Nursing and the Ebola Virus

Nurses COVID

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For those of us in unaffected countries, are you concerned about the ebola virus spreading? Would you care for ebola patients? I live in an area with a very high density of African immigrants and come into contact with these individuals regularly. We have a lot of African immigrants who bring back tuberculosis from their home countries and at my unit we end up caring for them. We take care of a lot of rare infectious diseases. I was reading an article and it dawned on me how plausible it would be for me to encounter this virus. And I admit, it's terrifying and I might refuse that assignment. Many healthcare workers in Africa are dying because of caring for the ill.

Specializes in Critical care.

I am not the least bit concerned. I will follow precautions as recommended . I hate the media for the hysteria they cause.

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Go to CDC website and click on Ebola Update. This takes you to a page with many links to information for health care workers. Something that often seems missed in infection control are floors and feet. A study last year (?) showed that toilets without seat covers can spread droplets widely when flushed, then spread throughout a unit on the shoes of workers. That was focusing on MRSA, I believe. But disposable shoe covers seem like a real good idea.

http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/pdf/ebola-algorithm.pdf Algorithm for evaluating returned travelers.

http://emergency.cdc.gov/han/han00371.asp CDC info on Ebola management.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/830140 This article is dated 8/20/14, coincidentally, the date when Mr. Duncan arrived in the U.S.

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I am not the least bit concerned. I will follow precautions as recommended . I hate the media for the hysteria they cause.

Have you familiarized yourself with current CDC precautions for Ebola? It seems to take a little hysteria to wake people up to reality. Unfortunately, the hysteria is often misdirected.

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Specializes in ER.

It is interesting when being concerned and cautious is called "hysteria.". As though to discount the legitimacy of the fact that fear is a Normal reaction to a deadly disease with no cure. If one has no fear, they are either blind or ignorant, possibly both. Never take for granted that the government has your safety and health in mind. That is foolish.

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Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.
It is interesting when being concerned and cautious is called "hysteria.". As though to discount the legitimacy of the fact that fear is a Normal reaction to a deadly disease with no cure. If one has no fear, they are either blind or ignorant, possibly both. Never take for granted that the government has your safety and health in mind. That is foolish.

There is a significant difference between exercising reasonable care and caution, and some of the "hysteria".

During the early years of the AIDs crisis, people were becoming overwrought over their perceived risk of catching it from a patient, even after transmission methods were known. HIV has had plenty of mutations over the last 30 years and still has not become airbourne or droplet. Yet I still have had to deal with nurses that ask for a different assignment based on the fact that they are pregnant, trying to become pregnant or they want to have several pairs of chemo (heavy duty) gloves to empty a urinal, or they dress up in full isolation, when the pt has been cultured and tested, and there is no reason that the pt should be on precautions.

A few months ago, data was coming out about a new virus, Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome, shorted to MERS. This is a virus that is suspected to have "jumped", changing how it is transmitted. It previously been seen only in animals, but now within the last two years has been able to infect humans. It has a relatively high mortality rate. And there is still little correct data on exactly how it is transmitted, though droplet is most likely. Like ebola there is no cure or vaccines.

We have much more data (40 or more years), some treatments in the pipeline and knowledge that most forms are bodily fluid transmitted for Ebola. For MERS, we have 2-3 years of data in humans, no drugs for it, and know that it is already much more easily transmitted than ebola.

Yet I have not heard the same concern over MERS as with Ebola.

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Specializes in Inpatient Oncology/Public Health.

This article has an interesting graphic chart about different infectious diseases and the average number of people one sick person can infect.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/10/02/352983774/no-seriously-how-contagious-is-ebola

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Correction to my post of 10/3 re article dated 8/20/12. Mr. Duncan arrived in the US a month after this article appeared.

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Dallas county health officials leaving ebola apartment with no sign of ppe, no gloves, hand on doorknob. Not following recommendations...? Now we find out there were 5 Dallas detectives trooping through the apartment when serving the quarantine orders...again no ppe...and they are scared. Should we be concerned?

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/03/us/dallas-ebola-case-thomas-duncan-contacts.html?_r=0

http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2014/10/dallas-sheriffs-deputies-upset-about-being-ordered-inside-ebola-patients-apartment-without-protective-gear.html/

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It is interesting when being concerned and cautious is called "hysteria.". As though to discount the legitimacy of the fact that fear is a Normal reaction to a deadly disease with no cure. If one has no fear, they are either blind or ignorant, possibly both. Never take for granted that the government has your safety and health in mind. That is foolish.

Are we going to be applying CDC's Ebola philosophy to TB patients who refuse to take their medicine?

Having police waste their time trying to find these people when separating them from the public actually makes the outbreak worse?

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Specializes in Inpatient Oncology/Public Health.

It's ironic to me that some people are saying Duncan lied so he could be treated here. Apparently the last doses of the "miracle cure" were shipped to Africa so none was available for him here. It seems likely there will be outrage if(when) he dies when the two white healthcare workers got the med and are doing well. Also seems like they should step up production. I know it's a very expensive drug. Is it difficult to make too?

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Specializes in Inpatient Oncology/Public Health.

Spanish nurse confirmed to have it: Spanish health-care worker contracts Ebola in first transmission case outside of Africa - The Washington Post

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