Nurse Under Ebola Quarantine Criticizes Her Treatment

originally posted by: drwill
a reply to: ~Lucidity
I've seldom seen such a "look at me" portrait on LinkedIn.
I'm sure she wept a little when it was taken down.

Book cover.

a reply to: NightSkyeB4Dawn

I am all for caution, but for how this looks like it is going to play out, I am willing to take my chances with nature. Do the math. Ebola is awful but it is not as bad as what they have in store for us under the guise of keeping us safe.

Yeah - corporate interests alone probably have 10,000 people a month flying back and forth from West Africa. And that's a conservative estimate. So clamping down on medical volunteers only is ....(can't think of the right word here). Then there's the fact that Hickox' treatment establishes a legal precedent for the future. Dumb and dumber to support it.

originally posted by: Khaleesi
a reply to: masqua

The soldiers have already been told, if I recall correctly, that they will be quarantined before they come back. In country. Not here in the US. There. I am relying on memory. I'd have to dig for a source and frankly some of the info is hard to find. They aren't exactly being forthcoming with info these days. Call my memory faulty if you wish. I believe my memory is correct but don't mind if you question it.

At least some are being quarantined in Italy:

Source

a reply to: Phage

No, it does not ....there have been no systematic empirical studies conducted on human viral shedding of Ebola. Unequivocal data not available to support conclusive statements about the matter , there is only assumption and anecdotal evidence. In other words, studies that show that a viremia can be spread prior to 21 days have not been vigorously pursued. BASED ON EVIDENCE: this means there's not enough data out there to disprove (or validate) the fact that it can be spread prior to you getting symptoms. BASICALLY, WE DON’T KNOW , THE MODELS CURRENTLY BEING USED COULD BE WRONG, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU CONSIDER THE MUTATION RATE CURRENTLY BEING DISPLAYED IN THIS OUTBREAK.
IF YOU ACTUALLY READ EVERYTHING included here just as a start then come back and explain to me why is it considered unreasonable to eliminate or reduce any unnecessary risks that we can??? I am open to some current evidence that’s supports not taking all precautions we can.

Ebola Mutation Rate:

The benefit of a high mutation rate in Ebola 2014 is different -- the genetic changes in Ebola-2014 allow for rapid exploration of the entire fitness landscape in a brand new host -- humans. We need to be aware that the Ebola-2014 virus is undergoing rapid adaptation. Analysis of the available research suggests that the Ebola 2014 virus is currently mutating at a rate 200% to 300% higher than historically observed (Gire, 2014). Furthermore, the Ebola-2014 virus's mutation rate of 2.0 x 10−³ subs/site/year is nearly identical to Influenza A's mutation rate of 1.8 x 10−³ subs/site/year (Jenkins, 2002). This means Ebola 2014 is mutating as fast as seasonal flu.

Genomic surveillance elucidates Ebola virus origin and transmission during the 2014 outbreak. (Gire et al, 2014).
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...

Rates of Molecular Evolution in RNA Viruses: A Quantitative Phylogenetic Analysis. (Jenkins et al, 2002).
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...

Dr. Bausch just answered a similar question in a lecture given at Case Western a few days ago. About the need for more scientific research on Ebola: "At what stage of the illness, and in what tissues is Ebola virus shed and may infect others?" he asked. No studies have been done on that. The research instead has been very product-oriented, focusing on vaccines and other therapies. "Now we wish we did understand more about the disease," he said. "We don't really have lots of sound data of what period people start shedding virus and from what tissues. And so that would be incredibly valuable data. What we do have is the epidemiological data, and when we put that together from past outbreaks, it really appears that most infections occur from very sick people late in the course of their illness"(Dr. Daniel Bausch).

The human viral shedding is at best an assumption and the data we do have is based entirely on previous outbreaks, well know strand (none or limited opportunities to mutate). The current genetic sequencing research is telling you it has mutated and continues to do so....this makes the boundaries of viral shedding as well as questions of when this occurs to the point of being infectious even more presumptuous.

