Showing posts with label Thomas Eric Duncan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thomas Eric Duncan. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

A Hail Mary...

October 14, 2014 Associated Press , Ebola 0 Comments
AP Mobile: Doctor Gives Blood For Ebola-infected Dallas Nurse

Nurse Nina Pham
By Emily Schmall and Nomaan Merchant, Oct. 14, 2014, m.apnews.com

DALLAS (AP) - A Texas nurse who became infected with Ebola while treating the first patient diagnosed in the U.S. said Tuesday that she was "doing well," while the World Health Organization projected that West Africa could see up to 10,000 new infections a week within two months.

Nurse Nina Pham was among about 70 staff members at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital who cared for Thomas Eric Duncan, according to medical records.

The 26-year-old nurse was in the Liberian man's room often, from the day he was placed in intensive care until the day before he died last week.

"I'm doing well and want to thank everyone for their kind wishes and prayers," Pham said in a statement issued by the hospital, which said doctors were hopeful that she would recover.

She and other health care workers wore protective gear, including gowns, gloves, masks and face shields - and sometimes full-body suits - when caring for Duncan, but she became the first person to contract the disease within the United States. Duncan died Wednesday.

Pham understood the risks and tried to reassure her family that she would be safe, according to a family friend.

Read the full story:  www.m.apnews.com

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Unsure about exact number

October 14, 2014 Associated Press , Ebola 0 Comments
About 70 Hospital Staffers Cared For Ebola Patient

By Martha Mendoza, Oct. 14, 2014, m.apnews.com

DALLAS (AP) - They drew his blood, put tubes down his throat and wiped up his diarrhea. They analyzed his urine and wiped saliva from his lips, even after he had lost consciousness.

About 70 staff members at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital were involved in the care of Thomas Eric Duncan after he was hospitalized, including a nurse now being treated for the same Ebola virus that killed the Liberian man who was visiting Dallas, according to medical records his family provided to The Associated Press.

The size of the medical team reflects the hospital's intense effort to save Duncan's life, but it also suggests that many other people could have been exposed to the virus during Duncan's time in an isolation unit.

On Monday, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the infection of the nurse means the agency must broaden the pool of people getting close monitoring. Authorities have said they do not know how 26-year-old nurse Nina Pham was infected, but they suspect some kind of breach in the hospital's protocol.

The medical records given to the AP offer clues, both to what happened and who was involved, but the hospital said the CDC does not have them.

Read the full story:  www.m.apnews.com

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Sunday, October 12, 2014

Game changer?

October 12, 2014 CNN , Dr. Tom Frieden 0 Comments
Texas Healthcare Worker Tests Positive; Would Mark 1st Ebola Transmission In U.S.

Dr. Tom Frieden
By Elizabeth Cohen, Steve Almasy and Joe Sutton, Oct. 12, 2014, Cnn.com

(CNN) -- The deadly Ebola virus has been contracted by someone inside the United States for the first time.

A nurse who had worn protective gear during her "extensive contact" at a Dallas hospital with an Ebola patient who died tested positive during a preliminary blood test, officials said Sunday.

The woman had on a gown, gloves, mask and a shield during her multiple visits with Thomas Eric Duncan, but there was a breach in protocol, health officials said.

The patient is a nurse at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, an official who is familiar with the case told CNN.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta conducted testing on the blood sample, and confirmed the results Sunday, marking the first known transmission of Ebola in the United States and the second diagnosis in the country.

She was involved in Duncan's care after he was placed in isolation -- his second trip to the hospital after coming to the United States from Liberia -- said Dr. Tom Frieden, the director of the CDC.

The nurse is in stable condition, Texas Health Resources chief clinical officer Dan Varga said. Duncan, the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the United States, died Wednesday.

The nurse had "extensive contact" on "multiple occasions" with Duncan, Frieden said.

"At some point, there was a breach in protocol, and that breach in protocol resulted in this infection," he said at a news conference Sunday. "The (Ebola treatment) protocols work. ... But we know that even a single lapse or breach can result in infection."

Also, Varga said that someone who is a "close contact" of the nurse has been "proactively" placed in isolation.

Read the full story:  www.cnn.com

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Wore protective gear, too

October 12, 2014 Centers for Disease Control & Prevention , CNN 0 Comments
Texas Nurse Tests Positive for Ebola

By CNN Wire, Oct. 12, 2014, Fox40.com

DALLAS (CNN)- A female nurse at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas has tested positive for Ebola after a preliminary test, officials said.

Confirmatory testing will be conducted Sunday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Test results are expected to be announced later in the day.

The patient is a female nurse, an official who is familiar with this case told CNN.

