WELL WE SEE HOW WELL THE CDCS SELF MONITORING IS WORKING....THIS AND NOW NANCY SNYDERMAN BREAKING QUARANTINE......... the Genie out of the proverbial bottle when it comes to EBOLA? That is the question that a lot of people are now asking themselves. On Monday the 13th of October, healthcare worker Amber Vinson flew on Frontier Airlines from Cleveland, Ohio to Dallas Texas. With that flight, she may very well have opened the door to one of the most deadly viruses known to man to enter the general population of this country. The nurse, who should have known better, had been monitoring her temperature over the last week since she was part of the team that had been taking care of Thomas Duncan who died of Ebola. But with an upcoming marriage, and feeling fine she chose to travel to Cleveland to help plan her wedding despite being in a self-monitoring plan. In that one act, she has exposed hundreds of persons to possible contamination. She has exposed baggage handlers, flight attendants, ticket agents, food vendors, janitorial staff, airplane cleaning crews, her fiancée and family. Let’s not forget the passengers, both on her flight and the following flights. Then you have the passengers of other flights that may come into contact with passengers that were on her plane, and the hotel staffs where they stayed. Airport furniture has been compromised, as has any escalators or stairs that she and her fellow travelers touched. And let’s not forget what she could have contaminated by the simple act of using a napkin or tissue to wipe her mouth or nose. If she had the misfortune to have sneezed at any point, the virus could easily have been spread to fellow travelers clothing and luggage where it could live for up to 8 hours and someone else could be infected by simply touching a bag handle in luggage claim or giving a loved one a hug at the terminal. Conservatively, it is possible that this woman has, infected or at least put at varying levels of risk, thousands of people with that one simple trip that she knew she shouldn’t really take. “The second health care worker should not have been allowed to travel by virtue of being in an exposed group,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Dr. Thomas Frieden said in a tele-briefing Wednesday. “Although she had no symptoms or fever [that met the threshold] of 100.4, she did report that she took her temperature and found it to be 99.5.” Ohio health officials aren’t sure how many people came into contact with a Texas nurse as she visited family in the Akron area days before being diagnosed with Ebola in Dallas. “Out of an abundance of caution, we’re asking the patient’s family members to remain off campus for the next 21 days and self-monitor per CDC protocol,” DeJulius continued. The CDC said it will begin interviewing the 132 passengers on the flight, answering their questions, and scheduling follow-up meetings on Wednesday. The Frontier Airlines plane that Vinson traveled on has been decontaminated twice in a remote location and was put back into service for a flight to Denver, Cleveland Hopkins International Airport director Ricky Smith said in a press conference Wednesday. Vinson will be transported to Emory University Hospital for treatment, according to the CDC. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said the city has sent a team to Vinson’s apartment to disinfect her home and the inside of her car, which will be removed this afternoon. Officials have said the health care worker was interviewed quickly to identify any contacts or potential exposures, and that others will be monitored. The type of monitoring will depend on the nature of their interactions with the health care worker, and the potential of exposure to the virus. Frontier Airlines said it was working closely with the CDC to notify passengers who may have traveled on the flight. The CDC requested that passengers call 1-800-CDC INFO for further information. “This second health care worker case is very concerning, and our thoughts go out to her and her family,” said Frieden. “The current investigation is identifying other health care workers who will be monitored, and we are planning for the possibility of additional cases in the coming days.” We may have been lucky this time, but this is a prime example of what can happen and how easy this thing can spread, from just one person to thousands in almost no time.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 09:50:13 +0000
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