When it comes to ebola, anyone who is contagious isn't going to be sitting in a movie theater next to you, or standing in line at the bank because they will be too sick from a high fever to even be standing, much less out and about shopping.
That gentleman in Texas, Mr. Duncan, who died from ebola was sitting in a plane full of passengers and none of them caught ebola. He was also living with his fiancé, their 19 year old son, and other friends in a tiny apartment and none of them got ebola.
Sensible precautions is the only way to go with any health problems. By that I mean the usual hand washing, have your vaccinations, eat healthy, exercise, keep out of crowded places. Don't wisit loved ones when you are sick and above all don't take your parent to Africa for Christmas
First of all we need to realize the people who are dying in West Africa from Ebola are those who have been living in what we would call very poor slum conditions, metal shacks with no public water/sewer, muddy roads, and probably never saw a doctor in their life until now... anyone living in those conditions will get ill from something, sadly it is now Ebola. You don't hear of Ebola in West Africa's large metropolitan cities.
Oh, one more thought. If you remember, after that mandatory quarantine was imposed by the governors, who quite frankly, have a good reason to do so, i.e., upcoming elections (not to bring politics into this but hey, you have to at some point, especial with what happened next). After they stated they were going to have a mandatory quarantine, POTUS pressured them to back off, which they did.
So, don't be all that concerned. I don't believe anyone who has a loved one in a nursing home/assisted living, needs the additional stress, i.e., worrying about something that won't happen.
I realize this is from a website that has it's own interests in mind when releasing these press releases, but upon reading it, I find it extremely informative.
As it turns out, the doctor reported a 100.3 fever, not a 103 fever.
And the nurse never had a fever nor was she ever symptomatic. She just happened to be the first person to step off a plane in NJ where the governors had placed a mandatory quarantine but unfortunately, didn't tell people at the airport how to handle it.
Once again, she is angry, not re the quarantine, but I believe she's angry because she was treated like a TSA worker treats some of us at times.
First, there's not much anyone can do about a virus. Second, nursing homes and assisted care facilities should be setting up protocols to handle a Level 4 virus just in case it enters their facility. This would include monitoring any travel those working for them may be taking to other countries. There's an old saying, my rights begin where yours ends. In a medical setting, this one, very important, protocol should not hurt anyone's feelings. We see and hear on the news that there is one very angry nurse who feels she was unjustifiably held against her will because of fear. The real problem is not that she had Ebola, it was the inability of a very large government bureaucracy to know how to handle someone coming back from W. Africa. She happened to be the first one and she WAS treated badly. Can you imagine traveling overnight on a plane, thinking you're going home, only to be met by bureaucracy and rudeness in your own country?
Third: The CDC and our political representatives have changed their minds so many times, who do we believe and what do we believe? I believe this has unsettled many. If it's upsetting you, you need to shut off the tv. We live in a world that is saturated in the 'news' and that news is creating chaos in our minds.
An article like this breaks it down simply. We believe facts, not rumors. To get facts, we need to start reading, not just listening to television news sensationalism. And we have to get it from many different sources.
I read this yesterday and it helped me understand something, i.e., news doesn't tell us everything. "That 4,500 figure is statistical sophistry, based on guesswork, questionable definitions, “verbal autopsies” and extrapolations from random data. Ask the CDC/WHO to disaggregate the actual number of “Ebola deaths” registered in each African country among children under 12 and how many in adult men. They cannot provide those vital breakdowns because no epidemiological basis of data exists for them." In other words, people in W. Africa may be dying from something other than Ebola.
We can't live our life in constant fear. To worry about something is futile. Worry is fantasy and if you're going to have fantasies, have good ones.