There are limited data available on when patients become viraemic and infectious during the incubation period. The assumption is that the rate of virus replication and excretion into bodily fluids is not high enough in the pre-symptomatic phase to result in person-to-person transmission through day-to-day contacts in the community. However, there are no data on when viraemia starts during the incubation period. During the symptomatic phase of EVD, the virus is present in high concentrations in all bodily fluids, tissues and organs.

here[/u rl]

Because of the difficulty of performing clinical studies under outbreak conditions, almost all data on the pathogenesis of Ebola and Marburg virus diseases have been obtained from laboratory experiments employing mice, guinea pigs, and a variety of nonhuman primates.
[url=http://www.uptodate.com/contents/epidemiology-pathogenesis-and-clinical-manifestations-of-ebola-and-marburg-virus-disease]here


Incubation Period: The most reliable information on the incubation period of Ebola and Marburg HF has been obtained from situations in which a single well-defined event, such as a laboratory accident, contact with an infected animal, or exposure in a hospital, has occurred. while for outbreaks of Ebola Zaire HF they have varied from 3–12 days [3, 5, 6, 9, 11, 22–24, 28]. Overall, these reports indicate a range of 3–13 days for the incubation period.
here


Infections in Humans: Incubation Period
The precise incubation period for filovirus infections is difficult to determine, as the time of exposure is uncertain or not described in most cases. Some estimates indicate a potential range of 2 to 21 days, with symptoms usually appearing in 4 to 10 days. The initial signs occurred after 3 to 13 days in a limited number of cases where the time of exposure was known. Estimates of the mean incubation period during outbreaks have ranged from 6 to 13 days, and sometimes differ even for the same outbreak.
here



This paper contains no evidence (for or against) alternate modes of transmission for Ebola, nor is this paper postulating that genetic changes have impacted EVD clinical presentation (although evidence for this has started to emerge). This paper is simply demonstrating what appears to be a rapid rate of evolution in the Ebola 2014 Virus. Many recent Ebola viral mutations have been synonymous mutations, some have been in intergenic regions, while others are non-synonymous substitutions in protein-coding regions. All have unknown impact at the present time. Such questions should be the subject of future scientific research. This article simply points out that Ebola in 2014 is undergoing rapid mutation and adaptation. The future implications of Ebola's rapid evolution are unclear
HERE

If we didn't have so-called professionals traveling all over the place after they feel ill...we wouldn't have to be even talking about mandatory quarantines.

Ebola Amber sends the wrong message when we find she travels to Cleveland....although feeling sluggish....and then tunrs up with Ebola.

Dr Doom sends the wrong message too...feeling a bit off and still going on the subway, bowling and other places in NYC.

And now we have Whiny Nurse....complaining she's being sequestered after her fellow workers failed to quarantine themselves.

Come on now....just finished treating ebola patients....you feel a bit off....sluggish, tired, and/or weak....and you don't suspect something?
PLEASE!!!!
I know when a cold is coming on. I know when I am about to get a fever. It's called paying attention to your body....and you don't need a medical degree to do this.

They let her go home?!

Apparently home for her is somewhere in Maine?



Guess she didn't fly into Maine (even though Brantly did on Phoenix Air (devilface)) because all the flights coming from W. Africa come to the main 6 airports.

a reply to: MysterX

I agree with you. The fact that someone does not have symptoms at 11 AM when a flight takes off does not mean they won't have symptoms at 1 PM and won't be contagious then while still on the plane. Of course, quarantining hundreds of volunteers at the same time is a logistical nightmare. Would they each have a separate quarantine unit where they're not in contact with others? I guess if they're so confident that they aren't carriers they could all be quarantined together. Something tells me they wouldn't be happy about taking that risk at the same time that they individually believe they, personally, couldn't be a carrier. This is a fine mess.

