Thursday, October 16, 2014

Depending on who one talks to there are either a total of nine or ten top tier infection control beds in the USA.

Currently that is all that is necessary, but, if there was a need for more I am confident the USA could gear up for it. 

The first thing to remember is these bio-containment units existed before Ebola came to the USA. One might want to ask why they existed in the first place and how long ago.

...The NIH released a statement, (click here) saying, "The NIH Clinical Center's Special Clinical Studies Unit is specifically designed to provide high-level isolation capabilities and is staffed by infectious diseases and critical care specialists. The unit staff is trained in strict infection control practices optimized to prevent spread of potentially transmissible agents such as Ebola. No additional details about the patient are being shared at this time. NIH is taking every precaution to ensure the safety of NIH patients, staff, and the public."...

This is going to sound strange, but, remember when the astronauts came back from space? Right? They were bio-contained for a short while before returning to circulation among others. Bio-containment units are built to contain any dangerous microbs from circulation among human beings.

I'll say this much, the health care workers need to be healthy in case others aren't. If your health care workers go down, there is less capacity to be cared for. 

Also remember there are survivors of Ebola in West Africa. West Africa does not have bio-containment units, best to my knowledge. 

Also remember when SARS struck China it was very successful in limiting the spread of that disease. 

Medical professionals are just that good, but, they have to have the equipment, even freelancing with duct tape, to protect themselves from infection.

Equipment is the need and one of the failures in West Africa and the reason for it spreading so quickly is because the population is different than that of the USA and the governments are locked in political turmoil while supplies languish in airport cargo areas or worse. I would not doubt the equipment was sold in an underground market even though one has to understand how to use it. The equipment doesn't come with instructions.

In the USA nearly every hospital have negative pressure rooms. Where to do the microbs go? Good question. Very good question.

I was looking for a picture of something called a "Micron-machine."......Here it is.


Mobile Negative Pressure Isolation Rooms TB Tuberculosis (click here)

There is an average of one or two in every major trauma center. That is the usual requirement for the population that utilize any major trauma center. These little guys sort of remind me of R2D2 and they suck in air  to create negative pressure while purifying the air of TB microbs.


I don't know if they can be used for Ebola, but, I am sure there are plenty of questions being asked right now. I would feel better though if the USA actually had a Surgeon General.

If these negative pressure machines can't filter for Ebola, which I don't know why they couldn't, there are probably changes that can be made to them to 'make it so.'

The point is the USA has a lot of stuff, some probably in the basement of the NIH that can be used in case of a wider outbreak. Don't sell the country short, however, the USA does need leadership and not simply Congressmen/women to lazy to tell their constituents "We are doing everything that can be done and instituting a travel ban is not indicated as the best path for this problem."

It just amazed me to hear Republican lawmakers kiss the ass of their constituency and then pass it along as legitimate questions to those at the CDC and otherwise. The Republicans scare me more than usual. While they are always willing to jump into war no matter the reason, to realize they pander that intently to constituents that have the IQ of a fly is WORSE than Ebola.

I have said over and over, DO NOT POLITICIZE THIS VIRUS. I mean it. And if every Republican is going to be as much as an ass as I witnessed today they need to be thrown out on their butts while President Obama writes Executive Orders. Republicans are dangerous because they DO NOT ACCEPT expertise. They know what is best and the hell with the rest of the world. Well, that won't wash this time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To Fly or Not To Fly should not be answered by a potential patient of Ebola.

The CDC should have control of listing and delisting people possibly infected by Ebola.

"CDC No Fly List" 

The list should be available to the airlines no different than the current No Fly List.

It should be at least a 21 day quarantine list. That is what the CDC No Fly List would be. It automatically drops a person's name after 21 days. There is nothing saying a person's name would not reappear if they have been determined to have a second or third, etc. exposure.

The idea is to create a 21 day quarantine for anyone that has been exposed and is being monitored for fever.

There is the possibility a person's name may appear more than once on the list as the 21 days timeline might expire for a single exposure but they were exposed more than once. So, the last exposure would dictate the date a person's name would fall off the list.

Just because a person's name might appear more than once or a second or third time really is not definitive to infection, simply occurrences of exposure.