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

[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!

They weren't infected with the first, or second, or third, or 5th, or 10th patient they worked with. They've been dealing with this outbreak for months, and it is a severe public health emergency. Case after case after case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just read this article: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/americans-ebola-flown-back-us/story?id=24799794

"Emory University Hospital has a specially built isolation unit set up in collaboration with the CDC to treat patients who are exposed to certain serious infectious diseases," hospital officials said. "It is physically separate from other patient areas and has unique equipment and infrastructure that provide an extraordinarily high level of clinical isolation. It is one of only four such facilities in the country."

"Emory University Hospital physicians, nurses and staff are highly trained in the specific and unique protocols and procedures necessary to treat and care for this type of patient. For this specially trained staff, these procedures are practiced on a regular basis throughout the year so we are fully prepared for this type of situation."

It sounds like there is no opting out, except for maybe folks with significant health concerns, but it also sounds like this is what they're trained for.

If I had the training and someone offered me the chance to work with an Ebola patient in the US, I would jump at the chance. You don't see too many of those around here. It would be fascinating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Or they might want to study this in live patients so that they can develop life saving techniques to be used in Africa where the disease is killing people.

Do the lives of non-Americans really matter to you so little that you can't imagine that someone else would care about them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Or they might want to study this in live patients so that they can develop life saving techniques to be used in Africa where the disease is killing people.

Do the lives of non-Americans really matter to you so little that you can't imagine that someone else would care about them?

Lives of people in other countries matter less to me than those of people in this country, just as lives of family members matter more than lives of strangers. I don’t particularly want anyone to die, but if I had to rank a hierarchy of importance, I’d have one. More importantly, I think this country (and the Western world) only really started paying attention to this when it became clear that there was a chance this could spread beyond West Africa – before, it was barely a blip in the news. So I think nobody would approve a transfer of ebola patients to this country if the only people affected were rural West Africans with no possibility of spread – countries are also ‘selfish’ that way. And that’s fine with me – I’d hope the government of this country would be more concerned with the lives and well-being of its own citizens than citizens of other countries thousands of miles away.

P.S. I am a naturalized citizen. When I lived in the country of my birth, I did not expect America to care for me or to put my well-being above its own citizens – why would I? Just as I don’t expect the Canadian or Austrian government to puts my well-being above that of its citizens now. It would just not make sense.

[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).

The CDC is looking for a research project.

[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).

The CDC is looking for a research project.

That's what I think too. Good luck to them in finding a vaccine or a cure! Hopefully it will take less long than it did with AIDS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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).

The CDC is looking for a research project.

That's what I think too. Good luck to them in finding a vaccine or a cure! Hopefully it will take less long than it did with AIDS.

Ebola is also a retro-virus, like HIV. It's going to be tough to make a vaccine.

[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.

I've been following it for months, too, even when it was "just" in Western Africa. Seriously - your being oblivious doesn't mean we all are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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).

The CDC is looking for a research project.

That's what I think too. Good luck to them in finding a vaccine or a cure! Hopefully it will take less long than it did with AIDS.

There's a cure and a vaccine for AIDS? Or do you mean it's still taking a very long time?

[Anonymous]

Hope all goes well. If humankind makes it out of this, the book and movie about this transfer to Atlanta will be interesting, and the movie will probably be nominated for an Oscar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yikes! Scary. 90% death rate. They should just stay where they are.

Just posted this on the other Ebola thread, but the mortality rate is actually around 65% -

"Ebola was first discovered in 1976. In 38 years there have been 2,361 total cases with 1548 deaths (65%).
From past 5 months there have been an additional 1,201 cases with 672 deaths (55%)."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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).

The CDC is looking for a research project.

That's what I think too. Good luck to them in finding a vaccine or a cure! Hopefully it will take less long than it did with AIDS.

There's a cure and a vaccine for AIDS? Or do you mean it's still taking a very long time?

The latter. Though at least now they have medicine to keep you alive, which is more than one can say for Ebola.

[Anonymous]

I was just listening to NPR and some doctor was saying that when the 2 Ebola patients "go to the bathroom," their waste will go straight into the toilet and flushed.
Isn't that dangerous?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
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.

It's been in the news for months.

Ebola Spreads to Guinea Capital Conakry With at Least 59 Deaths

By Ougna Camara and Franz Wild Mar 23, 2014 6:08 AM ET
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-23/ebola-spreads-to-guinea-capital-conakry-with-at-least-59-deaths.html?

Ebola detected in Guinea victims, 50 dead

Boubacar Diallo, The Associated Press 3:21 p.m. EDT March 23, 2014
http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/health/2014/03/23/ebola-breakout-guinea-50-dead/6790991/

CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) - Samples from victims of a viral hemorrhagic fever that has killed more than 50 people in Guinea have tested positive for the Ebola virus, government officials said Sunday, marking the first time an outbreak among humans has been detected in this West African nation.