As a medical records coder in training, I discovered something interesting. I found that as of Sept 30th, there was no separate code, or any code for Ebola. To find this code, I had to go to the CMS website. When I went to the category, 2 choices were listed, neither of them were Ebola. A link from CMS sent me to ihealthbeat.org, where I found an article stating that most hospitals were not planning to update infection control protocols until summer 2015. I also learned that some coding software programs have these protocols contained within them. If you didn't upgrade, you didn't get new protocols. This may explain why Duncan was sent home first. Newer ICD -9 has word Ebola, ICD-10 has new code. New ICD -9 codes 2015 went into place Oct 1, after Ebola got here. Codes are made by the AMA, CMS, and are used by World Health Org to track spread and severity, but there was no separate code. Same code was used for 3 different diseases, one of which a coder would have to guess. I think the powers that be were short- sighted and didn't think it would happen here.
Well there is a bit of hope! I just learned (probably late) that they are trying to get the healthcare workers who have had the ebola virus (now cured) to help others who are sick with it because once you get ebola, you cannot get it again. I thought that was a bit of "light" in this dark situation. Nigeria and I believe 1 more other country has been cleared of all ebola! That is GREAT news.
I sadly saw someone tweet a picture of a person sitting at the airport wearing a homemade HAZMAT suit. It was like a rain jacket and plastic gear on her head wrapped in rubber bands. It was so bizarre and so crazy. The best way to stop ebola from entering your system? WASH YOUR HANDS with soap and water. Get a little OCD about it if you're flying and in other areas of travel.
But otherwise, relax. Like everyone else said above -- worry about smoking, radiation omissions in your cell phones and the flu. Not ~worry worry~ but just live your lives and pray for those who are suffering or going through less fortunate circumstances.
I have enough anxiety and worries to last me through today….so do all of you. Why panic over something that is so remote from us right now, unless we are healthcare workers caring for ebola patients.
Thank you HEART TO HEART!!!! STATED VERY WELL, I'M JUST NOT SO SOFT WITH WORDS ANYMORE, BEEN TREW & HAD TO ENDURE TOO MUCH IN PAST 15 YEARS!! HAVE A GREAT DAY EVERYONE!!!
It's not the 'responsible' people like us that go to doctors when we don't feel well or care enough about not spreading something to the next person that we should worry about (Ebola). It's the people/animals that are 'not' responsible or don't even think about the possibility that they have it (for one reason or another) who we worry about transmitting it to others, especially in crowded places (planes, trains, etc.). If it gets out of control, then we're in trouble. Do we want to panic or have fear? Of course not, but you can't ignore reality (history shows what has happened in that case). I just hope and pray that people in 'trust' who make the decisions for disease control (Medical community, politicians, etc... here in our country and around the world) can make the right ones.
yep, fregflyer that is exactly what I have been trying to say from my first comment, we all need to WONDER how it spreads and be cautious. Those coming in those going out? Anybody know how many people have died from Cancer related to cigarettes? Yet there are many that continue to smoke them ignoring the warnings thinking they will not be one of the ones who comes down with the deadly disease. However, thank goodness some restrictions have been made thru the years to protect those of us who don't smoke. This is a good chat, interesting remarks and opinions, but I must get back to my caregiving having a handicapped Husband, great Grandchild and a mother in the Nursing home takes up pretty much all of my time. I want to thank whom ever posted the comment about D-mannose, it has been a Godsend!! THANKS AGAIN AND I HOPE YOU SEE THIS!!
yipster7, I wonder if those stomach virus outbreaks at nursing home are due to sick people coming in to visit a love one.
I know that the hospital where I do volunteer work, during the high flu season, no one under 16 is allowed on the patient floors, and the adults who are visiting will be required to wear a face mask while in a patient's room. And if the nurse deems a visitor to be under the weather, that person won't be allowed in a patient's room.
The patterns I see regarding health scare panics depends on society. Couple years ago there was concern regarding cell phones emitting radiofrequency energy, and depending on the type of cell phone one is using, there could be a risk of cancer. People ignored the warnings because who would want to give up their cellphone. Anyway, there are warnings that children not be given cellphones to use on a daily basis because their brains are still developing.
I remember back in the 1960's when the first warnings came out about the dangers of cigarette smoking, it too, was ignored because who would want to give up their cigarettes. Those silly doctors, what do they know. I just hope we don't run into the same scenario with cellphones that we did with cigarettes.
