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Ebola Scare In Braintree Raises Questions About Hospital Preparedness
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In Dallas Monday, the family of a 26-year-old nurse confirmed that she is the first person known to contract the disease while in the United States. She was treating Thomas Eric Duncan, the first Ebola patient to die in the U.S.
Also Monday, Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, called for the nation's hospitals to step up their Ebola monitoring.
"Every hospital in this country needs to think about the possibility of Eebola in anyone with a fever, and other symptoms that might be consistent with Ebola, who's traveled to any of the three countries, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, in the previous 21 days," said Friedan.
That is exactly what happened in Massachusetts Sunday, when a man who'd recently been to West Africa arrived at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates in Braintree. Dozens of health workers were quarantined for hours, and the man was was quickly transferred by Ebola-trained paramedics to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he remains in isolation. However, doctors there have said that the likelihood of infection is "extremely low."
Guests
Martha Bebinger, WBUR reporter covering health care. She tweets @mbebinger.
Dr. William Schaffner, infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt Medical Center.
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CommonHealth: Boston Patient Not At High Risk For Ebola, Health Officials Say
- "A man who travels frequently to Liberia caused a stir Sunday afternoon when he arrived at a Braintree clinic with Ebola-like symptoms. But doctors and public health officials say that the man is not considered at high risk for the often deadly virus. His case did, however, give us the first public look at how nurses, EMTs, hospital staff and others have prepared to respond when there is an Ebola alert."
Associated Press: Hospitals Should ‘Think Ebola,’ CDC Director Says
- "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Tom Frieden is urging hospitals to watch for patients with fever or symptoms of Ebola who have traveled from the three Ebola-stricken African nations in the past 21 days. He spoke Monday after a nurse in Dallas became the first person to catch the disease within the United States. She had treated a Liberian man who died at the hospital after bringing the disease from Liberia."
This article was originally published on October 13, 2014.
This segment aired on October 13, 2014.