guard down and are exposed to this very messy disease that way. Imagine a scenario where they wear the biohazard suits all day but slip up when they take it off and touch the outside of the suit with bare hands, etc.

But, they are only allowed to wear the hot suits for 1 hour at a time, then they have go to through a decontamination station and are helped out of the suits by a decontamination team (they do not remove them themselves, and the outside of the suits are sprayed down with disinfectant before removing anything), then they have to re-hydrate for 2 hours after that because of all the fluids they loose while inside the suits. It seems like infection would be pretty difficult given all those procedures

Difficult but not impossible.

Unless you think the virus can magically get through the containment suits, human error (accidentally breaking containment) is how it happens. They do this so many times that mistakes are inevitable at some point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have to be in contact with body fluids in order to catch it. The medical professionals dealing with the outbreak get exhausted and let their guard down and are exposed to this very messy disease that way. Imagine a scenario where they wear the biohazard suits all day but slip up when they take it off and touch the outside of the suit with bare hands, etc.

But, they are only allowed to wear the hot suits for 1 hour at a time, then they have go to through a decontamination station and are helped out of the suits by a decontamination team (they do not remove them themselves, and the outside of the suits are sprayed down with disinfectant before removing anything), then they have to re-hydrate for 2 hours after that because of all the fluids they loose while inside the suits. It seems like infection would be pretty difficult given all those procedures

But yet the lead doctor got it and died yesterday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have to be in contact with body fluids in order to catch it. The medical professionals dealing with the outbreak get exhausted and let their guard down and are exposed to this very messy disease that way. Imagine a scenario where they wear the biohazard suits all day but slip up when they take it off and touch the outside of the suit with bare hands, etc.

But, they are only allowed to wear the hot suits for 1 hour at a time, then they have go to through a decontamination station and are helped out of the suits by a decontamination team (they do not remove them themselves, and the outside of the suits are sprayed down with disinfectant before removing anything), then they have to re-hydrate for 2 hours after that because of all the fluids they loose while inside the suits. It seems like infection would be pretty difficult given all those procedures

But yet the lead doctor got it and died yesterday.

Yes, but those who are doing the decontamination might not have been trained well or trained hastily. Or perhaps the product they are using was sub par or suffered some other breakdown given the environment.

[Anonymous]

In a developed country with millions of people living close together it would be worse. Do you really think that the WHO is going to TELL people that you could get it easily? Mass panic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In a developed country with millions of people living close together it would be worse. Do you really think that the WHO is going to TELL people that you could get it easily? Mass panic.

Only 1000 people have caught it in the VERY long outbreak so far. The countries its in now, unlike for previous outbreaks, are well populated and have dense urban areas.

You sound CRAZY.

[Anonymous]

The long incubation period makes it scarier. Someone could get infected and travel a week...week and a half later without knowing they were infected and with no symptoms, then get to their destination and come down with it.

It's not like all travelers could be tested for it before traveling

[Anonymous]

An epidemic in the us is unlikely because of the access to medical care we have here. Early detection is key in preventing the disease from becoming fatal, and hospitals here are equipped and knowledgable about how to deal with serious infectious diseases.

Please get your facts straight. According to WHO:

"No specific treatment is available. New drug therapies are being evaluated" It doesn't much matter where you are when you contract the disease there is not treatment and mortality rates are around 90%.