Sorry to hear about your experience yipster7. Fortunately health care workers are REQUIRED to get annual flu vaccines. Still common viruses are spread. I understand the topic of containment of Ebola to be very different than common viruses.
We don't need to panic, but we need to be responsible and take every precaution--that's not running scared! It's a deadly virus and should be treated as such. A sneeze, a cough sprays bodily fluid; on a plane, it's all recirculated air, what if the sneeze hits the seat in front of you, then someone grabs that seat, and then because that person's eye itches, they wipe their eyes--no open wound necessary.
Subject was Ebola & Concerns for Assisted Living and Nursing Home Patients. Health Care has one of the biggest turn around in employees. They come and they go, with them they bring and they take, no way to screen them. My Mom has been in a nursing home for 6 years. Twice since there they have had a virus outbreak which affected people from 24 to 48 hours. They could not contain it, eventually both times the facility had to have NO VISITORS signs on the front doors for 6weeks or longer until they could finally say it was clear for us to go in and visit our loved ones and almost all the employees came down with it. All the precautions they took did not stop the outbreak from spreading from room to room, employee to employee & patient to patient. This is on the subject of discussion.
A good article that states the worry is unnecessary unless you are in direct contact with someone who has Ebola. Listen to TheBoogs and enjoy life rather than worrying about all the fear you can muster. Panic is as panic does.
If you are comparing AIDS to Ebola -- then let me ask you: are you having sex or using shared needles with people who have either disease? If not, be rest assured that you'll be just fine. Stop the panic. I'm sure people who have similar views as you do will cause this country to go into mass hysteria, buying up all the supplies of hazmat suits and whatever is needed to protect themselves, all the while there are only a few quarantined cases and some that are soon to be found.
Ease your mind. Millions got AIDS, and just think --- (assuming you didn't) --- we didn't.
We can't drive ourselves crazy, we just can't. We have enough on our plates being caretakers. Let's focus on what's important.
Okay then since Aids has been brought up, lets compare and take a look at aids. In the mid-80's one of my jobs where I worked was to file the Bulletins that came to us from the CDC. The very first one that came with reference to aids said there were 17 known cases. Do the math. These comments are not meant to scare anyone, just want people to take precautions like Veronica stated and not depend on the Government or Media, they DO NOT have all the answers.
This is a very sensible and reassuring article and we certainly should not all be running around like chickens with their heads cut off BUT healthcare workers and providers in this country have NO experience with this 50% deadly disease so we sare on a very steep learning curve at present and certainly don't know all of the answers. As an older individual with existing health problems i will be avoiding trave lespecially by air at this time, keeping out of crowds and being specially vigilant if i absolutely must use a public rest room. Certainly in NYS the governor has order certain regional hospitals to be designated as regional Ebola preparedness centers and all patients will be transferred to one of those where staff have been specially trained. I have recently observed that healthcare workers are very lax in following infection control guidelines and this has to change. in any croweded living situation the chance of spread is higher not just in ALS, but prisons and schools and anywhere else where there is communal sharing of facilities. if a case comes to ones area it is vital that individuals be responsible for their own actions and precaution. For example maintain a stock of food and medications so there is not need to visit stores etc for a while. Common sence is the key here not panic or expecting "the authorities" to tell us what to do. they are learning just as we all are.
You know what's frightening? People frighting other people. Fear mongering isn't going to help. Ebola cannot be contracted UNLESS you have taken care of the patient or like the article stated, someone sneezed on an open wound of yours. It's almost like getting aids (the way it is contracted). And IF you got the virus, you have a chance to live.
Stop the panic! There are people out there buying up Hazmat suits -- regular citizens like you and me.
It is HIGHLY unlikely for anyone to contract this virus if they haven't been next to someone who has come back from West Africa who is infected or if you are a caretaker for someone with ebola.
Stop the madness.
And hey -- look -- the bubonic plague is back too! But it mutated into a virus that is almost nonexistent. It's like getting the flu but less.
If ebola does mutate, it most likely will mutate to something less since it goes from body to body, which weakens as it travels. Believe me, I am a huge hypochondriac so I read up a lot on it. Do I trust a lot of sites? Of course not. But I know from studying infectious diseases and how they're transferred, we really have nothing to worry about except pray for those people who need medical assistance.
