Ebola? Who Cares?? It's all about MERS now.

[Donald Twain]

Clearly the hospital are going to defend the actions of their staff. Do you honestly think they'd accept liability off the bat ?

The CDC investigation, he told reporters, would focus on possible breaches made during two "high-risk procedures", dialysis and respiratory intubation.

The disease is not airborne, thus the only way transmission could have occurred is incorrect procedure being followed. Just like the case in Spain.

Hopefully this is the case ! They are clearly shocked and rattled by these cases though! As I say 'hopefully' ( STILL SCARY) it is human error and not a new dawn.

 

[Professor Toffee]

one possibility is that contamination has happened before they put the suit, but other one is the scary one...ffs

As RAFUH indicated before an itchy nose or the incorrect derobing order of the PPE , especially the gloves probably responsible. It didn't penetrate the correctly suited clinical staff and hasn't been reported as having done so anywhere

 

[Professor Toffee]

The nurse in Spain seems to be improving and has been receiving the agent ZMab, which is one of the drugs in the ZMapp cocktail. Hopefully her improvement will continue

 

[TheFinnFan]

The nurse in Spain seems to be improving and has been receiving the agent ZMab, which is one of the drugs in the ZMapp cocktail. Hopefully her improvement will continue

One victim did that too before he died

 

[degsy]

Although obviously just because it isn't proven to be airborne currently there is no reason why it cannot mutate to that in the future.

You're a right little ray of sunshine aren't you

 

[SerenityNigh]

Perhaps, so what is preventing a decent strategy against each strain since 1976?

What are the chances that it mutates in a different primate before the outbreak? The reston outbreak was allegedly transmitted via the air ducts too

1) 1976 is rather recent
2) Most cures/prevention require large funding; funding follows perceived threat
3) Strain mutation is different from learning how to treat it; even if it mutates, you can treat what you know. If you don't know how to stop any strains, what does it matter if it mutates?
4) Where did you see that the Reston virus can be spread airborne? What I read (on the venerable wiki) refutes this. Also, note that the Reston virus is not pathogenic in humans, so slight variations can render it (relatively) harmless.

 

[SerenityNigh]

Are we all going to crap our insides out and die yet?

You are, but I'm hopeful for myself

 

[SerenityNigh]

The protective clothing only works if used without any errors and we are all human and prone to errors especially when tired. It is also easy to become complacent and not follow the protocol exactly...and it does have to be exact. No corners cut even a tiny bit.

Reminds me of a story told by a friend who works in the ER. Patient pulled him aside and said, "Doc, I think I might have a touch of the AIDS"

 

[SerenityNigh]

The protective clothing only works if used without any errors and we are all human and prone to errors especially when tired. It is also easy to become complacent and not follow the protocol exactly...and it does have to be exact. No corners cut even a tiny bit.

Since you're the resident healthcare expert, are these people in the at-risk groups able to identify the virus at all before they start showing symptoms? Even if not, can they take ZMapp prior to showing symptoms or would this have no effect?

I think if I were in a risk group I'd want to get on that experimental medicine before I was 10 days from dying.

 

[SerenityNigh]

The nurse in Spain seems to be improving and has been receiving the agent ZMab, which is one of the drugs in the ZMapp cocktail. Hopefully her improvement will continue

Hope so, for her and the world at large. Duncan was initially reported as being in stable condition, just a few days before dying.

 

[RAFUH]

Since you're the resident healthcare expert, are these people in the at-risk groups able to identify the virus at all before they start showing symptoms? Even if not, can they take ZMapp prior to showing symptoms or would this have no effect?

I think if I were in a risk group I'd want to get on that experimental medicine before I was 10 days from dying.

@Professor Toffee may know more than me, but as far as testing early... I don't know if a negative test prior to symptom development is definitive. Even one test is not cost effective if it does not definitively rule out infection. These aren't cheap tests.

You often need to have a high enough viral load for a test to detect the presence of the virus or antigen. I would wonder if the viral load that starts to produce symptoms correlates to being able to detect the virus in a test. Semi-educated speculation here...infectious disease is not my speciality.

As far as the medications, like ZMapp... we honestly don't know if they work. Would the people that took it have survived anyway? And we have no clue what the adverse effects of the drug might be. It was a major medical ethics issue to give the drugs to people with active disease, so imagine if patients are not sick. First do no harm and all that....

We have no idea if it really works in active disease so we are even more clueless about using these drugs to prevent a symptomatic illness.

Also with an extremely limited supply of the meds, it's going to go to the sick first. Remember these drugs were in the testing phase. There were only a few doses on hand although they are ramping up production now.

 

[Professor Toffee]

Talk of a repatriation of an infected Ebola patient at work
Lot of my colleagues saying they don't want to gown up after cases in Soain and USA
Many talking of going on the sick
Strange times

 

[Elong]

I'm going bush.

 

[Professor Toffee]

They were expecting secondary cases, al



@Professor Toffee may know more than me, but as far as testing early... I don't know if a negative test prior to symptom development is definitive. Even one test is not cost effective if it does not definitively rule out infection. These aren't cheap tests.

You often need to have a high enough viral load for a test to detect the presence of the virus or antigen. I would wonder if the viral load that starts to produce symptoms correlates to being able to detect the virus in a test. Semi-educated speculation here...infectious disease is not my speciality.

As far as the medications, like ZMapp... we honestly don't know if they work. Would the people that took it have survived anyway? And we have no clue what the adverse effects of the drug might be. It was a major medical ethics issue to give the drugs to people with active disease, so imagine if patients are not sick. First do no harm and all that....

We have no idea if it really works in active disease so we are even more clueless about using these drugs to prevent a symptomatic illness.

Also with an extremely limited supply of the meds, it's going to go to the sick first. Remember these drugs were in the testing phase. There were only a few doses on hand although they are ramping up production now.

Testing isn't a great indicator until there's enough of a viral load.
Certainly that tends to be late enough so the patient would be symptomatic at some level
RAFUH correct, not enough drugs and we don't know if they work
There is certainly a case to be made to pay Big Pharma to develop drugs and monoclonal agents for these viral haemorrhaging fevers. Just in case!
Don't rely on these diseases not breaking out, work on cures as soon as they arise!

 

[Prevenger17]

I have a mild case of the flu but now I'm afraid it's something more. If I sneeze on someone, I transmit the curse to them, don't I? I just don't want that pasty, greasy haired girl crawling out of my TV.