I am hoping and very much so that the movie 12 Monkeys was not prophetic in any way shape or form. In it, one man spreads a deadly disease that decimates the world's human population. Oh the irony that Ebola may have come from monkeys.
As for one man spreading a virus that kills off most of mankind, let's hope that man is not Thomas E. Duncan. Let's also hope there are not any more mindless twits who have it and plan to travel and then allegedly lie on their travel documents about whether or not they had contact with Ebola victims. The Liberian president plans to prosecute him, I imagine that means if he survives the Ebola, for having falsified a questionnaire asking if he had had any contact with Ebola victims. He reportedly checked off "no" despite the fact he has been reported to have had close bodily contact with an Ebola victim, whom he was assisting, on September 15th. See:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/02/health/ebola-us/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
Maybe it's all a case of not wanting to admit to himself that he could have gotten infected, maybe it was a mistake he made on the form he filled out, maybe it was him not giving a shit, maybe it was him fearing they would keep him off of his flight out of Liberia if he checked yes (which is what I would bet on) or whatever but this is not the time for any of that. Now is the time for complete truthfulness and openness about whether or not you may have come in contact with this dreaded disease and lying to be able to travel, if that is what he did, is unforgivable if even only one other person is infected because of him.
All the best,
Glenn B
...and they did not take the precautions they would have had they suspected Ebola. Now you too are trying to tell us that a patient in your hospital in Utah is unlikely to have Ebola but you have him (or her) in isolation there even though it is extremely unlikely. Is that prudent caution, panic or just you not admitting you think there is a decent chance it is Ebola?
Did not your patient tell you that he or she had recently been in a country in West Africa? Granted, you say it was not one of the countries involved in the epidemic but it is mighty close, so how is it you have all but ruled out Ebola without having the test results come back yet? Why not just say you are being cautious and you don't know if it is Ebola or not but given the circumstances are taking a good deal of cautionary steps. Mouthing off and giving odds one way or the other has not proven very good technique lately by U.S. medical personnel, in fact it probably led to the release of the other patient when he was first symptomatic.
I give it to you though that you have taken some decent precautions. Good for you guys for isolating the patient, good for taking blood samples and sending them to the CDC but let's just hope that your lack of contact tracking will not prove a mistake in the event your patient is positive for Ebola. Good luck with that, not only to you but to the patient more than anyone.
See:
http://fox13now.com/2014/10/02/health-officials-investigating-possible-case-of-ebola-at-utah-hospital/
Just one other thing Doc Pavia, I don't for a minute believe this apparent bullshit that has been attributed to you:
“All of those things are things that in a U.S. hospital, we can completely control,” (source)
That's being more than merely a bit arrogant and more than a bit foolish at the same time. You may think you and your hospital and American health care in general are the end all be all, and even I think you guys do pretty good, but to think you know how to completely control Ebola and all it's issues - come one now! If the health care system and its personnel were so great - how did this guy go to an ER and get released when he was showing his initial Ebola symptoms? Try to be realistic, we will all be the better for it.
Hat tip to Wirectter at http://knuckledraggin.com/ for the link to that article.
All the best,
GB
...and have released his name and possibly other personal information. I am happy they did so. Anyone who may have been in contact with him should be happy about that too as the authorities finally seem to be grasping the absolute potential for an unprecedented disaster with this situation.
At first about 12-18 people were identified as having been in contact with him since they estimate he was symptomatic and contagious. Now that number has been expanded to 100 people, some of whom have been ordered to remain quarantined in their homes. Among the quarantined, it is reported, are the family members of the patient. Duncan's family allegedly disregarded quarantine recommendations and then were legally ordered by a court to remain in quarantine (source). Should even just one or two of them have been contagious, we are potentially in for one hell of an epidemic cluster fuck because who knows how many other people they came in contact with and so on and on and on....
As for it becoming an epidemic cluster fuck, I say that because it is painfully obvious that the medical community is not knowledgeable of how to control or contain an outbreak and may have even been negligent in this particular case. Take for instance the hospital where he first sought treatment for fever and abdominal pain. A nurse asked him if he had been in Africa and he replied that he had been in Liberia - one of the hardest hit countries by the Ebola epidemic. So what happened, the hospital checked him out, thought he had a low level infection, gave him some antibiotics and let him depart. Reportedly, the information he shared with the hospital was not disseminated properly among hospital staff. (source). .To me, it sounds like the same lame 'I knew nothing about it' excuse used all too often by Obama. Hospital administrators at the hospital have said that had the information been properly passed onto medical personnel, they would have acted differently in his case. Well tell me folks - who did not pass it on properly? They already admitted he told a nurse he had been in Africa - did the info stop right there!
The patient, identified as Thomas Eric Duncan also reported to authorities that he had come in direct contact with a badly ill Ebola patient while in Africa on September 15th (source). One has to wonder, did he not give them that information in the hospital when he first sought treatment for his illness??? I would bet he did tell them but that is a guess on my part.
In addition to Duncan, there was also a person in a health facility in Hawaii who was being held in isolation because it was feared that person also had Ebola. Luckily that person is no longer suspected of having Ebola.
In other Ebola news, it is now feared, by health officials, that Ebola may become an airborne pathogen. That would not be good. Right now, contact with a persons bodily fluids is required to pass on the virus. If it becomes able to infect us just through the air - we are in going to be in dire straits. You can read a lot more about all the doom and gloom that potentially is upon us at the article at this link:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2778022/UN-Ebola-chief-raises-nightmare-prospect-virus-mutate-airborne.html
I don't know about you but went out and got myself a few bottle of alcohol and a few bottles of alcohol gel. I intend to use I frequently as a disinfectant especially at work or while out shopping and the like.
All the best,
Glenn B
