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Post by Admin on Oct 24, 2014 22:43:47 GMT
A nurse who caught Ebola while caring for a Dallas patient who died of the disease walked out of a Washington-area hospital virus-free Friday and into open arms. Nina Pham got a hug from President Barack Obama in the Oval Office at the White House. Outside the hospital where she has been since last week, she got hugs from one of the doctors who oversaw her care. White House spokesman Josh Earnest called the meeting with Obama "an opportunity for the president to thank her for her service." But the close contact between the president and the former patient also came as officials in New York tried to calm fears after a doctor was diagnosed with Ebola in that city. Pham said she felt "fortunate and blessed to be standing here today," as she left the National Institutes of Health's Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, where she had been since she arrived Oct. 16 from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. Pham thanked her health care teams in Dallas and at the NIH and singled out fellow Ebola survivor Dr. Kent Brantly, who recovered after becoming infected in Liberia, for donating plasma containing Ebola-fighting antibodies as part of her care. "Although I no longer have Ebola, I know it may be a while before I have my strength back," Pham said at a news conference. Dr. Anthony Fauci, infectious disease chief at the NIH and the doctor who hugged her, told reporters that five consecutive tests showed no virus left in her blood. Five tests is way beyond the norm, he stressed, but his team did extra testing because the NIH is a research hospital. "She is cured of Ebola, let's get that clear," Fauci said. Pham stood throughout the approximately 20-minute press conference and was joined by her mother and sister. She read from a prepared statement and took no questions, but she called her experience "very stressful and challenging for me and for my family." "I ask for my privacy and for my family's privacy to be respected as I return to Texas and try to get back to a normal life and reunite with my dog Bentley," she said, drawing laughter with the mention of her 1-year-old King Charles spaniel. Bentley has been in quarantine since Pham's diagnosis but has tested negative for the virus.
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Post by Admin on Oct 25, 2014 22:45:44 GMT
Dr. Craig Spencer tested positive for Ebola on Thursday, becoming the first Ebola patient in NYC. He recently returned from Guinea, where he worked with Doctors Without Borders, and his steps are now being traced back to his return to NYC on Oct. 17. Meanwhile, it was reported on Friday that Nina Pham, a nurse who was diagnosed in Dallas, TX, will be released from the hospital this week. News of US Ebola patients recently prompted Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg to donate $25 million to help fight Ebola. In a Facebook post, Zuckerburg noted that the epidemic is at "a critical turning point," saying he believes his grant "is the quickest way to empower the CDC." For a full breakdown on what's happening in the US and around the world, here are some frequently asked questions about Ebola, answered. Where did this start? Africa is currently experiencing a widespread outbreak of the virus. More than 4,000 people have died from Ebola, and almost 9,000 people have been diagnosed with the disease in countries including Liberia, Guinea, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. On Oct. 14, the World Health Organization warned that there could be up to 10,000 new cases per week over the next two months. What's going on with the US Ebola patients? A man in Dallas named Thomas Duncan was the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the US. A week before his diagnosis, Duncan traveled from Liberia to America, and on Sept. 28, he was admitted to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, where he was isolated and eventually tested positive for Ebola. He was under intensive care, and on Oct. 8, he passed away. Twenty-six-year-old nurse Nina Pham contracted the virus at the hospital, and she's being released. A second Dallas hospital worker was also diagnosed, and on Oct. 24, Dr. Craig Spencer became the first Ebola patient in NYC. What's being done about air travel? Everyone who travels from Liberia, Guinea, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone to the US will have their temperatures taken when they arrive. In the case of Duncan, he didn't feel ill until days after landing back in the US, so it's likely that a standard screening test wouldn't have shown Ebola. How is Ebola transmitted? Is it contagious? Ebola is only contagious if the infected person is dealing with active symptoms. The CDC states that Ebola is spread through direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected person, with infected animals, or with objects that have been contaminated, such as needles. It is not spread through the air, by water, or generally through food. That said, the virus has spread in Africa when people handled wild animals hunted for food and, in some cases, came into contact with infected bats. How is Ebola treated? There's no FDA-approved vaccine for the virus, and Ebola symptoms are treated as they come up. A patient's recovery depends on the strength of his or her immune system, but general treatment involves an IV to bring more fluids and electrolytes into the body, plus the treatment of other infections that may arise. What is the CDC doing about this? You can follow CDC Emergency on Twitter for live updates on the US case and its treatment.