Unapologetic, Christie Frees Nurse From Ebola Quarantinel

Unapologetic. Frees. Drama.

Even as New Jersey officials on Monday released a nurse they had kept quarantined in a tent since her return from treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone, an unapologetic Gov. Chris Christie dismissed those who questioned his handling of the case and denied that he had reversed himself.

The nurse, Kaci Hickox, 33, who had been working with Doctors Without Borders, became the first public test case for a mandatory quarantine that both Mr. Christie and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York announced on Friday.

Ms. Hickox’s lawyer, Steven Hyman, said she had been released midday on Monday from University Hospital in Newark. A hospital spokeswoman said that two black S.U.V.s with tinted windows were headed to Maine, with the patient as a passenger in one. The spokeswoman, Stacie Newton, declined to say where in Maine the convoy was going, or whose vehicles they were.

This is such BS.

Did they take her to another plane bound for Maine? What?

Seems like she is going to Maine.

Maine's Ebola protocols mean quarantine for nurse

"Upon the healthcare workers' return home, we will follow the guidelines set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control for medical workers who have been in contact with Ebola patients," LePage [governor] said in a statement. "Additionally, we will work with the healthcare worker to establish an in-home quarantine protocol to ensure there is no direct contact with other Mainers until the period for potential infection has passed."

He said the state would work to make the nurse "as comfortable as possible."
...
"We fully expect individuals to voluntarily comply with an in-home quarantine," LePage spokeswoman Adrienne Bennett said. "If an individual is not compliant, the state is prepared to take appropriate action."

a reply to: ~Lucidity

He may not be apologetic but you can bet your right leg that is all about political pressure specially when he is a possible presidential candidate.

Let see if the winner nurse comes down with ebola, let see who she will sue then.

a reply to: marg6043
Well, I listened to Christie and he made total sense. I am leaning more and more to her being a damned plant, I swear.

And now they're convening panels and bickering about how to handle the military too. Geez make a decision already.

What a freaking sideshow.

originally posted by: Khaleesi
a reply to: masqua

The soldiers have already been told, if I recall correctly, that they will be quarantined before they come back. In country. Not here in the US. There. I am relying on memory. I'd have to dig for a source and frankly some of the info is hard to find. They aren't exactly being forthcoming with info these days. Call my memory faulty if you wish. I believe my memory is correct but don't mind if you question it.

Question, how is it not ok for the state to not do this to this nurse (yes, the conditions weren't the best and should have been thought out better, but the idea was there.), but it's ok for Obama and the Pentagon to do this to our troops (which I agree with)? Both did the same work. Both worked in another country trying to help said country in getting rid of Ebola, whether it be by building a trench, a hospital, or actively sticking patients with needles. The nurse should count herself lucky. It's not like the troops can sue the Pentagon or the President. They are living in the very same tent-like situation. I have a number of friends who are in the health care field, some nurses, and a few doctors, most are stunned by her attitude and want her kicked out of the country. (Now personally I wouldn't go that far, I can see both sides. After 3 weeks of laying flat on my back in the hospital when I was 15 after spinal surgery, it got very lonely. Not many came to visit me. We only had one car and my dad used it for work, working 17 hour days for the AF. I get that she's lonely and Christie didn't set up the best of circumstances initially. But now they know where they went wrong, they know what needs to be fixed. So before they do this again, FIX IT.

So have they quarantined anyone else? Why no word on that? Did they just give up?

Also, even if she does come down with it, we will never know because her other rights will kick in (HIPAA).

She doesn't even want to comply with Maine's policy.

Kaci Hickox left a Newark hospital on Monday and was expected to arrive in the northern Maine town of Fort Kent early Tuesday. Maine health officials have already announced that Hickox is expected to comply with a 21-day voluntary in-home quarantine put in place by the state's governor, Paul LePage.

