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Ebola Comes To USA

#661
INTP said:
Editorial, from one of the returning health care workers who just came back from Sierra Leone, into Newark Liberty International Airport

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This should not be happening. We are doing it wrong. I just hope we don't end up cutting off our nose to spite our face. We are letting people's irrational fear dictate public health policy decisions. It is wrong! It is dangerous! We should stop acting this way!
 
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#665
INTP said:
I'm having trouble finding any evidence that Nigeria instituted mandatory quarantine of all persons traveling from affected areas, regardless of lack of symptoms. Do you have any links?

This is the most detailed summary I could find:
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I should have been clearer. I meant to refer to the practice of quarantining medical staff for 21 days after contact with patients after very close monitoring, not the practice of mandating the 21 day period for workers from affected areas. In every interview with domestic aid workers I've heard on NPR, particularly with Nigerians, all mentioned that they had self imposed a 21 day quarantine on themselves despite being asymptomatic. Unfortunately, it's hard to parse through the reports based on just remembering I had heard them, so I'll refrain from any more posting that can't be backed up with a link, but that info shouldn't be too hard to find.

So now it comes down to a battle between state and federal recommendations vs mandates. It can't be spun into a partisan debate with Gov. Cuomo on board with the mandatory quarantines either, so it will be interesting to see how it pans out. Unfortunately, Ebola (like everything else) has become politicized in the US. It's like each side is frothing at the mouth to claim the most popular position on the matter, and it is effecting policy. Fear and panic are not dictating the newest protocols, it's politics. It's not any secret that both Cuomo and Christie have Presidential ambitions, so I think it's obvious what we're seeing play out.

As for the arguments against mandated quarantines, if one is against such protocols out of concern it will deter aid efforts, that's one thing, but I'd rather not hear about how they should be allowed to go about their daily business independently self monitoring because it's the "nice" thing to do. Sorry, but I don't trust that every single aid worker will be successful in doing so. Those against the forced wait period are asking me to simply trust that the returning workers will do the right thing and self monitor with the utmost vigilance. While the new requirements seem heavy handed, I don't hear any better ideas coming from the CDC aside from checking temps.
 
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#667
INTP said:
I'm having trouble finding any evidence that Nigeria instituted mandatory quarantine of all persons traveling from affected areas, regardless of lack of symptoms. Do you have any links?

This is the most detailed summary I could find:
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Nigeria is a close neighbour to a few countries experiencing large outbreaks. It is not comparable and as with everything else the scale of the response is and should be variable.
 
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#669
One Drop said:
Nigeria is a close neighbour to a few countries experiencing large outbreaks. It is not comparable and as with everything else the scale of the response is and should be variable.
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Unlike some of the other affected countries, Nigeria has a working health care system. The company I work for creates software for managed care, we have two large clients in Nigeria and the majority of the population has access to quality healthcare and they use it.
 
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#670
One Drop said:
Nigeria is a close neighbour to a few countries experiencing large outbreaks. It is not comparable and as with everything else the scale of the response is and should be variable.
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The context of this a bit hard to follow, but this is kind of a thread-within-a-thread.

One could also say that since Nigeria seems to have become ebola free, then all nations should follow their example, including Liberia, Sierra Leone, etc. Obviously absurd, and not very useful.
 
#673
In the article, Hickox said "My blood was taken and tested for Ebola. It came back negative."

My question would be, is it possible for someone who carries the Ebola virus to indicate negative for Ebola?

It sounds stupid, but think about it. If the answer is no, then the simple solution to this whole mess (mandatory quarantine) can easily be rectified;

The returning health-care worker undergoes a compulsory blood test upon arrival, then provides pertinent contact info to authorities, and go on their way. In three or four hours if the (blood test) results are positive, then the person is contacted and then proceed with standard Ebola protocols.

Again, little common sense goes a long way.

I saw the facility Hickox is being holed up in. I have to admit, its pretty miserable. Id be mad if i were her.

edit: addendum
 
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#674
petrus61 said:
We are doing what Nigeria did. Nigeria is now Ebola free after doing it.
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Two very different circumstances. We need to be a major provider of medical aid to the affected West African nations. Adding a mandatory 21 days of quarantine on all health care workers will do two very bad things. One, it will make it more difficult for health workers to volunteer. Two, it will create an unnecessary burden on our own medical centers. We need to make it easier for health workers to aid in the Ebola outbreak at the source, not make it harder for them to help.
 
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#675
skychief said:
In the article, Hickox said "My blood was taken and tested for Ebola. It came back negative."

My question would be, is it possible for someone who carries the Ebola virus to indicate negative for Ebola?

It sounds stupid, but think about it. If the answer is no, then the simple solution to this whole mess (mandatory quarantine) can easily be rectified;

The returning health-care worker undergoes a compulsory blood test upon arrival, then provides pertinent contact info to authorities, and go on their way. In three or four hours if the (blood test) results are positive, then the person is contacted and then proceed with standard Ebola protocols.

Again, little common sense goes a long way.
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I think it's well understood that prior to being symptomatic, it is possible for someone who carries ebola to test negative. There is no field test that can detect this tiny virus, and the tests for antibodies will not show anything until the infection has developed and the body has started responding to it.
 
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#676
INTP said:
I think it's well understood that prior to being symptomatic, it is possible for someone who carries ebola to test negative. There is no field test that can detect this tiny virus, and the tests for antibodies will not show anything until the infection has developed and the body has started responding to it.
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Well, that kinda took the wind outa my sails.

To avoid the quarantine for health care workers returning from the hot zone, they simply could avoid New Jersey and New York as destinations from Europe and 'sneak' into the US via one of the 3 remaining points of entry designated for potential Ebola carriers (Dulles, Chicago, Atlanta), and then take a bus from there to N.Y. or New Jersey. As long as they're not symptomatic, it should be no problem. Of course, it will cost them more money for the extra bus-fare tho. Not to mention more time added to already 2-day long trek from Liberia to Brussels to Dulles.

But at least they can avoid the 21-day quarantine.
 
#678
INTP said:
I think it's well understood that prior to being symptomatic, it is possible for someone who carries ebola to test negative. There is no field test that can detect this tiny virus, and the tests for antibodies will not show anything until the infection has developed and the body has started responding to it.
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The inability to test for the virus at that early stage is because the viral load (amount of virus in the body) is too small. This is also a main reason why asymptomatic individuals cannot transmit the virus through casual contact.
 
#679
Some clever Kiwis have developed a battery powered blood testing machine that you can hold in the palm of your hand, said to be able to detect ebola, now being fast tracked by FDA to get it into the field.

I don't know if it detects smaller amounts of virus than standard lab testing but it wouldn't be surprising.
 

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