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Post by Admin on Oct 27, 2014 22:40:49 GMT
The nurse who was angrily battling her enforced quarantine at a New Jersey hospital after treating Ebola patients was released today, and Gov. Chris Christie said the nurse will understand "when she has time to reflect." "I know she didn’t want to be there," Christie said at an event in Florida this morning. "No one ever wants to be in the hospital, I suspect. And, so, I understand that. But, the fact is I have a much greater, bigger responsibility to the people of the public." Kaci Hickox, who tested negative for the lethal virus after she returned to the United States from Sierra Leone, has been outspoken about being held in quarantine since her arrival at Newark International Airport Friday. She also hired a lawyer and they announced their plan to file a federal lawsuit against her mandatory 21-day quarantine. "I’m so thankful for the immense attention and support I’ve received. I just hope this nightmare of mine and the fight that I’ve undertaken is not in vain!” she wrote in a text to ABC News' Chief Health and Medical Editor Dr. Richard Besser. The New Jersey Department of Health issued a statement this morning that Hickox has been "symptom free for the last 24 hours," and that it decided to discharge her after consulting with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hickox has asked that she be taken to her home in Fort Kent, Maine and the New Jersey Health Department said she would be taken there by car, and not by public transportation. Senior officials in the Christie administration said she will be driven in a car and escorted by officials from the state and Doctors Without Borders, the agency the Hickox worked for in West Africa. "Health officials in Maine have been notified of her arrangements and will make a determination under their own laws on her treatment when she arrives," the New Jersey statement said.
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Post by Admin on Oct 29, 2014 22:56:42 GMT
Pushing to confront Ebola at its West African source, President Obama said Wednesday the United States was not immune to the disease but cautioned against discouraging American health care workers with restrictive measures that confine them upon their return from the afflicted region. “We can’t hermetically seal ourselves off,” he declared.Obama said doctors and nurses from the United States who have volunteered to fight Ebola in West Africa are American heroes who must be treated with dignity and respect. His remarks came amid debate between the federal government and several states over how returning health care workers should be monitored. The White House has pushed back against overly restrictive measures, including proposals for travel bans or isolation measures adopted by some states. “Yes, we are likely to see a possible case elsewhere outside of these countries, and that’s true whether or not we adopt a travel ban, whether or not you adopt a quarantine,” Obama said from the White House, surrounded by health care workers who have volunteered or will volunteer to serve in Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea, where the disease has killed nearly 5,000. “We have to keep in mind that if we’re discouraging our health care workers, who are prepared to make these sacrifices, from traveling to these places in need, then we’re not doing our job in terms of looking after our own public health and safety,” he added. Obama did not mention any specific case, but a nurse who treated Ebola patients in West Africa and has shown no signs of the disease was isolated in a hospital tent in New Jersey and now is abiding by a voluntary quarantine in her home state of Maine. The nurse, Kaci Hickox, said Wednesday that she planned to defy those guidelines if the state’s policy didn’t change by Thursday.
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Post by Admin on Oct 31, 2014 22:41:50 GMT
A nurse who vowed to defy Maine's voluntary quarantine for health care workers who treated Ebola patients followed through on her promise Thursday, leaving her home for an hour-long bike ride. Kaci Hickox and her boyfriend stepped out of their home Thursday morning and rode away on mountain bikes, followed by a state police cruiser. It was the second time Hickox, who is halfway into the 21-day incubation period, broke quarantine. She left her home Wednesday evening briefly to speak to reporters, even shaking a hand that was offered to her. Hickox contends there's no need for quarantine because she's showing no symptoms. She's also tested negative for the deadly disease. Declaring Ebola fears in the United States "not entirely rational," a judge rejected Maine's bid for a quarantine on a nurse who treated victims of the disease in West Africa but tested negative for it, and instead imposed limited restrictions. Nurse Kaci Hickox's challenge of the Maine quarantine became a key battleground for the dispute between officials in some U.S. states who have imposed strict quarantines on health workers returning from three Ebola-ravaged West African countries and the federal government, which opposes such measures. In Friday's order, LaVerdiere said, "the court is fully aware of the misconceptions, misinformation, bad science and bad information being spread from shore to shore in our country with respect to Ebola. "The court is fully aware that people are acting out of fear and that this fear is not entirely rational. However, whether that fear is rational or not, it is present and it is real," the judge added, saying Hickox should follow three restrictions even though she is "not infectious."
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