Brianna Cole
Mrs. Wicks
Literature and Composition, Period 5
November 10, 2014
Ebola: Are We Ready Ebola is the Human races worse nightmare; a fast and indiscriminate killer that so far we cannot stop. The latest outbreak began when a 2-year-old boy fell ill on December 6, 2013 in Guinea. () Since then the virus have spread across Southern Africa and to other countries throughout the world. As of October 24, 2014 Ebola infected a total of 8 countries including; Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Mali, Senegal, Nigeria, Spain, and The United states.() A total of 10141 people from these eight countries has been infected and of these people 4922 have died(See Chart 2 for details).() Of these 10,141 people, 4 of them were Americans. () …show more content…
Pham was part of the team that cared for Thomas Duncan after he entered the isolation ward on September 30th. Duncan was infected during a trip to West Africa and was treated once he came back to the United States While treating Duncan all of the nurses and doctors are reported to have been using suggested protocols and clothed in protective gear. Health officials have yet to discover exactly what went wrong in Pham’s case however, they do believe there was a breach in protocol. Some Critics of the hospitals handling of the case point out that any breach in protocol could be related to a lack in knowledge on the procedures. Pham had just received her critical nursing certification this August and critical-care nurses specialize in treating those with life-threatening conditions, which are not always infectious and are more likely to be cancer or accident victims. It is actually uncertain what specific isolation protocol training those caring for Duncan received if any. Critics also mention that the sheer number of invasive procedures Duncan received might also have increased the health workers risks. These procedures might have opened up health care works to virus-laden body fluids. Two of the most risky procedures include kidney dialysis in which blood is filtered out of the body for cleaning by machine and respiratory intubation in which a breathing apparatus is placed down the throat while a separate suction device removes saliva and other liquids. The danger of exposure is so great in invasive procedures that Doctors without borders has temporarily stopped giving patients potentially lifesaving intravenous fluids to reduce the risk of works infection. There have however been some positive outcomes of the mistakes made by workers treating Duncan. The CDC is keeping a close eye on teams treating Ebola