However, one of Hickox's lawyers, Steve Hyman, said he expected her to remain in seclusion for only the "next day or so" while he works with Maine health officials. He said he believes the state should follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines that require only monitoring, not quarantine, for health care workers who show no symptoms after treating Ebola patients. "She's a very good person who did very good work and deserves to be honored, not detained, for it," he said.

LePage defended the quarantine in a news release Monday, saying that state officials must be "vigilant in our duty to protect the health and safety of all Mainers." Adrienne Bennett, a spokeswoman for the governor, told the Portland Press Herald that authorities would take "appropriate action" if Hickox does not comply with the quarantine, though she did not specify what that action might be.

"Upon the healthcare workers' return home, we will follow the guidelines set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control for medical workers who have been in contact with Ebola patients," LePage's statement continued. "Additionally, we will work with the healthcare worker to establish an in-home quarantine protocol to ensure there is no direct contact with other Mainers until the period for potential infection has passed."

A spokeswoman for Northern Maine Medical Center in Fort Kent told the Associated Press that the facility is ready to care for an Ebola-infected patient, if necessary. Hickox and her boyfriend, Ted Wilbur, recently moved to Fort Kent, where Wilbur is a nursing student at the University of Maine branch in the town.

WAGM-TV reported late Monday that school officials had offered Wilbur the option of staying in on-campus student housing for the duration of the quarantine period or suspending his studies so that he could stay with Hickox in his off-campus home during that time.
A University of Maine system spokesman told the Associated Press that he couldn't confirm details of discussions with Wilbur. [Source]

Ebola nurse leaves ‘prison’ but Mainers don’t want her back

But as she was driven by private car to Maine, where she lives with her boyfriend, residents there organized a Facebook page called “Mainers against Kaci Hickox returning home to Fort Kent Maine.” “She is pretty selfish and without common sense!!” Caroline Kay wrote on the page.

No comment. Just FYI.

I didn't expect to find this headline about Kaci this morning:

Released Ebola Nurse Kaci Hickox Works For CDC…Her Lawyer Is A White House Visitor

Excerpts:

Ebola health care worker Kaci Hickox, who was released from quarantine with the support of the White House, is a Centers For Disease Control and Prevention employee, records reveal. The lawyer who helped earn her release is a recent White House state dinner guest.

Here’s an overlooked factor that could have contributed to her White House-backed release: Hickox is an official CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) officer who performed work for the CDC in recent months.

Hickox was a Class of 2012 member of CDC’s two-year EIS officer training program, according to the official program for CDC’s 2014 EIS Conference (p. 98), which was held from April 28 to May 1, 2014. Hickox was featured in a photograph in the program.

Hickox was listed as an “EIS officer” for the CDC in program materials for a CDC course she taught in July 2014. She was specifically listed as an active “EIS officer” as recently as July 18, 2014, according to CDC documents.

Hickox was a presenter at the CDC conference this spring, according to the program’s list of presenters (p. 103).

Here's a link to that course in which she taught this past July. Her name is near the top of page one:

www.cdc.gov...

Here's another link with her name on a report dating back to July of this year:

www.cdc.gov...

The above excerpts are from the following report:

dailycaller.com...

It's also on Infowars.

The Adminstration is bending over backwards to stop all quarantines.....this deal with Kaci is becoming abundantly clear. This stinks to high heaven.

a reply to: dianajune

I'm confused. Is the implication that she's lying about what happened? Is she lying about being thrown in an unheated tent with no proper bathroom? Is she lying about not being given proper food while being detained for what amounts to a full work day? Is she lying about not being informed while being detained?

If she's lying, then why hasn't the New Jersey governor called her out on her lies? Why haven't they contradicted what she said happened? Unless, you think New Jersey's in on it...

a reply to: kaylaluv

Chicken. Egg.

originally posted by: ~Lucidity
a reply to: kaylaluv

Chicken. Egg.

I'm not even sure what that means. Chicken. Egg. Sandwich? I'm sure she would have loved a chicken and egg sandwich instead of the crappy granola bar she got.