And how many of these were a threat to the general population?
None. They even let one of the patients go home to say her goodbyes. It’s just not that easy to catch.
Accidents are inevitable. But that’s a completely different story than person-to-person transmission in the general population.
A smallpox case would absolutely be dealt with this way, most likely irrespective of the patient’s citizenship. This containment unit is designed to handle ANY infection, regardless of transmission pathway or lethality. Given the extreme risk that smallpox presents to the world population, leaving even a single case outside of the highest containment is negligent.
Polio is only transmitted through fecal contact. An American with polio would probably be brought back to the US and treated in a regular hospital with all waste collected and decontaminated. This level of containment would be overkill for a polio case.
Yes thanks for that, my bad for relying on my memory. Good exposition.
The louder some of you yell “Nothing can go wrong!” the more nervous I get.
Perhaps you should examine the issue on a factual basis rather than on a basis of horror movie tropes, then.
No one is saying nothing can go wrong. There is always a risk and anyone who denies that is an idiot. We’re saying that the chances of the kind of issues you are anticipating are extremely low. It’s important to evaluate the risk objectively, not out of fear. In this case, all of the appropriate measures are in place to mitigate the risk to such a degree that it really isn’t significant to the general population.
I’m pretty much among the last around here (or anywhere) to mis-evaluate risk or panic at shadows.
But when the situation is unprecedented - no one with an active ebola infection has ever been transported to the US, or AFAIK out of Africa - and the possibilities are extreme - a highly lethal and nearly untreatable disease in terra novis - arguments that consist of lab-coated types pushing up their glasses and sniffily pointing out odds, lack of prior failures and that the disease isn’t *quite *the worst on earth only remind me of the times we’ve heard such rebuttals before.
It’s not unprecedented at all. We work with pathogens that have this mode of transmission all the time. The actual transmission of Ebola is entirely unremarkable.
Now, the death rate IS remarkable. So are the gory symptoms. That is what makes Ebola different. But that has nothing to do with transmission.
In terms of transmission and preventing transmission, it’s actually a pretty easy virus to work with, assuming modern facilities. It isn’t spread by air, it has a short incubation period and victims are symptomatic before they are contagious. The fact that it’s also ugly and deadly doesn’t change that.
If I’m sick with a deadly disease with no treatment or cure, yes. Leave me where I am so that I’m not the Patient Zero that spreads the disease to another continent.
Which Ebola, just so we’re clear on this, is not.
Dr. Brantly is reported to be on the way & will arrive in Atlanta today. I am heartened he is considered stable enough to make the journey.
I saw a facebook post asking why this country is being endangered this way and I think that is flat out ignorance.
Your posts in this thread indicate otherwise. Many highly trained individuals with expertise in infectious disease, clinical treatment, biohazard containment, public health, and medical transport have fully evaluated this situation and decided that this presents a minimal risk. They have continually re-evaluated the issue over the years as new information is presented. Finally, they evaluated this exact situation when it was presented. Why should we listen to your warnings over theirs? What is your training in this field?
The CDC director was on the news last night reassuring the public. It sounds like they got a good plan.
My biggest concern was the actual treatment of an Ebola patient. A sample in a petri dish (or whatever bio labs use) dish isn’t spewing blood,vomit and diarrhea into a bed. Cleaning that up necessitates very close contact for the nurses. Afterward there’s the issue of disposing of the sheets, pillows, chucks and other bio waste. In contrast lab work is very controlled and precise.
I realize this is a case where we just have to trust the experts. I’m glad the CDC is reassuring the public including me.
But Donald Trumps says, KEEP THEM OUT OF HERE!
Not sure which is worse, Ebola or Donald Trump cooties.
It’s ironic we are 4 years away from the start of The Influenza Pandemic of 1918. They estimate 20 to 40 million died. Polio killed many before it was eradicated.
Almost 100 years later we’re still battling viruses. Flu shots every year. Ebola pops up in 1976 and the CDC says the latest outbreak is the worst ever.
Ebola could eventually be a pandemic if a vaccine isn’t found in a few years.
Um, no it can’t.
I just watched a video of Brantly arriving at Emory; he was able to get out of the back of the ambulance and walk into the hospital entrance with only minimal assistance. I don’t know what I was expecting to see, but the guy upright and walking was definitely not what I visualized.
(Video here: American aid worker stricken with Ebola now in U.S. hospital and 'in great spirits' after walking into facility)
Well, the Ebola patient has arrived. He was transported by ambulance to Emory hospital.
Ninjaed. oh well.
Comparing ebola to flu and polio is not reasonable. Flu is airborne and transmitted through surface contamination. It requires no direct contact between the infected and the exposed to effectively transmit the infection. Polio is transmitted through fecal contact. Thus, polio infections are associated with poor sanitation and, like flu, requires no direct contact between infected and exposed. For both flu and polio, individuals are infectious before they have symptoms or with only very mild symptoms that don’t prevent activities of daily life. So, infected people keep going about their business, spreading in the infection to others.
Ebola, on the other hand, requires close contact with actively ill people. You can walk into a room with an ebola sufferer and not get infected. You can even stand next to their bed or sit next to them on the plane. The issue is contact with bodily fluids. Thus, mild infections don’t present much risk of infection because they aren’t dripping infectious fluids everywhere, just like healthy individuals aren’t dripping bodily fluids all over. Sick individuals are very ill, so they tend to self-contain and the only people at risk of infection are those who care for them. It can and does cause epidemics, but it does not have the characteristics of a pandemic disease.
That’s interesting Thanks Red Stilettos.