Yet another "possible" case of Ebola. Richmond VA.

I know at this point it is getting to be over-kill with these Ebloa threads, but being so close to home this has me worried. I'm from Richmond Va, and work literally 2 blocks from this clinic. It's a free clinic that sees a LOT of traffic because it is a particularly poor/destitute part of our city. I have been concerned since the beginning because we have such a large community of West Africans living here. Link

A local clinic has isolated a patient who recently traveled to Africa and now has a low-grade fever. CrossOver Health Ministry, located in the 100 block of Cowardin Avenue, said they “don’t believe it’s Ebola,” but initially isolated the patient and took the necessary precautions to evaluate any risk. The patient traveled to Liberia, a country of concern in the rapid transmission of Ebola, a couple of weeks ago.

Diagnostic tests are being conducted at VCU Medical Center, and the Richmond Health Department coordinated care for the patient. Dr. Don Stern, the director of the Richmond City Health District, said the patient will be evaluated to see if the patient should be tested for Ebola. “The Department of Consolidated Laboratory Services is ready to go ahead with an Ebola test if it is ordered by VCU,” Dr. Stern said. Dr. Stern confirmed that a patient visiting the U.S. from West Africa was seen at CrossOver Healthcare Ministry Clinic Monday for a condition unrelated to Ebola. “Since the patient had a travel history and low grade fever, CrossOver followed infectious disease protocol,” Dr. Stern said. He said the patient was placed in isolation, and the Health Department was called. “The patient was referred to a local hospital for laboratory evaluation. The patient did not meet the CDC’s criteria for Ebola, but does meet optional criteria, so we thought it be reasonable to do additional testing….it may include an Ebola test if the clinicians determine it would be a reasonable test to perform on this patient.” Dr. Stern said. Dr. Stern said the CDC will advise regarding any further testing depending on the results of the evaluation at VCU this evening. “CrossOver handled case with high degree of professional expertise and followed infectious disease protocol for the safety of their staff, their patients, and the community,” Dr. Stern said. The CrossOver facility serves a very large international population. “We are as prepared as we can be,” said Julie Bilodeau, executive director at CrossOver Ministry.

What concerns me is that they say they are not going to be testing for Ebloa at this time, because she doesnt meat "all" of the requirements. This doesnt make sense to me since since just recently they have released information stating that symptoms are not the same 100% of the time and can actually vary quite a lot in patients. She had been in West Africa-specifically Liberia- why would they not test her just to be sure? *Note that the article states they may do additional testing but on the 11pm newscast the guy from the Virginia Dept of Health said they would not be doing a test for Ebola at this time because she didnt meet all of the requirements, that there was a "specific clinical protocol" that they were trying to follow.

Instead they release her, and allow her to drive herself to a different local hospital where she is now in "isolation", awaiting further test- but not one for Ebola. I get that we cant "freak out" everytime there is a possibility of this virus- its inevitable that we will see possible cases and even confimred cases until the epidemic is gotten under control. That said, because of its virulence and the clear mis-handeling of the ONLY cases ever on the US soil... why wouldn't they just test her to be sure? Better safe than sorry?

a reply to: itswhatev

From your source

Dr. Don Stern, the director of the Richmond City Health District, said the patient will be evaluated to see if the patient should be tested for Ebola.

“The Department of Consolidated Laboratory Services is ready to go ahead with an Ebola test if it is ordered by VCU,” Dr. Stern said.

Doesn't look like they have ruled out testing, I'm pretty confidant he/she will get a test at this juncture.

The clip they showed (am searching for it but no luck yet) the patient was escorted by a nurse in normal scrubs, not even gloves to her car. patient was then allowed to leave and drive herself (well she was with another man who is also in isolation at VCU) to the hospital. How many people has she already come in to contact with. THey said she was immedietly put into isolation at the clinic... but that was pointless if they then allowed her to leave un protected and at LEAST one nurse escorted her un protected to her vehicle.

Logically i know this will probably turn out to be another non-ebola sickness. I really hope so. I am just worried that if this is how we treat all of them.... when it is ebola- it will get out. Completely hypothetical but if this were a case of Ebola she is symptomatic therefore positively communicable. In that scenario this would be complete negligence... not implying this is negligence.

She was concerned enough to go to a clinic, shes recently back from Liberia. I would just like to know that if there is ANY possibility that she has Ebola- they test. The sooner they start tracing contacts for an infected patient the better i would think.

a reply to: itswhatev

I agree with you completely. This is closer to me than I would like as well... I'll be watching this one :/

a reply to: itswhatev

Just once I would love to hear them state. We Do think this is ebola. Instead, they always state, we do not think this is ebola. Didn't they say that about Duncan?

The patient was presenting a low grade fever and went to CrossOver Health care Ministry on 108 Cowardin Ave. That clinic is now closed.

link

I wonder if this means closed as in closed because of normal business hours or closed because they are decontaminating?

I work at 10am tomorrow - as a delivery driver which in itself has me on edge lol But i will take note and see if it is business as usual there tomorrow or if they are still "Closed"

I used to live in off of Midlothian Tpike in Richmond. My mom still lives there and works on West Broad Street. I truly hope for everyone's sake, including my mother's that it is NOT ebola. Keeping ya'll in my thoughts. Will be following this closely...

Is the test an invasive procedure or something? Why hesitate at all? Why do I get the feeling they're not trying to stop this virus dead in it's tracks?

originally posted by: FamCore
I used to live in off of Midlothian Tpike in Richmond.

So did I.

