Update:: During Governor Rick Perry's news conference a doctor from the Texas hospital revealed that the patient diagnosed with Ebola did disclose that he had traveled to Liberia but in the confusion of the ER this information did not get communicated to the doctors, or other health care officials who released the patient. Also, the patient was in direct contact with school age children which are being monitored in their homes.
*
** I had just reported the articles below which said the opposite while this information has just broken *
The first patient to be diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S. did not disclose his travel history and the hospital did not ask, which is creating concern that the U.S. medical system needs to "up our game" to be adequately prepared for additional similar cases coming from Western Africa as the number of infections there grows exponentially. The man had traveled to Liberia where over 3,000 cases have occurred so far.
The World Health Organization reports 6,553 cases of Ebola in Western Africa so far with 3,083 deaths. The longer this epidemic rages on uncontrolled in Western Africa the more likely we will have additional such cases.
So now health officials are trying to track down every single person he could have infected during the four days before he checked into the hospital. Our own Cosette, and the USA Today are asking why this patient was released from the Texas Presperterian Hospital without a diagnosis. What it because he did not have insurance in the U.S.? Who will pay the bills of those quarantined now and in the future? Doesn't this example suggest another advantage for a single payer health system as Panjoli asked two days ago?
A medical ethicists on CNN asks if we will need to "bend" patient privacy laws in order to more effectively conduct contact tracing followup? CNN reporters
Health officials have not announced what flight he was on, and CNN reporters are asking lots of pressing questions about what airports he traveled through and is getting few answers.
Ashley Fantz, Holly Yan and Dana Ford, of CNN bring us up to date on repercussions and developments the day after this announcement in First diagnosed case of Ebola in U.S.
A man who had Ebola but didn't know it walked into a Dallas emergency room September 26. Although his symptoms could have indicated Ebola among other things, no one at the hospital asked him if he had recently traveled, a source close to the case told CNN.
The man, who had just flown from Liberia to the States didn't offer the information either, the source said, and the man left the hospital. A spokesman for Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital says it's investigating whether he was questioned.
Regardless, two days passed between the time the man left and then returned to the facility September 28 where it was determined he likely had Ebola and was isolated. He tested positive Tuesday, health officials said. ...
CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta asked Frieden Wednesday on "New Day" if the man should have been tested for Ebola on his first visit to the hospital, and if he should have been asked about his recent travel history.
"That's one of the things we'll be looking at," Frieden said. "But we're reiterating the message for every health worker in this country -- think about travel history. If someone's been in West Africa within 21 days and they've got a fever, immediately isolate them and get them tested for Ebola."
Some good news and bad news. Frieden says unconditionally we can prevent an outbreak in the United States, but when pressed has had to acknowledge that several things went wrong in this first case.
CNN offers a timeline similar to this:
Sept 19 Patient travels from Liberia to US via Brussels
Sept 20 Arrived in U.S.
Sept. 24 Begins to feel sick
Sept 26, Goes to ER but sent home
Sept 28, Returns to hospital and quarantined
Sept 30 Diagnosis Confirmed.
Patient could have been spreading the virus for four days before admitted to hospital.
The EMTs say the ambulance was disinfected after transporting the patient as part of standard procedure.
CNN has devoted most of the last several hours to Ebola coverage and is encouraging people to got to www.CDC.gov to look up symptoms. Additional symptoms from the coming flu include severe headaches, diarrhea, vomiting, and eventually unusual bleeding.
Why did hospital send Ebola patient home without diagnosis?
For weeks, CDC director Thomas Frieden has told the public that American hospitals are ready for Ebola patients and that emergency room staff are being urged to check not only a patient's symptoms but also to ask about recent travel. The American College of Emergency Physicians is sending out an alert to all of its members Wednesday to remind them of this protocol.
Patients with recent travel to West Africa and any of the symptoms of Ebola are supposed to be tested for the virus. However, early symptoms of Ebola, such as fever, can be difficult to differentiate from ordinary viruses. ...
"We don't know why the disease was not recognized when he first sought care," said infectious disease specialist Jesse Goodman, professor of medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center and the former chief scientist at the Food and Drug Administration.
Texas Governor Rick Perry is holding a news conference right now. He says some school children may have been exposed by this patient and are being monitored in their homes.
I'll attach updates as they become available.
10:15 AM PT: Dr. David Lakey of the Texas Department of State Health Services is speaking after Governor Perry to outline the steps the state of Texas is taking to handle and contain this infection.
He says the hospital has taken this seriously and put its own protocols in place, and that the Texas health system has been preparing for this for a long time, and says the hospital "is doing a great job" at providing care.
10:23 AM PT: Dr. Mark Lester, of the hospital is answering questions, and says a nurse did follow their protocols and the patient did volunteer that he had travelled to Liberia. This information did not communicate this information to the doctors.
11:33 AM PT: The New York Times has this update: After Ebola Case in Dallas Health Officials Seek Those Who Had Contact With Patient
DALLAS — Health officials in Dallas said Wednesday that they believed the man who is the first confirmed case of the Ebola virus in the country had come into contact with 12 to 18 people, including some schoolchildren, when he was experiencing symptoms.
Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, speaking at a news conference, said that health officials were monitoring some school-age children had contact with the patient.
Other people who came into contact with him include relatives and the medical technicians who took him by ambulance to the hospital. At least three Dallas Fire and Rescue emergency medical technicians were being monitored and were in isolation at home, according to officials.
Even the emergency vehicle that was used — Ambulance No. 37 — is in isolation and not in service.
12:04 PM PT: The Guardian has a poignant article describing the lack of follow through from international commitments on the ground.
http://www.theguardian.com/...