Posted on 10/13/2014 5:15:47 AM PDT by xzins
"We are deeply concerned about this new development," Dr. Tom Frieden, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said on Sunday, after a Dallas nurse who treated a Liberian Ebola patient also tested positive for the deadly virus -- the first person-to-person transmission in the U.S.
"We now consider all of the health care workers who cared for the index patient (Thomas Eric Duncan) potentially to have been exposed, and we'll be rostering those individuals and determining which require active follow-up in addition to their self-monitoring," Frieden told CBS's "Face the Nation" with Bob Schieffer.
"We know from many years of experience that it's possible to care for patients with Ebola safely without risk to health care workers," Frieden added. "But we also know that ...even a single breach can result in contamination.
"And one of the areas that we look at closely are things like how you take off the gear that might be infected or contaminated. Another that we'll be looking at closely in-- in the investigation is the-- the interventions that were done to try desperately to keep the index patient alive. This included dialysis and intubation. These are two procedures which can result in the spread of infectious material."
The nurse who contracted Ebola after treating Duncan did wear full protective gear.
"I think the fact that we don't know of a breach in protocol is concerning because, clearly, there was a breach in protocol. We have the ability to prevent the spread of Ebola by caring safely for patients," Frieden said.
He listed for "four things" that CDC is doing now:
"First, is to make sure that that individual (the nurse) is cared for safely and effectively. Second, we're identifying that individual's contacts...Third, we now consider all of the health care workers who cared for the index patient potentially to have been exposed and we'll be rostering those individuals and determining which require active follow-up in addition to their self-monitoring. And, fourth, we'll conduct a full investigation of what happens before health workers go in, what happens when they're there, and what happens in ... taking off their protective equipment, because infections only occur when there's a breach in protocol."
Frieden said CDC is now monitoring "all individuals" (he couldn't give an exact number) who cared for Duncan in Dallas, "and we'll be determining how many of those may potentially have had contact that would have resulted in a breakdown of protocol and possible contamination."
Meanwhile, Texas Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas has shut down its emergency room until further notice, CBS reported, because of staffing limitations. Many staffers are being watched for signs of Ebola. This means ambulances will take patients to other emergency departments.
Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," Dr. Anthony Fauci, an infectious disease expert with the National Institutes of Health, said U.S. hospitals "need to reemphasize the importance" of the protocols involved in removing their protective gear.
Although such breaches are "very, very rare," it can happen when a health care worker is "fatigued, they've been working for a long time, and when they take it off, they do something inadvertent, like brushing their face or something like that. I don't know how it happened. The CDC's investigating it, but that's very likely what happened. An inadvertent breach."
Fauci said he's "still quite confident" that there won't be a public outbreak of Ebola in this country -- "because of our ability to reach out, do the contact tracing, and isolate people who are infected."
He also said shutting down flights from West Africa "would be counterproductive."
"We can understand how people might come to that conclusion," Fauci told NBC's Chuck Todd. "But when you look at what happens when you isolate a country, you diminish greatly their ability to handle their own epidemic. If that happens, it very likely will spread to other African countries.
"And the best way to protect Americans is to completely suppress the epidemic in West Africa. If we do that, we wouldn't be talking about this today. So to isolate them, maybe with good intentions, actually can be counterproductive and make things worse."
I’d read last night an admittedly confusing report that the ER at Presbyterian was not admitting patients other than suspected Ebola cases. At the time, many suspected that no admission was due to their being a new suspected Ebola patient being admitted or very recently admitted with insufficient time to decontaminate.
Good question. Govt. Official have been silent after the Duncan-family move to the “gated community”. Why? Just Privacy or are they not telling us they are sick also OR are they letting the ‘Duncan didn’t get treated because he’s black MEME’ linger to get another desired result? (election, ethnic-race baiting) If the family that Duncan was staying with was HEALTHY, why not say that? (I see an endless loop)
Yes, of course. But how do you measure a "strong" immune system vs. one that is just working at its optimal self? If you don't know, how do you know all those supplements are actually doing something of value?
The nine most terrifying words in the English language are “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.” — Ronald Reagan
Wow...is the CDC in a serious state of DENIAL OR WHAT?
“it had to be a breach of protocol,” really or could it be the protocol is inadequate!
The nurse becomes “fatigued” by caring for the patient? Excuse me, but are there not OSHA protocols that address workers in PPE with regard to length of time, work involved, and temperature? If the nurses are suffering from “fatigue” what was being done to address the issue?
.
“The ED is shut down because they do not have staff to take any more patients. Most of their staff is being watched for Ebola....”
No.
The doc at the pres conf. also said there were 18 hospital employees being watched.
That’s a small fraction of a large city ER staff, even if they all came from the ER, which is unlikely.
No.
The reason they don’t have staff is a severe case of the blue flu.
Their staff is refusing to work.
But.
That information went down the memory whole.
After the doc said no staff, so decontaminating while we’re down anyway...
The media reported: closed for decontamination.
They (the people that yanked the doc out of the press conf) don’t want you to know that they cannot provide adequate staffing during an outbreak.
Every hospital. Every unit. Every clinic. Every medical office. Nationwide. They’re discussing this. People are drawing lines about what they will do if Ebola comes to their workplace.
You’d be surprised what is being said. See. A primarily female work force with young children at home and spouse that also work is a workforce that has employment options. Maybe not all of them.
But.
As clearly seen in Dallas. Enough of them.
WE NEED TO GET THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION INVOLVED IN THIS NOW!
If this how it really works, then the key to stopping the spread is dealing correctly with patients as they go terminal, and the odds of it spreading in developed countries is minimal.
Also, I'm impressed with the wisdom in the thread. A few simple ideas will work:
And the Progressives are going to do everything in their power to make sure something like that never ever ever happens again . No matter what the risks....
CDC is only effective in running the clown car until the head doctor of a hospital or a Governor decides to change the game.
Caretakers need respirators until this infection of the nurse is figured out. Is it airborne or not and given the nurse got it, I would guess it could be airborne. Everyone does not have to follow the rat over the cliff.
Also, I would rather hear from Texas head docs than CDC kooks on what should be done to protect the US public all these diseases, including Ebola.
That’s some what odd as the CDC classifies that as a “ low risk exposure”
“Healthcare personnel in facilities with confirmed or probable Ebola patients who have been in the care area for a prolonged period of time while not wearing recommended PPE”
Actually Im glad someone is trying to be cautious for once.....
>>Staff can be called in from other locations or to be on call.
That assumes willing volunteers...which there are not.
The Director of the CDC publicly;y throwing the Presby nurse under the bus before any investigation ended any possibility of that.
>>If the powers that be - whoever they are - really want to get a handle on this, anyone with symptoms of this disease should be taken to a single location, isolated from other types of injuries or potential illnesses so as not to spread this to the general population.
They don’t, because of the political implications of 100% screen plus wide spread quarantine for foreigners means for Obama’s open borders domestic/foreign policies.
The problem is the early symptoms are fever, body ache headache, vomiting, diarrhea. The same symptoms of dozens of common illnesses we see every day in the ER and clinics. Gonna have to be a huge Facility to see them all in one place.
Ought to use the same quarantine specifications for shipping dogs to Hawaii.
I didn’t say not concerned. I said I’ll be surprised if they get it. Time will tell.
Those who contract the disease in Africa are most often those who have contact with the bodies during the last stages of the disease or after death. This is in all likelihood because they are greatly more infectious during this time.
I honestly thought that more Ebola cases would have popped up in the USA, by now...time will tell on how bad it will get here.
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