<p>Bay, I don’t even think it was Duncan that caused the huge concern, rather it was how ineptly he was handled by a US hospital, after being assured by every talking head out there, from the President on down, that we were prepared to handle the incredibly unlikely possibility of ebola ever coming to this country. </p>
<p>And then to find out that a health care worker who had contact with him could just up and fly to Cleveland while supposedly being monitored. What’s to worry about?</p>
<p>I also believe that the public panic would have been allayed if the CDC had stepped in and Duncan had immediately been moved to a specialized facility, rather than leave a community hospital to blunder along with other immunity-compromised patients in the same facility. It’s like someone woke up and realized this when Vinson went straight to Emory and Pham was moved to NIH. </p>
<p>Here’s an article on Ebola from April, just as the epidemic was beginning in Guinea.</p>
<p><a href=“Fears Of Ebola Outbreak Spreading From Guinea Unfounded, Health Officials Say”>http://www.ibtimes.com/fears-ebola-outbreak-spreading-guinea-unfounded-health-officials-say-1566750</a></p>
<p>Dr. Fauci is quoted as saying “Fear that Ebola will spread is misguided”.</p>
<p>Senegal closed its borders then. </p>
<p>100% agree, @Bay #1261. CDC certainly has not covered itself in glory, but Texas Pres could hardly have handled it worse. </p>
<p>Do i see similaritites here?</p>
<p><a href=“http://news.sky.com/story/1355085/ebola-who-admits-it-botched-outbreak”>http://news.sky.com/story/1355085/ebola-who-admits-it-botched-outbreak</a></p>
<p>It is quite possible that Duncan was not transportable shortly after the time he was admitted - his disease progressed rather rapidly. All the other patients were in a somewhat better shape. </p>
<p>BB, none of the other patients were turned away when they first presented. Getting on it early makes a huge difference. </p>
<p>There is definitely a need for more diagnostic labs closer to the source:</p>
<p><a href=“Make diagnostic centres a priority for Ebola crisis | Nature”>Latest science news, discoveries and analysis;
<p><a href=“Woman Who Became Ill Near Pentagon Does Not Have Ebola - CBS Baltimore”>http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2014/10/17/pentagon-parking-lot-shutdown-after-woman-falls-ill/</a></p>
<p>Wonder how this will play out.</p>
<p>“The woman told the ACFD she had recently visited west Africa while they were transporting her to the Virginia Hospital Center. She did not get out of the ambulance, according to Arlington officials, and then was transported the patient to Fairfax Inova Hospital.”</p>
<p>^^Who writes this kind of crap?!! </p>
<p>I don’t see how anyone can blame the hospital for anything other than the initial diagnosis, when the international experts cannot even agree or execute on the proper protocol. </p>
<p>Is Fairfax Inova Hospital bigger than Virginia Hospital Center?</p>
<p>Here is a pretty good article showing the timeline of the TX Ebola cases. </p>
<p><a href=“Obama Names Democratic Operative to Coordinate Ebola Response - The New York Times”>http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/10/18/us/ebola-cruise-ship-dallas.html</a></p>
<p>It has been 19 days since the hospital worker (who is in the cruise ship) possibly can into contact with the Duncan’s test samples. The ship doc says all is well. 2 more days! </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Beats me.</p>
<p>BB,
What’s weird about that timeline is that it indicates that Pham and Vinson were treating Duncan only in the first couple of days when he was admitted, and not after or near the time he died. And they call those first few days the high risk period.</p>
<p>Here’s something to eat lunch by.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.huffingtonpost.com/abby-norman/im-a-hazmat-trained-hospi_b_5998486.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592”>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/abby-norman/im-a-hazmat-trained-hospi_b_5998486.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592</a></p>
<p>“BB,
What’s weird about that timeline is that it indicates that Pham and Vinson were treating Duncan only in the first couple of days when he was admitted, and not after or near the time he died. And they call those first few days the high risk period.”</p>
<p>I do not find it weird. The high risk period are the days directly before the test result on Mr Duncan came back positive. He was contagious yet not confirmed as having Ebola, and that’s the source of risk. More need for rapid diagnostics. </p>
<p>What is confusing then, is that I thought we have generally been discussing that the disease is most dangerous at the end stages, although I understand the implication that if the nurses didn’t know this was Ebola for the first couple of days, then they may not have been properly protected at the time.</p>
<p>Which raises a lay question: When a patient presenting with fever and undiagnosed flu-like symptoms is admitted, is the general protocol for nursing him different than after diagnosis? In other words, a professional upthread said she always treats blood samples as if they are HIV positive (or something like that). So at the time Duncan was admitted, how was the standard protocol for communicable diseases for nurses different from the Ebola protocol?</p>
<p>Also notable about designating those first few days the “high risk period” is that it includes the day Duncan was admitted, and presumably he had been spending time with his relatives immediately prior and they have not become infected.</p>
<p>I think this was linked upthread, but this part jumped out at me:
<a href=“http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/ebola/14-october-2014/en/”>http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/ebola/14-october-2014/en/</a>
</p>
<p>Goes on to say:
</p>
<p>The hospital in Texas made a huge mistake sending Duncan home. The person at the CDC who spoke to the nurse before she flew should have erred on the side of caution. Though in theory they should be able, the assumption that local hospitals are prepared to handle an ebola patient was (at least in this instance) wrong. Underfunding the organizations that oversee, treat and train was wrong. A great deal has been learned and I have to believe that improvements will be made in communication and training. </p>
<p>I agree with the people who have pointed out that this is a wake up call. That being said, my daughter works at a hospital in NYC. She was working ER shifts two months ago and was present for training. I assume that every hospital in the US was sent information. Why the Texas Presbyterian ER dropped the ball when Duncan first came in is beyond me. The communications mess afterward certainly has to do with mixed messages from the CDC, hospital administrators trying to cover their rears, political figures trying to seem more knowledgable than they really are and the media trying to fill 24 hours/day of air time any way they can - the truth be d*mned. I have gotten better information and perspective from frugaldoctor and Nrdsb4’s posts than anywhere else.</p>