My son still lives in Ashland with his mom, so this one has me particularly concerned.

a reply to: Bone75

Those were my thoughts exactly. Unless the test is just exorbitantly expensive, or extremely invasive why hesitate at all? If nothing else... why not just do it, so it comes back negative, so there is no concern or panic? I can't imagine its much more complicated than a specific blood test, though im not sure.

It could be they are waiting for viral counts to elevate to ensure a good test result.

a reply to: loam

Ah yes well that is logical. I suppose a false negative is just as bad if not worse than a delayed test at all. Once a person started showing symptoms though i would have assumed that the viral count would have been at least high enough to detect with some certainty...

That said i found this article from 11 days ago and I guess its not as simple as i thought Link

Thomas Ksiazek, a professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston who has done extensive research on Ebola, says that testing is done using a process called real-time RT-PCR, or reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction.

In this technique, doctors or medical personnel take samples of blood from a patient. They then add an enzyme to convert RNA found in the blood into DNA (RNA is a chemical messenger that helps turn DNA’s “instructions” into proteins). Next, a “primer” is added that targets a string of genetic code unique to the Ebola virus. The concoction is then run through a PCR machine, wherein that strand of Ebola genetic material is amplified, or copied, many times (if it’s there, that is. If it’s not, nothing happens and the test returns a negative.)

inally, a chemical probe is added that binds to these snippets of DNA and alerts the scientists to the presence of the Ebola virus, Ksiazek tells Newsweek. The whole process can take as little as three to four hours.

So while it seems its more than just a simple blood test, it also can be a fairly quick one.it also goes on to say

the PCR test is sensitive enough that by the time most people show up with symptoms in a hospital, it will be able to detect the virus

Though that is assuming they use that specific test, the article also mentions another test that apparently does need a higher viral count to be effective and isnt as efficient.

UPDATE

IT appears this was yet another false alarm. Link

The patient was transferred to the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, where she was tested for Ebola. The CDC later confirmed that the young woman had tested negative for the deadly virus. Read more: www.upi.com...

Though this article does go on to point out that

Just last week in the nation's capital, three hospitals reported quarantining potential Ebola patients, only to find out not long after that tests for the virus came back negative. And for every Ebola scare story that makes the evening news, it's likely there are dozens more that go unreported. Read more: www.upi.com...

a reply to: itswhatev


Isn't this essentially what they did with Duncan? Sent his butt home, to infect more people, wait a couple days, THEN accept him? Supposedly it was because he had no insurance, then it because the doctor never heard he went to Africa, then it because of this, then because of that. Excuses, excuses!

a reply to: itswhatev

I would rather they do the test and err on the side of caution, than not do the test and find out it WAS Ebola and it was blown off and now it's been spread even further.

originally posted by: stellawayten
a reply to: itswhatev

Just once I would love to hear them state. We Do think this is ebola. Instead, they always state, we do not think this is ebola. Didn't they say that about Duncan?

First they stated the nurse never notified the doctor (again nurse blaming), then it was the records fault, then it was Duncan's fault for not having insurance so they turned him away (if that is the case, we are going to see a LOT of Ebola being spread because there are a LOT of uninsured Americans and illegals.), then it was Duncan lied to the doctor about handling sick people or being near sick people. They had a story every dang time! Ugh!

originally posted by: itswhatev

The patient was presenting a low grade fever and went to CrossOver Health care Ministry on 108 Cowardin Ave. That clinic is now closed.

link

I wonder if this means closed as in closed because of normal business hours or closed because they are decontaminating?

I work at 10am tomorrow - as a delivery driver which in itself has me on edge lol But i will take note and see if it is business as usual there tomorrow or if they are still "Closed"

If they're smart they're decontaminating! Although I wonder how effective that truly is. Hopefully very!

a reply to: Anyafaj

Well when i drove by this morning it was business as usual. ITs a "free clinic" so is always packed, and all day today they were packed. IVe been inside there myself and that waiting room makes you feel like you are standing in a room the size of a pack of gum with 50 other people. If this had turned out to be a positive case i dont even want to think of how many people would have been exposed. Not to mention that a majority of their patients are transients/homeless and would have had practically no way to trace any of them. BUt luckily they DID go ahead and do an Ebola test just to be sure and allegedly it came back negative.

This is where it starts, the panic.

Every person with a bad case of flu that might have been in contact with someone from West Africa is going to be treated as if they have Ebola, and the media will be fanning the flames of panic by reporting every little step, with misinformation, downright lies, and massive amounts of hearsay based on something they read on a facebook post or twitter.

The panic will build, and build, and build until it's at hysteria level.

I hear the US Gov't has set up a "quick response team" to deal with these cases. Well, it will be overwhelmed the second there are more than a handful of possible cases to investigate in the USA.

It's the MO of the NWO, keep to population too scared and divided to talk to each other and figure out what's actually going on and that they're being subjugated in ways they'll never know, because they're too busy staying too afraid that their neighbor might have a bigger gun than them to actually go talk to them.

originally posted by: itswhatev
a reply to: Anyafaj

Well when i drove by this morning it was business as usual. ITs a "free clinic" so is always packed, and all day today they were packed. IVe been inside there myself and that waiting room makes you feel like you are standing in a room the size of a pack of gum with 50 other people. If this had turned out to be a positive case i dont even want to think of how many people would have been exposed. Not to mention that a majority of their patients are transients/homeless and would have had practically no way to trace any of them. BUt luckily they DID go ahead and do an Ebola test just to be sure and allegedly it came back negative.

That's good that it DID come back negative, but as you said, had it come back positive, there would have been no way to trace all those homeless. They got off lucky this time.