She helped care for Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person ever diagnosed with Ebola in the United States, Texas Health Resources chief clinical officer Dan Varga said. Duncan died Wednesday.

The nurse is in stable condition, Varga said.

The nurse was involved in Duncan’s second visit to the hospital, when he was admitted for treatment, and was wearing protective gear as prescribed by the CDC: gown, gloves, mask and shield, Varga said.

A “close contact” of the nurse has been “proactively” placed in isolation, he added.

The hazardous materials unit of the Dallas Fire Department has cleaned up and decontaminated the public areas of her apartment complex, Mayor Mike Rawlings said. Police are keeping people out of the area and are talking to residents nearby.

“We have knocked on every door on that block,” the mayor said.

Read the full story:  www.fox40.com

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Wednesday, October 8, 2014

"fought courageously"

"fought courageously"

October 08, 2014 Ebola , Thomas Eric Duncan 0 Comments
NBC: Dallas Ebola Patient Thomas Eric Duncan Has Died, Hospital Says 

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Monday, October 6, 2014

No kidding!

October 06, 2014 Dailymail.co.uk , Ebola 0 Comments
Bureaucratic Bungling That's Crippled Ebola Response--Officials Admit 'Rocky' Start

Haz-Mat clean up at Thomas Eric Duncan's apartment
By Wills Robinson and Reuters, Oct. 4, 2014, Dailymail.co.uk

Health officials have admitted their response to the potential Ebola outbreak in Texas has been ‘rocky’ - amid growing concern over how a patient with the virus was able to get through customs, was initially turned away from hospital with painkllers and Hazmat teams then took five days to properly quarantine his relatives.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, a director at the National Institutes of Health, told reporters at the White House that there were 'things that did not go the way they should have in Dallas', but insisted they had prevented an outbreak.

However, during the press conference he also said things did go right - mentioning that Thomas Eric Duncan was now in isolation and being treated properly.

But he ignored the length of time of the response and the fact that hundreds of people may have been unnecessarily exposed to the infected patient.

Read the full story:  www.dailymail.co.uk

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Thursday, October 2, 2014

Panic!

October 02, 2014 Bill Hanna , Dallas 0 Comments
Wary Of Ebola, Dallas Parents Pull Kids From School 

By Bill Hanna, Oct. 2, 2014, Star-telegram.com

DALLAS — The number of possible contacts with the Ebola patient in Dallas has risen to 80, said Zachary Thompson, Dallas County Health and Human Services director Thursday.

He also said a control order has been issued to the family of Thomas Eric Duncan, the man identified by The Associated Press as the victim of the often-fatal virus. Thompson said that means the family members are confined to their apartment and the front and back areas, such as the patio.

Original story

Parents rushed to get their children from school Wednesday after learning that five students may have had contact with the Ebola patient in a Dallas hospital, as Gov. Rick Perry and other leaders reassured the public that there is no cause for alarm.

The patient, identified by The Associated Press as Thomas Eric Duncan of Liberia, arrived in the U.S. on Sept. 20 to visit family. Dallas County Health and Human Services Director Zachary Thompson said county officials suspect that 12 to 18 people may have had contact with Duncan.

“Right now, the base number is 18 people, and that could increase,” he said. Thompson said more details are expected by Thursday afternoon. The number includes five students at four schools, Dallas school district Superintendent Mike Miles said.

Read the full story:  www.star-telegram.com

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What if he pleads asylum?

October 02, 2014 Associated Press , Ebola 0 Comments
Liberia To Prosecute Man Who Brought Ebola To US

Thomas Eric Duncan, 

Liberian man infected with Ebola
By Jonathan Paye-Layeh, Oct. 2, 2014, Associated Press

MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) - The Liberian man infected with Ebola who brought the disease to the United States will be prosecuted when he returns home for lying on his airport screening questionnaire, Liberian authorities said Thursday.

With an Ebola epidemic raging in West Africa, passengers leaving Liberia are being screened for fever and are asked if they have had contact with anyone infected.

On the form obtained by The Associated Press and confirmed by a government official, Thomas Eric Duncan answered "no" to questions about whether he had cared for an Ebola patient or touched the body of someone who had died in an area affected by Ebola.

Duncan left for the U.S. on Sept. 19 to visit family and became sick a few days after he arrived. He is currently in isolation at a hospital in Dallas, Texas, and is listed as being in serious but stable condition.

Days before he left Liberia, Duncan had helped carry to a taxi a pregnant woman who later died of Ebola, according to neighbors. Her illness at the time was believed to be pregnancy-related.

Read the full story:  www.nbc-2.com

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