I wonder if people worry about the (untold) amounts of radiation that is already spreading into the Atlantic ocean from Fukushima. What about the untold amounts of the oil spill STILL in the ocean. Enjoy your seafood! (I still eat seafood!) Ya only live once.
Having been in Healthcare myself for all of my 35 year working career, I can say I don't feel anyone knows enough about this infectious disease to really be giving all of us the Don't Be Concerned attitude. WE should all be very concerned and taking our own precautions to make sure it is not spread, however it spreads. Wake Up America, think for yourself and stop letting the Government and the News Media do it for you!!!
Anyone showing signs of Ebola should be quarantined and be put into a highly contained hospital where they can be cared for by properly suited for contagion outfits. All those people the patient had contact with should be quarantined for 21 days, and wherever the patient was, should be cleaned thoroughly to decontaminate. All medical facilities across the country should prepare for receiving Ebola patients with education, and practice.
Let's cut the fear... think about it, Thomas Eric Duncan was living with other family members in a tiny apartment while he was ill with a high fever before he went back to the ER for a second time.... at this point in time none of his family have contacted the disease.
We should be more afraid of the flu, which is highly contagious.... if everyone got their flu shot we wouldn't have to worry, but only 50% of the U.S. population even bothers. Surprised other countries don't ban U.S. citizens from coming into their countries and spreading the flu.
I think (after hearing this in the news somewhere) that if this gets into the animal chain, we're really in trouble... I heard it was started by bats in the first place... I also think we should have already closed/quarantined our borders!
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Ebola in Senior Living Facilities: Should You Be Scared?
That gentleman in Texas, Mr. Duncan, who died from ebola was sitting in a plane full of passengers and none of them caught ebola. He was also living with his fiancé, their 19 year old son, and other friends in a tiny apartment and none of them got ebola.
So, don't be all that concerned. I don't believe anyone who has a loved one in a nursing home/assisted living, needs the additional stress, i.e., worrying about something that won't happen.
doctorswithoutborders/article/q-msf%E2%80%99s-ebola-response-and-protocols#2
Hopefully, it will help allay peoples' fears.
As it turns out, the doctor reported a 100.3 fever, not a 103 fever.
And the nurse never had a fever nor was she ever symptomatic. She just happened to be the first person to step off a plane in NJ where the governors had placed a mandatory quarantine but unfortunately, didn't tell people at the airport how to handle it.
Once again, she is angry, not re the quarantine, but I believe she's angry because she was treated like a TSA worker treats some of us at times.
Third: The CDC and our political representatives have changed their minds so many times, who do we believe and what do we believe? I believe this has unsettled many. If it's upsetting you, you need to shut off the tv. We live in a world that is saturated in the 'news' and that news is creating chaos in our minds.
An article like this breaks it down simply. We believe facts, not rumors. To get facts, we need to start reading, not just listening to television news sensationalism. And we have to get it from many different sources.
I read this yesterday and it helped me understand something, i.e., news doesn't tell us everything. "That 4,500 figure is statistical sophistry, based on guesswork, questionable definitions, “verbal autopsies” and extrapolations from random data. Ask the CDC/WHO to disaggregate the actual number of “Ebola deaths” registered in each African country among children under 12 and how many in adult men. They cannot provide those vital breakdowns because no epidemiological basis of data exists for them." In other words, people in W. Africa may be dying from something other than Ebola.
We can't live our life in constant fear. To worry about something is futile. Worry is fantasy and if you're going to have fantasies, have good ones.
Take a deep breath and take care of yourself.
I sadly saw someone tweet a picture of a person sitting at the airport wearing a homemade HAZMAT suit. It was like a rain jacket and plastic gear on her head wrapped in rubber bands. It was so bizarre and so crazy. The best way to stop ebola from entering your system? WASH YOUR HANDS with soap and water. Get a little OCD about it if you're flying and in other areas of travel.
