Any news on Dr. Spencer?

The only thing we have to fear is Ebola spreading to other third world nations. Then it will be unstoppable.

Best way to prevent this. Send doctors and nurses to West Africa and treat them like the heroes they are. They are like soldiers defending America except more courageous and more compassionate and far less destructive.

No one has gotten infected by a returning health care worker. It's pretty tough to catch Ebola.

I still look at it this way:

Sure Ebola is most contagious when people are at their most ill which is why health care workers are most vulnerable. This is maybe why they should think about isolating themselves as a last discharge of duty when they return, just to be sure they aren't sick themselves. Sure in the early stages the odds they pass it on are low, but they aren't non-existent. And it isn't like this is something that almost everyone who gets it will recover from. This is something that people need round the clock, specialized care to have the best chance of surviving.

So it's only wise to ask those who are exposed to keep themselves isolated until we know if they're sick or not. We only have so many hospital wards that can handle both the pathogen and the level of care required to maximize survival chances. We only have so many health care workers. The more cases of this we have, the more strain is placed on the system.

Right now it seems like a tiny amount and a lot of unjustified caution, but does anyone know where the tipping point is? Do we want to reach it or even get close? Why continue to pretend that it doesn't exist and we are immune to it?

Yes, anyone who volunteers to go serve desperately ill people is a hero, but that heroism comes with responsibility and part of that responsibility is to make sure you don't bring that illness home with you, and if you do, to do everything in your power to make sure you aren't putting others at risk. If that wasn't made clear as part of their training and Hippocractic Oath, then our health care schooling is doing us all a disservice.

a reply to: ketsuko

And a meteor could fall directly on your head while you are walking around outside. It is theoretically possible, but the odds are so much against it, that it makes no sense to stay inside as an "abundance of caution". Telling someone to imprison themselves because of an infinitesimal chance of spreading a disease while not even confirmed to be contagious is fear gone mad. Now, I'm hearing that people want these healthy HCWs to isolate themselves for even longer than 3 weeks. Before you know it, they will want them to isolate for a year - just to be safe. Craziness.

Volunteers go over there for a month at at time, partly because they have other commitments back home, and partly because it's a very very tough job over there. You can only take so much before you are totally drained - physically AND emotionally - and thus more likely to make mistakes. When you come back, you need to have some normalcy in your life - go to a movie, eat out, hang out with friends. If a volunteer goes over there several times in a year, and has to face isolation each time they come back --- well, they'll just stop going. That is something we should be very very afraid of.

a reply to: kaylaluv

...and we're also getting mixed messages from the same scientific community that you can still be contagious without symptoms.

Ebola Victims Without Symptoms Can Still be Contagious

These same scientists who are working with the Ebola virus still don't know everything about this virus! Scientists don't know if and when this virus will mutate. To err on the side of caution is best when an outbreak of this virus could cause a major pandemic and the lives of many.

The idea that these health care workers are being treated as if they're in prison is ridiculous. They have 21 days of R&R. I know a lot of people who would love to get a break like that from their job.

Both you and Ketsuko make excellent points. The health care workers need to make sure they don't bring it home and they need to return to a normal life after such a harrowing experience. We need to put our heads together and address both critical situations. Maybe a halfway house somewhere with Palm trees and drinks with little umbrellas in them. At the government's expense of course. a reply to: kaylaluv

R&R isn't being confined. It's resting and relaxing. If I'm told I can't go out of my house I'll be agitated not relaxed. It means I can't go out to dinner so I have to cook all my meals and clean up the kitchen afterwards. That's not rest, That's work. This is really a loose, loose situation sadly.

a reply to: WeRpeons

Did anyone get around to addressing the OP as to the condition of Dr. Spencer? These Ebola threads tend towards devolution.
Too much emotion.

a reply to: AutumnWitch657

Yes. Page 2 iirc. He's a fighter

Or somewhere. Can't remember

Stable Condition

Condition Improves

Very short statements.

a reply to: ~Lucidity

Thank you! It's good to know he's improving.

Good. Thanks. I jump around in a thread sometimes so I missed it. How old is he does any source say? I'm feeling weak right now and don't feel like researching. . I donated plasma this afternoon and it always leaves me feeling a bit weak and tired. a reply to: nukedog

Article says he's receiving plasma therapies that were used at Emory in Atlanta. He is responding and his condition has been upgraded.

The article also reports that Nina Pham has been reunited with her dog Bentley.

Good thing it wasn't a cocker SPAINel.....

ba da da da.....

He's gone home.

Glad he's okay.