Ebola
09-19-2014, 06:53 PM
#62
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09-20-2014, 04:36 AM
#63
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500,000 is not worst case scenario! My wife is a nurse. Medical professionals everywhere are being advised of the real possibilities, Etc. This situation has not been handled as it should have been including stopping the flights and any other travel early on.
09-21-2014, 09:46 AM
#64
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Oh don’t worry.
Just sit back and let, W.H.O., the CDC, our Federal Govt., and even the good old POTUS handle everything for us and keep feeding us with the same old B.S. about how there is no threat to the U.S. and they have it all under control. They all have such great track records.
Just sit back and let, W.H.O., the CDC, our Federal Govt., and even the good old POTUS handle everything for us and keep feeding us with the same old B.S. about how there is no threat to the U.S. and they have it all under control. They all have such great track records.
09-21-2014, 06:02 PM
#65
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09-22-2014, 05:27 PM
#67
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09-23-2014, 04:55 PM
#68
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09-24-2014, 03:49 AM
#69
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I thought I would provide some excerpts from a discussion by physicians regarding the transfer of patients to the U.S. to treat Ebola symptoms:
A primary care physician ignited the conversation with a few alarming observations and a question:
The oceans provide a vast barrier to importation, if we want them to. But here, we've broken the barrier. This has apparently happened without any widespread discussion among the infectious disease community...Is the importation of these patients ethically justifiable?
Although colleagues shared these concerns, one internist saw Americans' return as a moral requirement:
At this point, it is ethical to bring the American citizens back home, if feasible, rather than allowing them to be subjected to any sub-standard (for the disease) medical management in those countries already subjected to apparently overwhelming difficulties.
But a neurologist disagreed, arguing that the move was off-base, not only for the safety of the American public but also for the infected patients themselves:
On a practical matter, there are a lot more qualified medical professionals with personal experience in assessing, treating, and working with Ebola patients than what we have here in the US. Wouldn't it make more sense to send a mobile medical unit to the site, provide the resources that are deemed best for optimized care, and have, if necessary, US specialists working in conjunction with local African experts? So on multiple levels, something doesn't seem right with this decision, and...the public is not being made privy to the details of this expanding epidemic.
An internist questioned not only the transfer of the infected Americans but also the competence of the CDC:
Even if it is ethical to bring the 2 volunteers home, the worrisome part is the recent news about the CDC and their inattention and mishandling of smallpox and anthrax. Maybe it will all turn out OK since all eyes of the public will be on the CDC, whereas with the other sad behavior, no eyes were really looking.
And a primary care physician looked to the past to question the efforts of American experts when it comes to Ebola:
The last time that there was a seeming Ebola outbreak in this country, in 1989 in Reston, Virginia, the powers on high—the most expert people in Ebola in the world—broke every protocol and isolation regimen, personally. When they exposed themselves to the organism unknowingly, instead of going into isolation per protocol for the Level 4 facility...they went home.
Another primary care physician had compassion but also very personal concerns:
I have to say that it makes me a tad nervous, especially since one of the docs is a retired pediatrician just up the road from me in Morristown, Tennessee. But of course we should bring them to someplace (probably here) for top-notch medical care. We just have to be careful.
A pediatrician bemoaned the general lack of awareness when it comes to this deadly disease:
The UK has a decades-long protocol for dealing with possible imported Ebola...We should too. Because the ones you know about are not the problem. It's everyone else on the [commercial airplanes] who worry me.
Others saw something more sinister in the handling of the disease. "Usually with epidemics, scientists try to quarantine, not bring it in," wrote a primary care physician. "Something's not right about this."
Another primary care physician drew parallels between Ebola and other infectious diseases that have flourished in hospitals in the United States:
Look at American hospitals and how successful they have been in containing nosocomial infections contained within: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was a hospital-created infection that is now the most common [type of S aureus] in some communities. The National Institutes of Health hospital, arguably the best equipped and -staffed in the country, found it nearly impossible to contain a superbug.
A dermatologist even warned against the unintended consequences of successfully treating these patients:
If it achieves lower mortality rate due to vaccine or effectiveness of treatment, it could be the next HIV type of infection in the world! Scary as heck, I would say.
Although there has never been a significant outbreak of Ebola outside of Africa, none of the doctors participating in this discussion found the idea of Ebola spreading in America to be impossible. Most hoped for continued aid to those in need in Africa and for vigilance at home.
A primary care physician ignited the conversation with a few alarming observations and a question:
The oceans provide a vast barrier to importation, if we want them to. But here, we've broken the barrier. This has apparently happened without any widespread discussion among the infectious disease community...Is the importation of these patients ethically justifiable?
Although colleagues shared these concerns, one internist saw Americans' return as a moral requirement:
At this point, it is ethical to bring the American citizens back home, if feasible, rather than allowing them to be subjected to any sub-standard (for the disease) medical management in those countries already subjected to apparently overwhelming difficulties.
But a neurologist disagreed, arguing that the move was off-base, not only for the safety of the American public but also for the infected patients themselves:
On a practical matter, there are a lot more qualified medical professionals with personal experience in assessing, treating, and working with Ebola patients than what we have here in the US. Wouldn't it make more sense to send a mobile medical unit to the site, provide the resources that are deemed best for optimized care, and have, if necessary, US specialists working in conjunction with local African experts? So on multiple levels, something doesn't seem right with this decision, and...the public is not being made privy to the details of this expanding epidemic.
An internist questioned not only the transfer of the infected Americans but also the competence of the CDC:
Even if it is ethical to bring the 2 volunteers home, the worrisome part is the recent news about the CDC and their inattention and mishandling of smallpox and anthrax. Maybe it will all turn out OK since all eyes of the public will be on the CDC, whereas with the other sad behavior, no eyes were really looking.
And a primary care physician looked to the past to question the efforts of American experts when it comes to Ebola:
The last time that there was a seeming Ebola outbreak in this country, in 1989 in Reston, Virginia, the powers on high—the most expert people in Ebola in the world—broke every protocol and isolation regimen, personally. When they exposed themselves to the organism unknowingly, instead of going into isolation per protocol for the Level 4 facility...they went home.
Another primary care physician had compassion but also very personal concerns:
I have to say that it makes me a tad nervous, especially since one of the docs is a retired pediatrician just up the road from me in Morristown, Tennessee. But of course we should bring them to someplace (probably here) for top-notch medical care. We just have to be careful.
A pediatrician bemoaned the general lack of awareness when it comes to this deadly disease:
The UK has a decades-long protocol for dealing with possible imported Ebola...We should too. Because the ones you know about are not the problem. It's everyone else on the [commercial airplanes] who worry me.
Others saw something more sinister in the handling of the disease. "Usually with epidemics, scientists try to quarantine, not bring it in," wrote a primary care physician. "Something's not right about this."
Another primary care physician drew parallels between Ebola and other infectious diseases that have flourished in hospitals in the United States:
Look at American hospitals and how successful they have been in containing nosocomial infections contained within: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was a hospital-created infection that is now the most common [type of S aureus] in some communities. The National Institutes of Health hospital, arguably the best equipped and -staffed in the country, found it nearly impossible to contain a superbug.
A dermatologist even warned against the unintended consequences of successfully treating these patients:
If it achieves lower mortality rate due to vaccine or effectiveness of treatment, it could be the next HIV type of infection in the world! Scary as heck, I would say.
Although there has never been a significant outbreak of Ebola outside of Africa, none of the doctors participating in this discussion found the idea of Ebola spreading in America to be impossible. Most hoped for continued aid to those in need in Africa and for vigilance at home.
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