<p>On the issue of effectiveness of bleach. Scientists who use PCR, a super sensitive method that is capable of detecting a single copy of DNA, decontaminate surfaces with “10% bleach”. It works that well - does not leave a single intact DNA copy:</p>
<p>I can’t believe they’ve left the family in the contaminated apartment. That seems cruel and unnecessary.</p>
<p>I’d rather see them in a fresh place, with all new clothing/bedding/kitchen goods, kindles for all with plenty of credits for books/movies/audiobooks, groceries provided, and school instruction via skype for the kids. </p>
<p>I also wonder why a guy they thought was suffering from a mild virus was sent home from the hospital the first time with antibiotics. Isn’t this why we have growing antibiotic resistance?</p>
<p>From news reports, the family’s needs for decontamination are now being addressed ONLY because the patient’s brother contacted CDC himself. And they are now receiving food ONLY because the patient’s woman partner contacted CNN. Nice work, Dallas/Texas.</p>
<p>That’s not exactly true, they being were visited once a day. </p>
<p>But, I will say the patients brother certainly knows how to get attention. Who calls the CDC after the ER gives you antibiotics and then calls CNN when you want help cleaning your apartment? Very strange behavior imho. They also failed to comply with the initial quarantine which is why the number of people possibly exposed is up to 100 and they stuck a guard outside the apartment. What a mess.</p>
<p>arabrab, they tested him for all sorts of stuff, but test results are not instantaneous. There probably was enough to give him antibiotics as a precaution based on his symptoms etc. Sometimes, doctors sent me home with an antibiotic prescription and instructions to wait for their call with test results to fill it or not. Since this was a guy from a foreign country, he was probably given the meds so he did not have to buy them at a pharmacy if the test results came in positive for bacterial infection. So many possible explanations. </p>
<p>I have noticed that many news sources give conflicting “facts”: he had visited the US several times/this was his first trip; Louise traveled with him from Liberia/Louise lived here, etc. Wolf Blitzer–who doesn’t seem very bright, I must say, but I’ve never seen him before–repeated a bungled version of the hospital visit/symptom sequence to the brother. And on and on.</p>
<p>I find it ironic that people are criticizing Weeks for taking strong action to make sure that someone in authority KNEW that the patient had been exposed to Ebola. I truly cannot believe that someone would imply that he is some kind of system-playing con man who just wanted someone else to clean his apartment. (He doesn’t even live there, for doG’s sake.)</p>
<p>So he is claiming that he told the hospital he suspected Ebola? Who did he tell exactly because you can’t talk to a hospital and they deny it. It’s also a very different version of the story than we got from Louise who said she did the talking at the hospital. Look, the point is this guy knew the other guy probably had Ebola. Thus, the other guy probably knew he had Ebola when he lied and got on the plane to come to the US for some reason. Maybe it was to get treatment or maybe he just missed Louise. To me it looked like Wolf Blitzer was trying to pin him down without attacking him. But, it was impossible. And, it certainly looks like the hospital bungled the first visit but I’m starting to think these people were not very clear, either.</p>
<p>I think people are just angry that Ebola is here. And that Duncan seems to have lied about his exposure to Ebola for the purpose of coming here. Is there any way he didn’t know that he had been exposed? That seems highly unlikely. I would be curious to know when he purchased the plane tickets–did he do that before the exposure or after?</p>
<h1>316 that’s a good article until it gets to the part of why we can’t have travel restrictions from hot zones. Their argument boils down to “it would just delay but not stop travel” - well, that’s the point - delay gives time for the symptoms to show.</h1>
<p>The danger of letting more people be exposed to Ebola is not just the death toll but that every new infection is another opportunity for the virus to mutate.</p>
<p>Louise may very well have done the talking AT the hospital. This guy wasn’t there. He lives in another state, with the patient’s 87 yr old mother and someone else (I can’t recall who.)</p>
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<p>Again, Blitzer was interviewing a DIFFERENT man. Not Weeks.</p>
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<p>It would help to get the cast of characters straight. Which can be difficult, because misinformation is being repeated constantly.</p>
<p>Yes, it’s still unclear. But, we do know the hospital messed up. And, we do know the ebola patient knew he was probably an ebola patient when he boarded that plane. So, if no-one else knew it’s at least partly because he didn’t tell them or didn’t tell them clearly. And, that includes an apt full of kids.So, I can certainly understand people being annoyed.</p>
<p>^ and it is full of inaccuracies and missing info.</p>
<p>"…was concluded that he had a common virus and he was sent home with antibiotics"</p>
<p>What is a “common virus”? Who writes this stuff? The piece implies that the medics were so dumb that they did not know the elementary thing about antibiotics and viruses. </p>
<p>And here Blitzer is iterating a WRONG sequence of events and asking the half-brother to agree. The half-brother actually corrects him by telling the story correctly, rather than by directly saying “No, that isn’t what happened.” Most likely he would consider that rude. The fact that the man has a slight speech impediment and a West African accent may not help. It’s pretty clear that Blitzer has certain things he wants the man to say, and he ignores everything that doesn’t fit that agenda. For example, the man gives a good explanation of Liberian cultural expectations around helping neighbors, which any NPR interviewer would explore, to our greater understanding, but seems to go right over Blitzer’s head. Cooper seems to be a lot better than Blitzer at actually listening to what people say and asking sensible questions. </p>
<p>Here’s the info about the nephew, Josephus Weeks, call the hospital, the CDC, and the state health authorities on the day the patient was admitted to the hospital:</p>
<p>Well, I’m not going into get into comparing NPR and CNN or Cooper and Blitzer. The Cooper interview was later when there was more information known. Blitzer is trying to figure out what happened and he’s getting no help from the interview subject. I really don’t think he had an agenda to rewrite the story at that point. Neighbors helping neighbors is very nice. But, everyone also knows that if that involves carrying around dead ebola victims it’s a problem when you want to fly to another country. In any culture. He’s in big trouble in Liberia, btw.</p>
It’s pretty clear that Blitzer has certain things he wants the man to say, and he ignores everything that doesn’t fit that agenda. For example, the man gives a good explanation of Liberian cultural expectations around helping neighbors, which any NPR interviewer would explore, to our greater understanding, but seems to go right over Blitzer’s head. Cooper seems to be a lot better than Blitzer at actually listening to what people say and asking sensible questions. </p>
or Cooper and Blitzer. The Cooper interview was later when there was more information known. Blitzer is trying to figure out what happened and he’s getting no help from the interview subject. I really don’t think he had an agenda to rewrite the story at that point. Neighbors helping neighbors is very nice. But, everyone also knows that if that involves carrying around dead ebola victims it’s a problem when you want to fly to another country. In any culture. He’s in big trouble in Liberia, btw.</p>