Should we be worried about Ebola? When I first heard about it , it seemed a long way away but now there is a case of someone who was able to travel across 3 countries by international airlines before dying in Nigeria. As a disease it is 90% fatal and has a long incubation period - up to 21 days. With the increased ease of international and intercontinental travel - is there a real risk of it reaching Europe and the UK?
It is not a matter of ostracising, but taking sensible precautions, which medical and nursing professionals would understand the need for and not be upset about. Quarantine is a different thing from ostracising.
She would not have been to fellow passengers on her journey home, but possibly to her family and her partner who would have closer contact with her and potentially her bodily fluids when she arrived home.
One of my concerns was that she said she felt unwell at the airport but still was sent on her way. It might have been better to play it safe for the sake of her family.
When you say that everything was done correctly, that was correctly according to the current protocols. I am querying those protocols in the light of what has happened. There is no hysteria, but the protocols should be kept under review.
I feel so sorry for the nurse concerned. Her family must also be suffering greatly especially as only a short while ago it was announced that she was sitting up, chatting to family, and reading. I have my fingers crossed for her.
Ebola is not infectious until it is in full swing. The nurse would not have been infectious at the airport or on her journey home. It was the next morning the fever developed and then she rang the hospital herself. Everything was done correctly.
We must not start to ostracise returning medical volunteers, which could so easily happen. Hysteria has no place in this.
I do not find your post causes me concern in the least. I most certainly do not find it 'lacking in christian charity' nor blaiming anybody.
It is stating a fact that there was/is a possibility that somebody who had the best intentions of doing good deeds and caring for Ebola patients could unintentionally be infected themselves, for reasons we do not know of to date.
In turn that could have the potential of infecting others quite unintentially and there is an irony in that situation which I believe is what you meant when you used the word 'bizarre'.
If I have read your post incorrectly soontobe please feel free to correct me!
I am re-activating this thread, as I did nit think it was appropriate to discuss isolation policies for the UK on the thread concerning that poor nurse Pauline Cafferkey.
I am beginning to think that there should be some compulsory isolation/quarantine policy in the UK for volunteers who have been nursing ebola patients. Taking temperatures at the airport no longer seems to be adequate.
This poor lady could have gone on to infect her family when she got home, as they would have close contact with her, share towels etc. It seems a harsh reward for their bravery to stick them in isolation for whatever the appropriate time is, but it may be the nest way forward.
All the other diseases are scattered over the whole of populated Africa aren't they? Whereas Ebola is centred around a chunk of a few countries. There are x number of road accidents in the Uk every day. If they were all on Dartmoor it would be cause for concern and time and money would be spent doing something constructive.
It occurred to me when I was reading this thread (especially anno's useful link) that my hands nearly always have small scratches/skin punctures. Ebola-friendly hands!!! Eek!
None of the above, except for ebola, is doubling every month though.
Remember the story of the lily pond? The lilies double in size every day. It takes 30 days for the lilies to grow enough to fill the pond. On what day is the pond half full?
Let's put all this into perspective shall we?WHO report the number of deaths in Africa since the Ebola outbreak in March this year as follows: HIV/Aids.....620,000 Malaria.......320,000 Hunger.......203,000 TB .............124,000 Syphilis........26,000 Ebola.............4,492 Something to think about?
I've no idea Riverwalk - I only heard on the news that she was a nurse that had touched her face with a gloved hand when she shouldn't have. I had assumed it might have been one of those times when you can rub or scratch an itch almost without thinking.