Emory is getting an ebola patient - if you work in a hospital

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why exactly are we bringing people with Ebola into the country? For containment purposes, doesn't it make more sense to treat them in the country of origin irrespective of the citizenship of the patient? Transcontinental transport of people with a disease as infectious and as serious as ebola seems risky--despite infectious disease protocols.

I wondered the same thing when I heard this on the news. It must be someone famous/very wealthy as they would need to have chartered a special medical plane, right?

The patients are doctors who became infected while fighting the Ebola epidemic.

Only one is a doctor. The other is a missionary volunteer.

They are both missionary volunteers. Dr. Kent Bradly is with Samaritans Purse and Nancy Whitebol is with SIM. Bradly is a physician, Whitebol is a dental hygienist. Due to the crisis, Whitebol had volunteered to help out in the hospital and they were working side by side in the hospital.

Many missionary volunteers are professionals using their professional skills in their mission field - focusing on physical, emotional and spiritual health. Hospitals are common mission fields as many health care volunteers work to provide services that aren't available in those countries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If two Americans hadn't been infected, no one would even know or care about what was happening in western Africa. The news here picked it up because two Americans were involved.

I've been following it for months. You being oblivious doesn't mean everyone else is too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG an infectious disease. We're all going to die!

Come on people, we have highly trained medical professionals dealing with this.

The infected that they're bringing back to America ARE highly trained medical professionals! But they got infected anyway!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If two Americans hadn't been infected, no one would even know or care about what was happening in western Africa. The news here picked it up because two Americans were involved.

I've been following it for months. You being oblivious doesn't mean everyone else is too.

Sure, a few individuals would know about it, but it wouldn't be all over the news and there wouldn't be multiple threads about it. It likely would have been a brief one line in a world news segment and not even brought up on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG an infectious disease. We're all going to die!

Come on people, we have highly trained medical professionals dealing with this.

The infected that they're bringing back to America ARE highly trained medical professionals! But they got infected anyway!

Yeah, it's just amazing that anyone could have been accidentally infected over there given Liberia's world-class hospitals, endless resources, and the multitude of highly-trained medical personnel who are there to assist. Oh, wait a minute...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG an infectious disease. We're all going to die!

Come on people, we have highly trained medical professionals dealing with this.

The infected that they're bringing back to America ARE highly trained medical professionals! But they got infected anyway!

Yes, however people they dealt with are not always highly trained. A field set up contamination/decontamination area are not nearly as sterile as in a hospital setting. There is quite a big difference between the conditions there and the conditions here. Not just with the area set up but also with the conditions. These volunteers are working around the clock in unsanitary, over crowded areas without access to all the necessary medical supplies (cause by the overcrowding), food, clean water, and adequate sleep. Combine all those factors and it is easy to see how slip ups can happen somewhere that led to these two become exposed.

Nurses and doctors deal with infectious diseases and conditions daily. Just none are of this magnitude so most people don't even think about it. If a nurse who has received basic training with infection and disease control are able to protect themselves from getting MRSA and c diff, a highly specialized team trained by the CDC can certainly handle these patients without spreading the disease.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If two Americans hadn't been infected, no one would even know or care about what was happening in western Africa. The news here picked it up because two Americans were involved.

I've been following it for months. You being oblivious doesn't mean everyone else is too.

Sure, a few individuals would know about it, but it wouldn't be all over the news and there wouldn't be multiple threads about it. It likely would have been a brief one line in a world news segment and not even brought up on DCUM.

Not true. It hit the "big news" when the one Ebola person flew to Nigeria. I think that's when it became clear that this had the potential to spread further.
Now, your point that no one cared when it was "just" in West Africa, is valid. But not just because Americans were infected.

[Anonymous]

Some one could start exhibiting the symptoms prior to getting on the plane or while in flight. Perhaps we should not allow planes that stopped in those countries to land or require people who had been there to be quarantined for 3 weeks.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/ebola-crisis-prompts-cdc-to-warn-against-nonessential-travel-to-west-africa/2014/07/31/7f132634-18ce-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265_story.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG an infectious disease. We're all going to die!

Come on people, we have highly trained medical professionals dealing with this.

The infected that they're bringing back to America ARE highly trained medical professionals! But they got infected anyway!

Yes, however people they dealt with are not always highly trained. A field set up contamination/decontamination area are not nearly as sterile as in a hospital setting. There is quite a big difference between the conditions there and the conditions here. Not just with the area set up but also with the conditions. These volunteers are working around the clock in unsanitary, over crowded areas without access to all the necessary medical supplies (cause by the overcrowding), food, clean water, and adequate sleep. Combine all those factors and it is easy to see how slip ups can happen somewhere that led to these two become exposed.

Nurses and doctors deal with infectious diseases and conditions daily. Just none are of this magnitude so most people don't even think about it. If a nurse who has received basic training with infection and disease control are able to protect themselves from getting MRSA and c diff, a highly specialized team trained by the CDC can certainly handle these patients without spreading the disease.

Probably. But no person and no set of procedures is perfect. The NIH found smallpox in a laboratory closet just two weeks ago!

Once Ebola has crossed the border, it is in this country, period. Much about this virus is still a mystery. I think anyone who is helping in this crisis IS a hero, but if you're dedicated to the eradication of this virus, I don't understand why you would want to potentially cause its spread.

[Anonymous]

The fact that CDC is voluntarily bringing two ebola patients into the country is insane to me.

