Official Ebola update thread

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

From the NYTimes:
"A health care worker at the hospital said that Dr. Spencer seemed very sick, and it was unclear to the medical staff why he had not gone to the hospital earlier, since his fever was high."

Sounds like he should have checked himself in yesterday or the day before. Apparently his temp was already 103 when he checked in.

It seems like he was in denial about the risks. I wonder if you have to have a bit of feeling of invincibility/ego to have to courage to volunteer to be a doctor in West Africa. It's almost like their strengths could be their weaknesses in terms of a self-quarantine (e.g. I am different/too careful/too good, etc., it won't happen to me.)

All the more reason for mandatory quarantines and travel bans. No brainer

Don't agree with a travel ban,,but do with mandatory quarantines. The past two weeks have shown that even those who should know better act in very foolish manner despite exposure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

From the NYTimes:
"A health care worker at the hospital said that Dr. Spencer seemed very sick, and it was unclear to the medical staff why he had not gone to the hospital earlier, since his fever was high."

Sounds like he should have checked himself in yesterday or the day before. Apparently his temp was already 103 when he checked in.

It seems like he was in denial about the risks. I wonder if you have to have a bit of feeling of invincibility/ego to have to courage to volunteer to be a doctor in West Africa. It's almost like their strengths could be their weaknesses in terms of a self-quarantine (e.g. I am different/too careful/too good, etc., it won't happen to me.)

All the more reason for mandatory quarantines and travel bans. No brainer

Don't agree with a travel ban,,but do with mandatory quarantines. The past two weeks have shown that even those who should know better act in very foolish manner despite exposure.

I am shocked that a doctor who treated ebola patients and felt sluggish before did not put himself in quarantine. He was acting irresponsibly and contradicting his physician's oath. I think they should take away his license.

[Anonymous]

Ebola symptoms begin with sudden, high fever. I don't think he was irresponsible. He felt tired for a couple of days, so what? Sounds like he called 911 as soon as fever hit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ebola symptoms begin with sudden, high fever. I don't think he was irresponsible. He felt tired for a couple of days, so what? Sounds like he called 911 as soon as fever hit.

+1

The people living in the apartment with Duncan while he was in early days of ebola didn't catch it. This doctor isolated himself as soon as he had symptoms.

Hope the guy is ok. So few people are willing to help in West Africa.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ebola symptoms begin with sudden, high fever. I don't think he was irresponsible. He felt tired for a couple of days, so what? Sounds like he called 911 as soon as fever hit.

+1

The people living in the apartment with Duncan while he was in early days of ebola didn't catch it. This doctor isolated himself as soon as he had symptoms.

Hope the guy is ok. So few people are willing to help in West Africa.

Yes, thank goodness for selfless people like him who are willing to help others in need. I feel so bad for these dedicated healthcare workers who are being vilified. It really makes me sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids go to a preschool with a lot of world bank and IMF staffers. I wasn't worried before, but I think that this doctor shows that people who really should be self-quarantining are not, nor are their organizations requiring them to do so. Anyone know what requirements international orgs are placing on employees returning from W. Africa?

Why don't you toughen up and ask the preschool?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ebola symptoms begin with sudden, high fever. I don't think he was irresponsible. He felt tired for a couple of days, so what? Sounds like he called 911 as soon as fever hit.

+1

The people living in the apartment with Duncan while he was in early days of ebola didn't catch it. This doctor isolated himself as soon as he had symptoms.

Hope the guy is ok. So few people are willing to help in West Africa.

Yes, thank goodness for selfless people like him who are willing to help others in need. I feel so bad for these dedicated healthcare workers who are being vilified. It really makes me sad.

When you're dealing with a deadly disease, you have an obligation to not be a dumbass, no matter how selfless your prior actions were.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ebola symptoms begin with sudden, high fever. I don't think he was irresponsible. He felt tired for a couple of days, so what? Sounds like he called 911 as soon as fever hit.

+1

The people living in the apartment with Duncan while he was in early days of ebola didn't catch it. This doctor isolated himself as soon as he had symptoms.

Hope the guy is ok. So few people are willing to help in West Africa.

