Ebola now in the States : (

[BeachyKeen]

I don't see any other threads on this so far, sorry if there is already one.
So this afternoon/evening, it was announced there is the first case of diagnosed-in the-States Ebola.
Story here in the bbc link
From my understanding, the only risk is direct contact with the body fluids, at this point.
I do worry that with more and more opportunities, there will be a higher chance that the virus mutates to become air born.
Is this making anyone else nervous?

I would have been very surprised if there hadn't been any secondary cases as they didn't know what they were dealing with.

From Press conference at the hospital at 12.30

Secondary case above is from the previously identified 48 low risk, self-monitoring contacts and from the late Mr Duncans second admission on 28 September [not the first time he was seen in the ER]

The healthcare workers parents have asked for their privacy to be respected so no details of persons name, age, role in Mr Duncans care etc

Tho' infection has occured despite full barrier protective clothing as recommended by the CDC - like the auxillary nurse in Madrid

I am very sorry to hear of any more cases.
It does make me wonder how it has happened, with them still using so much protection.

It does make one wonder and the CMO Dr Varga at the press conference described the hospital as being ''very concerned''

Perhaps it's the same sort of problems which resulted in several Canadian healthcare workers becoming infected during the SARS epidemic around insufficient training/expertise with distressed intubated patients/issues around removing contaminated gloves and other protective clothing?? But all this is already a known risk/s

I'd like to know how the family of Thomas Duncan are doing. The healthcare worker got infected DESPITE taking precautions - they were living with him while he was symptomatic - eg vomiting. Since they were moved to a safe house there has been no word on them.

Why is it said that ebola "is not very infectious"? There have now been 2 cases (Spain and Dallas) of healthcare workers in full hazchem suits catching it :-( Also, the only basis for the statement is that for every 1 person with the disease, 1.4 more catch it, which is a lower number than for HIV or measles. BUT you can live a long life with HIV and measles is very rarely fatal. 1.4 is not 4 or 5 but still means that the numbers infected will increase exponentially - it will just take longer. I can only see it ending when there is herd immunity which will require a vaccine or else 90% of people to have caught it, with those surviving constituting the immune herd. That is a frightening prospect and I hope it doesn't come to pass but can't see any other end to it.

Compared with other infectious diseases, Ebola is not very infectious. It is highly pathogenic, though, as it seriously affects and kills a large % of people getting it.
Unlike, say, the flu, which can be easily transmissible but only kills a small percentage.
You don't really get to know how many people you have infected with your flu or cold viruses. But it's more than the 1 or 2 that get infected with Ebola. (with current practices)

..and isnt it strange that we have gone to very little risk, to them now checking at airport control, emergency procedure practices... and the now acceptance that someone will get it over in the uk...er..is someone not telling us something?

I looked at the sky documentary and i cant see how they can get it under control without a vaccine tbh. Their living conditions are just not going to change overnight. Its very worrying.
If it comes over here...what about the implications for daily practices and things like eating out?... sleeping in hotels...etc

..i am saying that because you dont know if someone who has had it has been lying on the bed you have been sleeping on...can you guarantee everything has been cleaned? The same with cups and cutlery. It would be a disaster for the tourist industry thats for sure.

I think the most effective way we can help (and should have been doing all along) is supporting MFS/Red Cross/on the ground support.
I don't think there is going to be a vaccine in time. It will have to be stopped through education and best practices being enforced.

...but that will take too long. I agree, education and best practices are the key but thats in the long term. The way the people live is down to the financial state the country is in and lot is because of cultural pracitices..i dont know how its going to be stopped :(
When i watched the programme, it showed a family....nobody wanted to know them because a relative died..they were sleeping on her bed ffs!! The kids and the whole family had been...and she had it. People burying their dead because they think these aid workers are the enemy and dont want their people cremated when its the only safe way. Aid workers going in, taking the body but the house is still infected. It is awful.

I've just seen a blog which says that Eric Duncan may well have caught the virus when he carried a pregnant woman, who had been denied admission to a clinic, back into her home.

Not sure why that little vignette affected me as it did. Perhaps because in general we're not hearing the human stories?

BBC article on the confirmation of another secondary case in Texas

They have not named the individual, nor said if they were previously in home quarantine.

AuntieStella, no they wont name the individual or give joe public too much information this seems standard practice with transmissable diseases unfortunately.

NotQuite I read that at the start and have been saddened that this fact hasn't been focused on much. He was trying to do a kind act for a 19 year old woman and her unborn baby, most of her family were already sick or dead of Ebola.
It's not a popular sentiment but I also don't blaming him for lying to get to the USA, its basic human nature, survival of the fittest, how far a person is willing to go to survive.

I think we need to be careful of how news stories are interpreted, I've read that they didn't know his sister had ebola, they thought it was a complication of the pregnancy and it was subsequent to his departure that other family members caught it.
I don't know which version is true, but it's all to easy to scapegoat people.

It's unfortunate that another HCW has been infected. It's logical though if the ppe or protocol weren't up to scratch that there would be more than one case, but they've been trying to shift the blame onto the HCW by saying she had a breech of protocol. Too much finger pointing at people when the authorities need to make sure these accidents are difficult to happen.

But other Ebola patients have been treated in the US and other countries, including the UK, with no infection of their carers.

ohyou I agree some of the comments I've read on articals are horrifying. These are people we are talking about exteremly ill people.

I fully expected another case in Dallas it sounded like in the early days the response wasn't what it should have been so of course other medical staff were going to get it.
I feel awful for the front line staff it is unfair that they are under such pressure to be responsible for understanding all the protocol to contain this issue, they don't appear to have been specialist medics and have no experience with dealing with disease like Ebola.
The authorities need to take responsibility for their own failures otherwise they will have issues with staff refusing to care for such patients.

I think its a failure at hospital level Lweji.

DM are running a really quite disgusting article about Thomas Duncan, real rubbernecking timeline of what the poor man suffered. So disrespectful :(

:( I feel very angry on behalf of his family. He has been treated appallingly.

how dreadful talk about lack of respect let the poor man rest in Peace he had a dreadful ending to life he deserves better treatment.

Article appears to have been pulled, at least on the App. I hope it was due to a shed load of complaints

A second Dallas nurse has now been diagnosed with Ebola as a result of treating a single patient in the US. Given that Médecins Sans Frontières have treated thousands of Ebola patients in very challenging conditions and only had 16 of their healthcare workers infected as a result, this is really very poor.