The fact that I can do nothing to stop it, or even show my displeasure in any meaningful way, is also frightening.

Leave them where they are - I have yet to find a good explanation of the risk - benefit analysis that makes sense (other than the patriotic but not particularly rational 'they are American and deserve to be at home.' Their desserts do not trump the safety of everyone on the continent).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG an infectious disease. We're all going to die!

Come on people, we have highly trained medical professionals dealing with this.

The infected that they're bringing back to America ARE highly trained medical professionals! But they got infected anyway!

Yes, however people they dealt with are not always highly trained. A field set up contamination/decontamination area are not nearly as sterile as in a hospital setting. There is quite a big difference between the conditions there and the conditions here. Not just with the area set up but also with the conditions. These volunteers are working around the clock in unsanitary, over crowded areas without access to all the necessary medical supplies (cause by the overcrowding), food, clean water, and adequate sleep. Combine all those factors and it is easy to see how slip ups can happen somewhere that led to these two become exposed.

Nurses and doctors deal with infectious diseases and conditions daily. Just none are of this magnitude so most people don't even think about it. If a nurse who has received basic training with infection and disease control are able to protect themselves from getting MRSA and c diff, a highly specialized team trained by the CDC can certainly handle these patients without spreading the disease.

Probably. But no person and no set of procedures is perfect. The NIH found smallpox in a laboratory closet just two weeks ago!

Once Ebola has crossed the border, it is in this country, period. Much about this virus is still a mystery. I think anyone who is helping in this crisis IS a hero, but if you're dedicated to the eradication of this virus, I don't understand why you would want to potentially cause its spread.

The infected missionaries are no more likely to spread the virus to health workers in the US than they are to health workers in Liberia. Actually, spread to US health workers is probably significantly less likely, given the vastly superior resources in this country for containment. And I would imagine these volunteers think African lives are just as valuable as American lives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The fact that CDC is voluntarily bringing two ebola patients into the country is insane to me.

The fact that I can do nothing to stop it, or even show my displeasure in any meaningful way, is also frightening.

Leave them where they are - I have yet to find a good explanation of the risk - benefit analysis that makes sense (other than the patriotic but not particularly rational 'they are American and deserve to be at home.' Their desserts do not trump the safety of everyone on the continent).

I actually read that the CDC said it was not their decision to bring them home, but the charity's they work for. The CDC warned them, that it could be detrimal to move a very sick person. Risks and benefits to the patient's health must be weighed, but the charity decided to go ahead, I imagine they collaborate with the families' wishes, and their must be someone giving the official 'ok' for immigration...
However, the CDC is in Atlanta and they are working on a vaccine I read, so they are prepared.
I don't believe ANY regular Emory personnel will be near this patient AT ALL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The fact that CDC is voluntarily bringing two ebola patients into the country is insane to me.

The fact that I can do nothing to stop it, or even show my displeasure in any meaningful way, is also frightening.

Leave them where they are - I have yet to find a good explanation of the risk - benefit analysis that makes sense (other than the patriotic but not particularly rational 'they are American and deserve to be at home.' Their desserts do not trump the safety of everyone on the continent).

Your purportedly one-sided risk/benefit analysis does not take into account the realities of the risk, which is relatively small for a non-airborne hemorraghic fever that kills as quickly as Ebola does. The risk of some sort of uncontrolled and widespread outbreak based on one patient crossing the border is basically nil.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The fact that CDC is voluntarily bringing two ebola patients into the country is insane to me.

The fact that I can do nothing to stop it, or even show my displeasure in any meaningful way, is also frightening.

Leave them where they are - I have yet to find a good explanation of the risk - benefit analysis that makes sense (other than the patriotic but not particularly rational 'they are American and deserve to be at home.' Their desserts do not trump the safety of everyone on the continent).

I actually read that the CDC said it was not their decision to bring them home, but the charity's they work for. The CDC warned them, that it could be detrimal to move a very sick person. Risks and benefits to the patient's health must be weighed, but the charity decided to go ahead, I imagine they collaborate with the families' wishes, and their must be someone giving the official 'ok' for immigration...
However, the CDC is in Atlanta and they are working on a vaccine I read, so they are prepared.
I don't believe ANY regular Emory personnel will be near this patient AT ALL.

But CDC could (and should) totally prevent them from coming in on public health grounds. The fact that they are not doing that is pretty insane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The fact that CDC is voluntarily bringing two ebola patients into the country is insane to me.

The fact that I can do nothing to stop it, or even show my displeasure in any meaningful way, is also frightening.

Leave them where they are - I have yet to find a good explanation of the risk - benefit analysis that makes sense (other than the patriotic but not particularly rational 'they are American and deserve to be at home.' Their desserts do not trump the safety of everyone on the continent).

Your purportedly one-sided risk/benefit analysis does not take into account the realities of the risk, which is relatively small for a non-airborne hemorraghic fever that kills as quickly as Ebola does. The risk of some sort of uncontrolled and widespread outbreak based on one patient crossing the border is basically nil.

I don't think that this will turn into the Black Death Mark 2, no, but I do think there is a chance some people in Atlanta area (probably other health workers) will get infected. No protocol is perfect. I don't see the point of risking this at all for no benefit - the only rationale that would make sense to me is that they want to study this in live patients under controlled conditions ebcause arrival of Ebola in this country via some sick passenger who doesn't know he is sick is inevitable and they want to get a head start. But then I am not sure why they aren't quarantining anyone coming from that part of the world as a matter of course, in the first place.