But otherwise, relax. Like everyone else said above -- worry about smoking, radiation omissions in your cell phones and the flu. Not ~worry worry~ but just live your lives and pray for those who are suffering or going through less fortunate circumstances.
I have enough anxiety and worries to last me through today….so do all of you. Why panic over something that is so remote from us right now, unless we are healthcare workers caring for ebola patients.
Hang in there troops!
*Lysols this entire thread*
*exits*
Anybody know how many people have died from Cancer related to cigarettes?
Yet there are many that continue to smoke them ignoring the warnings thinking they will not be one of the ones who comes down with the deadly disease. However, thank goodness some restrictions have been made thru the years to protect those of us who don't smoke.
This is a good chat, interesting remarks and opinions, but I must get back to my caregiving having a handicapped Husband, great Grandchild and a mother in the Nursing home takes up pretty much all of my time.
I want to thank whom ever posted the comment about D-mannose, it has been a Godsend!! THANKS AGAIN AND I HOPE YOU SEE THIS!!
I know that the hospital where I do volunteer work, during the high flu season, no one under 16 is allowed on the patient floors, and the adults who are visiting will be required to wear a face mask while in a patient's room. And if the nurse deems a visitor to be under the weather, that person won't be allowed in a patient's room.
The patterns I see regarding health scare panics depends on society. Couple years ago there was concern regarding cell phones emitting radiofrequency energy, and depending on the type of cell phone one is using, there could be a risk of cancer. People ignored the warnings because who would want to give up their cellphone. Anyway, there are warnings that children not be given cellphones to use on a daily basis because their brains are still developing.
I remember back in the 1960's when the first warnings came out about the dangers of cigarette smoking, it too, was ignored because who would want to give up their cigarettes. Those silly doctors, what do they know. I just hope we don't run into the same scenario with cellphones that we did with cigarettes.
Health Care has one of the biggest turn around in employees. They come and they go, with them they bring and they take, no way to screen them. My Mom has been in a nursing home for 6 years. Twice since there they have had a virus outbreak which affected people from 24 to 48 hours. They could not contain it, eventually both times the facility had to have NO VISITORS signs on the front doors for 6weeks or longer until they could finally say it was clear for us to go in and visit our loved ones and almost all the employees came down with it.
All the precautions they took did not stop the outbreak from spreading from room to room, employee to employee & patient to patient.
This is on the subject of discussion.
Ease your mind. Millions got AIDS, and just think --- (assuming you didn't) --- we didn't.
We can't drive ourselves crazy, we just can't. We have enough on our plates being caretakers. Let's focus on what's important.
in any croweded living situation the chance of spread is higher not just in ALS, but prisons and schools and anywhere else where there is communal sharing of facilities. if a case comes to ones area it is vital that individuals be responsible for their own actions and precaution. For example maintain a stock of food and medications so there is not need to visit stores etc for a while. Common sence is the key here not panic or expecting "the authorities" to tell us what to do. they are learning just as we all are.
Stop the panic! There are people out there buying up Hazmat suits -- regular citizens like you and me.
It is HIGHLY unlikely for anyone to contract this virus if they haven't been next to someone who has come back from West Africa who is infected or if you are a caretaker for someone with ebola.
Stop the madness.
And hey -- look -- the bubonic plague is back too! But it mutated into a virus that is almost nonexistent. It's like getting the flu but less.
If ebola does mutate, it most likely will mutate to something less since it goes from body to body, which weakens as it travels. Believe me, I am a huge hypochondriac so I read up a lot on it. Do I trust a lot of sites? Of course not. But I know from studying infectious diseases and how they're transferred, we really have nothing to worry about except pray for those people who need medical assistance.
I wonder if people worry about the (untold) amounts of radiation that is already spreading into the Atlantic ocean from Fukushima. What about the untold amounts of the oil spill STILL in the ocean. Enjoy your seafood! (I still eat seafood!) Ya only live once.
Be healthy. Be happy.
We should be more afraid of the flu, which is highly contagious.... if everyone got their flu shot we wouldn't have to worry, but only 50% of the U.S. population even bothers. Surprised other countries don't ban U.S. citizens from coming into their countries and spreading the flu.