A Dallas nurse has become infected with the Ebola virus after treating Thomas Duncan, the Liberian patient who fell to the disease. The Dallas hospital at the center of both cases has faced criticism about improperly handling Duncan -- he was at first turned away from the hospital even after disclosing his travel history and having his temperature read at 103 degrees.
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital says its health care workers were trained in CDC Ebola protocol, but that an unknown breach caused a nurse to become infected. CDC director Dr. Thomas R. Frieden says that it’s difficult to safely care for Ebola patients -- as a result of this infection, experts are considering adopting more universal measures for Ebola treatment in the U.S. or isolating treatment to four specific hospitals.
While other Ebola cases have been directed to hospitals in Atlanta and Nebraska, the Dallas cases represents a different issue -- patients who became infected or contracted the virus in the United States instead of West Africa. How contagious is Ebola? What are the best ways to pursue treatment plans in the U.S. without endangering health care workers?
Guest:
Dr. Angela Hewlett, M.D., a physician specializing in infectious diseases and assistant medical director for the Nebraska Biocontainment Patient Care Unit at the Nebraska Medical Center. She has written a piece for the Washington Post published over the weekend of her experience treating an Ebola patient in the US.