Ebola Coming to the U.S.

[SusanNorton]

According to this article, a patient with the ebola virus is being transported to an Atlanta hospital for treatment.

An Ebola patient is leaving Africa for treatment at an Atlanta hospital - The Washington Post

My compassion for this patient and their family doesn't make up for the feeling I have that this is a dreadful mistake. What are your thoughts?

Eeek!

 

[Dana Jean]

This scares the holy sh*t out of me. If you have not red The Hot Zone, do so.

 

[Out of Order]

One thing that does raise the red flag for me is how it is spreading across the borders to other countries. That is going to make it very hard to fight.

Africa has no organization or system to fight this so they do need help.

From the article:

"Americans should not fear that the epidemic will take hold in the United States. That’s because Ebola, deadly as it is, is contagious only when a patient is sick with symptoms of the disease. The virus is spread by direct contact with bodily fluids after the symptoms appear.

A person who becomes infected will not show symptoms for five to 10 days, sometimes as long as three weeks. In that incubation period, the person isn’t contagious. The symptoms, when they come on, are severe, and U.S. officials are confident that they can isolate any patients should Ebola manage to spread here."

Still scary. What if someone comes into the US in the early stages of Ebola without being diagnosed and then goes into the contagious stage while attending a public event? Possible? I don't know........

 

[Spideyman]

Eventually there will be two Ebola patients entering the USA. First to Atlanta area, undisclosed as to the other.

I do wish these patients the best medical care possible, and prayers are with all, but I have grave concerns that proper safety can/ will be enforced. Was it not recently that the CDC center had issues with live samples. It will only take one human error..........

 

[Lily Sawyer]

My compassion for this patient and their family doesn't make up for the feeling I have that this is a dreadful mistake. What are your thoughts?

You are not alone. I'm not sure which Einstein agreed to this but that person should be forced to care for the poor victim on a deserted island, away from humanity, until the virus has reached its conclusion. It scares the snot out of me to think that there may be people right now on flights to the U.S. who carry the virus and are asymptomatic....for now.

 

[fljoe0]

I wonder how hard it was to find a pilot and crew for this flight?

 

[Lily Sawyer]

I wonder how hard it was to find a pilot and crew for this flight?

Probably very. I sure hope they're getting hazardous duty pay for the trip.

 

[arista]

The next step is the T-virus. (See walking dead references).

 

[Out of Order]

The outbreak of the extraordinarily lethal Ebola virus has worsened in West Africa, with the contagion showing no sign of coming under control, prompting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday to warn Americans to avoid nonessential travel to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

That's okay, The CDC is bringing it to you.

 

[Spideyman]

Ebola Patients Coming to the US: How Safe Are We? - ABC News

This shows the containment uint the patient will be in. From my understanding it is a specially equipped transport plane and I'd think/hope the accompanying doctors would be in bio suits.

 

[Moderator]

I sincerely hope that the victims will be able to receive the treatment they need to recover and that more than adequate precautions are being taken with their transport but the words "What could go wrong?" keep coming to mind.

 

[Out of Order]

Spidey's article says patients. That with an "S."

 

[Lily Sawyer]

Spidey's article says patients. That with an "S."

There are supposedly two patients who are being transported.

We haven't been told yet about the ones being taken to the Stovington Plague Center in Vermont.

 

[Out of Order]

I know........now. First article said just one.


You know I'm right next door........

 

[GNTLGNT]

...ya know, I sympathize with the "what could go wrong?" crowd-but I'm a health care professional myself-and despite all the doomsday scenarios, we get it right more often than not...just could do without the media hyping what errors occur and neglecting the good...sure, the risk is there-and I'm as scared as anyone, but reasonable precautions i.e. Universal Precautions if need be, should suffice-this has to be DIRECT contact with bodily fluids-so unless you're swappin' spit, or they sneeze in your mouth etc.-common sense care should do ya well...

 

[Riot87]

IMO this may sound rude but i don't think they should have brought them to the U.S

 

[Out of Order]

...ya know, I sympathize with the "what could go wrong?" crowd-but I'm a health care professional myself-and despite all the doomsday scenarios, we get it right more often than not...just could do without the media hyping what errors occur and neglecting the good...sure, the risk is there-and I'm as scared as anyone, but reasonable precautions i.e. Universal Precautions if need be, should suffice-this has to be DIRECT contact with bodily fluids-so unless you're swappin' spit, or they sneeze in your mouth etc.-common sense care should do ya well...

Sounds like the last time I rode The T.

 

[Lily Sawyer]

You know I'm right next door........

Yep. Lucky you. Not.
And you know there are boatloads of SKMBers who'd take in the NH/VT/ME crowd in a freaky-deaky situation, right?
Why, I can think of two such people, in Tennessee and North Carolina, who'd help out.
But of course, it would mean that you'd have to pick blue raspberries, drop a ton of money on fresh daisy arrangements, restore a certain avatar, shave your head, cough up a case of champagne, root for the Nats, and in general behave yourself.
We don't think that would be too much to ask...if you want to avoid ebola. ;-)

P.S. The Sharknado DVD stays with Dana Jean while you're in town. Sorry.

 

[Lets Rock]

I think I may have read too much Michael Critchen cause I'm just thinking... watch that plane or send medical staff and supplies to them....

(If I find more MC books will read them - might avoid Atlanta tho)

 

[AnnaMarie]

Ebola virus: What you need to know to protect yourself - Toronto - CBC News

Dr. Keystone addresses some of the concerns. I saw him back around 1990.

~~~~~

I remember SARS in my city. It was terrifying. My grandson was a newborn and had asthma. The news had released that there were SARS patients at a few hospitals. Family working in health safety knew about a few other hospitals that had cases (one was patient to health care worker). On the way to the only presumably safe ER, the news announced a SARS case went through that ER the day before. With no real clear picture on transmission or how long it would survive on surfaces, etc., we took the baby home. What else could we do? (Baby was fine. Used puffers probably more than we should have.)

Now, I have a husband with a compromised immune system. And they decide to bring Ebola to North America.