Yes, thank goodness for selfless people like him who are willing to help others in need. I feel so bad for these dedicated healthcare workers who are being vilified. It really makes me sad.

When you're dealing with a deadly disease, you have an obligation to not be a dumbass, no matter how selfless your prior actions were.

Taking the subway? Uh oh...paging the czar...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ebola symptoms begin with sudden, high fever. I don't think he was irresponsible. He felt tired for a couple of days, so what? Sounds like he called 911 as soon as fever hit.

+1

The people living in the apartment with Duncan while he was in early days of ebola didn't catch it. This doctor isolated himself as soon as he had symptoms.

Hope the guy is ok. So few people are willing to help in West Africa.

Yes, thank goodness for selfless people like him who are willing to help others in need. I feel so bad for these dedicated healthcare workers who are being vilified. It really makes me sad.

When you're dealing with a deadly disease, you have an obligation to not be a dumbass, no matter how selfless your prior actions were.

This.

[Anonymous]

Please people, get a grip. Not a single person in this country has contracted Ebola from casual contact. Not a one. The only people who have contracted it were nurses working with an end stage patient's bodily fluids and wearing inappropriate protection. No one living with Duncan, or who came in contact with Duncan, contracted the disease. Not a single health care worker who has treated an Ebola patient outside of this rinky dink hospital in Texas has contracted the disease.

Please tell me how somehow who works at the world bank is going to be exposed to an Ebola patient's bodily fluids. I don;t think these folks are putting in IVs and cleaning up vomit.

So many of you are just being ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

So many of the assumptions about stopping Ebola in its tracks rest on bureaucrats' view of human beings engaging in rational behavior. It was not rational behavior for the dr to (allegedly) travel to Brooklyn or wherever via mass transit. Not good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please people, get a grip. Not a single person in this country has contracted Ebola from casual contact. Not a one. The only people who have contracted it were nurses working with an end stage patient's bodily fluids and wearing inappropriate protection. No one living with Duncan, or who came in contact with Duncan, contracted the disease. Not a single health care worker who has treated an Ebola patient outside of this rinky dink hospital in Texas has contracted the disease.

Please tell me how somehow who works at the world bank is going to be exposed to an Ebola patient's bodily fluids. I don;t think these folks are putting in IVs and cleaning up vomit.

So many of you are just being ridiculous.

I agree with you completely. But the fact is, when am Ebola case happens, a massive amount of resources have to be marshaled to trace and monitor that oerson's contacts. So, if you just got back from treating Ebola patients, and you start feeling funky, for the love of god, don't go running around in public like it's any other day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So many of the assumptions about stopping Ebola in its tracks rest on bureaucrats' view of human beings engaging in rational behavior. It was not rational behavior for the dr to (allegedly) travel to Brooklyn or wherever via mass transit. Not good.

He didn't have symptoms and he rode the subway. It's not rational to panic about this.

From a PR perspective, terrible idea to ride the subway. But actual risk? None.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please people, get a grip. Not a single person in this country has contracted Ebola from casual contact. Not a one. The only people who have contracted it were nurses working with an end stage patient's bodily fluids and wearing inappropriate protection. No one living with Duncan, or who came in contact with Duncan, contracted the disease. Not a single health care worker who has treated an Ebola patient outside of this rinky dink hospital in Texas has contracted the disease.

Please tell me how somehow who works at the world bank is going to be exposed to an Ebola patient's bodily fluids. I don;t think these folks are putting in IVs and cleaning up vomit.

So many of you are just being ridiculous.

Using the term "rinky dink" is unnecessarily disparaging and paints with a broad brush. Such language does not foster the goal of achieving civil dialogue about important issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids go to a preschool with a lot of world bank and IMF staffers. I wasn't worried before, but I think that this doctor shows that people who really should be self-quarantining are not, nor are their organizations requiring them to do so. Anyone know what requirements international orgs are placing on employees returning from W. Africa?

Our Montessori preschool has a lot of parents at the WB or IMF too, including one who just returned from 2 weeks in West Africa. I'm not worried. Ebola needs direct contact, and even then, it's hard to catch. It's not airborne like the flu.

People need to seriously relax. My husband is a virologist at the NIH and everybody there is concerned - not about Ebola, but about the rising tide of hysteria!