Guinea Ebola outbreak: Tons of medicine, protection kits arrive to contain virus

There are fears the virus could spread to neighbouring countries

Thomson Reuters Posted: Mar 23, 2014 6:22 PM ET Last Updated: Mar 24, 2014 10:10 AM ET
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/guinea-ebola-outbreak-tons-of-medicine-protection-kits-arrive-to-contain-virus-1.2583628?cmp=rss

Health officials fighting an outbreak of Ebola in Guinea have dispatched specialized medical equipment, imposed restrictions on funerals and are seeking to contain panic to prevent the fever from spreading.

There have been 29 confirmed deaths from the hemorrhagic fever among 59 people killed by a mysterious illness in southeastern Guinea since early February, international medical charity Doctors Without Borders said.

U.N. health officials have expressed concern that the disease, which has a fatality rate of 90 percent and has not been recorded in the West African state before, may spread to Sierra Leone after cases showing similar symptoms, including diarrhea, vomiting and bleeding, were reported there.

USA Today

Ebola outbreak in Guinea may spread to Liberia

AP 4:19 p.m. EDT March 24, 2014
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/03/24/ebola-outbreak-may-spread-to-liberia/6835825/

CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — An outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus is believed to have killed at least 59 people in Guinea and may already have spread to neighboring Liberia, health officials said Monday.

Health workers in Guinea are trying to contain the spread of the disease which causes severe internal bleeding. In neighboring Liberia, health officials said they are investigating five deaths after a group of people crossed the border from Guinea in search of medical treatment.

NY Daily News

Canada rules out suspected case of Ebola

The severely ill patient remained quarantined in Saskatoon. He became sick after returning from Liberia, which along with neighboring Guinea is fighting an outbreak of the virus that is suspected to have killed at least 64.

BY STEPHEN REX BROWN NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Tuesday, March 25, 2014, 8:33 AM
http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/man-hospitalized-canada-symptoms-ebola-article-1.1732853

A sick man traveling returning from Liberia to Canada did not contract the Ebola virus, officials said.

A traveler who became seriously ill after returning from Liberia did not contract the Ebola virus as was feared, health officials said Tuesday.

The man showed symptoms of hemorrhagic fever after arriving in Canada and remains quarantined in a Saskatchewan hospital.

Business Day Online

Senegal shuts border with Guinea to prevent Ebola spreading

March 30, 2014 | Filed under: World | Author: Editor
http://businessdayonline.com/2014/03/senegal-shuts-border-with-guinea-to-prevent-ebola-spreading/#.UzjtQlyScW8

Senegal closed its land border with Guinea on Saturday to try to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus, which Guinean authorities say is suspected of killing 70 people in what would be the deadliest outbreak in seven years.

The discovery of 11 people suspected to have died of Ebola in Sierra Leone and Liberia in recent days has stirred concern that one of the most lethal infectious diseases known to man could spread in a poor corner of West Africa, where health systems are ill-equipped to cope.

AP

Guinea reports Ebola death toll rises to 78; Liberia confirms first death from virus

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MARCH 31, 2014 8:53 AM
http://www.canada.com/health/Guinea+reports+Ebola+death+toll+rises+Liberia+confirms+first+death/9680820/story.html

CONAKRY, Guinea - Health authorities in the West African nation of Guinea say at least 78 people now have died after contracting the Ebola virus.

Victims develop several internal and external bleeding from the virus, which has no cure.

Guinea's Health Ministry says the disease first emerged in the forests of southern Guinea and then spread to the capital of some 2 million people after an infected patient travelled there with his family.

Reuters

Scale of Guinea's Ebola epidemic unprecedented: aid agency

BY SALIOU SAMB
CONAKRY Mon Mar 31, 2014 10:43am EDT
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/31/us-guinea-ebola-idUSBREA2U10E20140331?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews

(Reuters) - Guinea faces an Ebola epidemic on an unprecedented scale as it battles to contain confirmed cases now scattered across several locations that are far apart, medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said on Monday.

The warning from an organization used to tackling Ebola in Central Africa comes after Guinea's president appealed for calm as the number of deaths linked to an outbreak on the border with Liberia and Sierra Leone hit 80.

The outbreak of one of the world's most lethal infectious diseases has spooked a number of governments with weak health systems, prompting Senegal to close its border with Guinea and other neighbors to restrict travel and cross-border exchanges.

And... that was just March. People have been following this more lately because, yes, more Health Care workers including Americans were infected, but mostly because the outbreak is rapidly spiraling out of control in West Africa.

[Anonymous]

Emory made this statement earlier today.

http://news.emory.edu/stories/2014/07/euh_ebola_patient/campus.html

This Forbes article also has information about patient transport and treatment methods.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidkroll/2014/08/01/should-we-be-concerned-about-american-ebola-patients-coming-to-emory-hospital/