Posted on 08/02/2014 10:43:11 AM PDT by mojito
An American doctor stricken by Ebola in West Africa arrived home for treatment in Atlanta on Saturday, and U.S. government officials are urging the public to remain confident in the health-care system’s ability to keep the deadly disease isolated.
A charity organization, Samaritan’s Purse, said two Americans in serious condition with the disease were being evacuated: Kent Brantly, a Fort Worth doctor who had been treating Ebola victims in Liberia, and Nancy Writebol, a missionary from Charlotte.
Brantly and Writebol have been hospitalized in serious condition in Monrovia, the Liberian capital. Brantly was brought back to the United States first, in a specially equipped “air ambulance” aircraft that landed Saturday at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, in the northwest Atlanta suburbs, according to news reports.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
“Last week we learned that two Americans working in Liberia for a medical charity, , were among those who had contracted Ebola. When their symptoms took a turn for the worse, the organization announced that the two were going to get experimental treatments. One was going to get a blood transfusion from a 14-year-old boy who recovered from the disease, the organization said; the other was to get an “experimental serum.”
Yes, they are. It’s a diabolical twist to an already horrendous situation. We need to pray for them and remember that our God is in control and that we are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. Pray for all those poor souls in Africa who haven’t heard the Gospel. Very, very sad situation.
I’m trying to pray for Obama too, but it’s very hard to do so.
Good news. They made it through Atlanta without wrecking. And I bet no mosquito made it into Dr. brantly’s bubble suit and out again.
Calm down. really. The guy is here. Hopefully, he will survive. And, hopefully, some good will come from all of this. Hysteria helps nothing. If you are so worried about this, pray about it. I am praying. My fears are about the many vectors that came from the dead American who wandered around all over the place and flew from place to place. It is much more likely that Dr. Brantly will be a key to showing how to survive.
And you misunderstood mine.
I’ve seen the video - from CNN I think - and I would hazard it was taken some time ago, maybe a couple of weeks. I don’t think that there are nurses walking around with buckets anymore, and those women in that video are most likely sick and dying by now.
You have no idea if there’s been a mosquito.
Or a breach in his suit.
You won’t know for at least 3 weeks.
it was irresponsible to take that risk.
A hospital ship or Diego Garcia would serve the same function and risk no one in CONUS.
But it might inconvenience the Emory faculty who are depending on this to continue the funding stream for the previously unused isolation beds there.
And all the publications they’ll get out of it as well.
Because I can guarantee you they’re too chicken to actually GO to Africa to study Ebola. Not to mention the inconvenience.
I worked in Academic research. There are very few saints there.
Good article you linked to. It explains how blood taken from Ebola survivors of 1995 was used to make a serum that saved 7 out of 8 Ebola victims, from dying.
Praying this serum/serum experiment can possibly save the lives of these two Americans.....and others.
My apologies - I copied a number of relevant posters, both with positive and negative comments. I certainly did not mean to include you with those who were issuing a blanket condemnation of the poor Dr. being transferred stateside.
I saw your point. That minimal help is now non existent, according to the NYer article. I believe the video is a week or two old. Things change rapidly on the ground, and news reports lag behind significantly.
No doubt those ladies washing the gloves are dead.
My point was that this was the way they used protective equipment. How many other breaches of standard isolation protocol were ignored due to the challenges of working in a place with no infrastructure, supply chain, and an ill-trained support staff. I wonder how many of the doctors and nurses were aware that their equipment was contaminated on the inside - from ignorance.
What a waste of some very fine, skilled and noble people. I hope someone shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them before they died.
Mrs. AV
Thank you for the apology, and I forgive you.
Mrs. AV
Well if this breaks out here, they’ll have plenty of opportunity to study the disease. And odds are, you’ll be one of them.
Highly contagious with an almost 90% kill rate. Add to that a very horrific way to die. Anyone who thinks bringing anyone into this country with this disease, and yes that includes Americans, is insane.
Flame away.
Breaches of protocol happen here too. Read Hot Zone.
And this:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/08/02/us-usa-healthcare-cdc-idUKKBN0G201A20140802
I am praying for him and the other individual. Praise be to The Lord for allowing him to be able to walk into that hospital and to see his family once again. We did not abandon him in his time of need. We should support our fellow Christians. I think Emory has a handle on infectious diseases and has a protocol in place so I think it’s going to be okay.
Read it already. Yes, breaches occur due to human error. From the sound of things in Africa, though, much of the transmission to healthcare workers had to do with very poor practices. These were likely due to poorly educated workers and the reality of a dearth of supplies/basic sanitation.
We are very blessed to have all of our modern conveniences, but the things that have made the biggest advances in medical care in the last 150 years or so in the West are the ability to keep feces and drinking water apart and the ability to sterilize medical equipment. Those things along with the knowledge about disease transmission and the importance of washing our hands are huge.
Africa is lacking in most of those things.
The Center for Disease control is in Atlanta. This is the US epicenter of disease. CDC does lie though.
I grew up in Africa. I know about the sanitation there.
Those are obvious means of transmission.
Assuming something isn’t airborne and later finding out it is is a breach. It takes Western brains to do those kind of breaches.
BTW, those buckets of ‘dirty water’ were buckets of concentrated clorox solution.
I rest in this every single day, or else I would be a mess.:^)
Pray for all those poor souls in Africa who haven’t heard the Gospel. Very, very sad situation.
I’m trying to pray for Obama too, but it’s very hard to do so.
Yes! It is easier [for me] to just pray for 0 to succumb to God's Will. Thank you for your post.
“Maybe they will die like Christ. You are pretty ok with that, as long as they do it far away, and off your radar screen. Christian death and sacrifice is all so messy and 1st century, isn’t it?
BTW - what have YOU sacrificed for your faith?’
Well ,what have you sacrificed? I have taken care of HIV and Hep C patients. What have you done? I did missionary work in Vietnam. I worked with Hansen Disease patients.
Yes, they should be far away. Death and sacrifice is fine, just let me do it at my own choosing, not some missionary who stayed in a hot zone and took my decision away from me.
That is my prayer, too.
I am more concerned about all the other people who might have been exposed and don’t have the slightest idea— AND the other aid workers returning to the states from hot zones, who think they are in the clear, but may not be.
The 6:00 PM news here in Maine showed the private medical jet carrying Dr. Brantly landing at Bangor International Airport earlier today (Saturday). I imagine the plane needed to be refueled before continuing on to Atlanta.
Some people did get off the plane to retrieve supplies, but these people, in hazmat-type suits, never left the tarmac area adjacent to the jet (according to the local TV news).
Ebola incubation period can be up to 20 days. People who come in here with it may not even know they have it.....10 days later, they collapse.
Also, the virus is spread through coughing, sneezing, etc.....just like an influenza virus. Wipe your grocery cart handles because ebola virus can live on surfaces for several hours.
I honestly believe the CDC is not being forthcoming because they don’t want mass hysteria.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.