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| Second Texas healthcare worker diagnosed with Ebola virus | Second Texas healthcare worker diagnosed with Ebola virus |
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| A second Texas healthcare worker who treated Thomas Eric Duncan, the first patient in the US to be diagnosed with Ebola, has tested positive for the virus, the department of state health services said on Wednesday. | A second Texas healthcare worker who treated Thomas Eric Duncan, the first patient in the US to be diagnosed with Ebola, has tested positive for the virus, the department of state health services said on Wednesday. |
| The worker was immediately isolated after reporting a fever on Tuesday. | The worker was immediately isolated after reporting a fever on Tuesday. |
| “Health officials have interviewed the latest patient to quickly identify any contacts or potential exposures, and those people will be monitored,” the department said. | “Health officials have interviewed the latest patient to quickly identify any contacts or potential exposures, and those people will be monitored,” the department said. |
| At a press briefing on Wednesday morning, Dallas mayor Mike Rawlings said the city’s fire-rescue department has begun decontaminating common areas of the new patient’s apartment and outside the building, and has informed neighbors of the diagnosis. The new patient lives alone and has no pets, Rawlings said. | At a press briefing on Wednesday morning, Dallas mayor Mike Rawlings said the city’s fire-rescue department has begun decontaminating common areas of the new patient’s apartment and outside the building, and has informed neighbors of the diagnosis. The new patient lives alone and has no pets, Rawlings said. |
| “The only way that we are going to beat this is person by person, moment by moment, detail by detail,” Rawlings said. “We want to deal with facts, not fear ... It may get worse before it gets better, but it will get better,” he added. | “The only way that we are going to beat this is person by person, moment by moment, detail by detail,” Rawlings said. “We want to deal with facts, not fear ... It may get worse before it gets better, but it will get better,” he added. |
| A nurse, 26-year-old Nina Pham, was the first person to have been infected with Ebola in the US, and was diagnosed this weekend. She had cared for Duncan during much of his 11 days as a patient at Texas Health Presbyterian hospital in Dallas. He died in an isolation ward on 8 October. | A nurse, 26-year-old Nina Pham, was the first person to have been infected with Ebola in the US, and was diagnosed this weekend. She had cared for Duncan during much of his 11 days as a patient at Texas Health Presbyterian hospital in Dallas. He died in an isolation ward on 8 October. |
| The hospital said on Tuesday that Pham was in good condition. | The hospital said on Tuesday that Pham was in good condition. |
| The second infection calls into question the hospital’s ability to protect staff treating Ebola patients. Health officials had warned several times since Pham was diagnosed that there was a possibility more infections would follow. | |
| “It may get worse before it gets better,” Dr Daniel Varga with Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital said on Wednesday. | |
| The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it was performing confirmation testing of Texas’s preliminary examinations on the new patient. | The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it was performing confirmation testing of Texas’s preliminary examinations on the new patient. |
| “An additional healthcare worker testing positive for Ebola is a serious concern, and the CDC has already taken active steps to minimise the risk to healthcare workers and the patient,” it said. | “An additional healthcare worker testing positive for Ebola is a serious concern, and the CDC has already taken active steps to minimise the risk to healthcare workers and the patient,” it said. |
| The director of the CDC, Dr Thomas Frieden, said on Tuesday the agency was establishing a rapid-response team to help hospitals “hands on, within hours” whenever there was a confirmed case of Ebola. | The director of the CDC, Dr Thomas Frieden, said on Tuesday the agency was establishing a rapid-response team to help hospitals “hands on, within hours” whenever there was a confirmed case of Ebola. |
| Frieden conceded for the first time on Tuesday that the agency should have been more hands-on with the hospital, and sent a larger team of to help after Duncan tested positive. | |
| “I wish we had put a team like this on the ground the day the patient, the first patient, was diagnosed. That might have prevented this infection,” Frieden said, referring to Pham, at a press conference on Tuesday. | |
| “It’s scary and getting it right is really important because the stakes are so high,” he added. | |
| Frieden said Tuesday that investigators have yet to identify the apparent breach in protocol that led to Pham’s contracting the virus.Experts say healthcare workers are at the highest risk of infection when they remove the protective gear after leaving the quarantine room. If the garments aren’t taken off in a careful and deliberate fashion, there is a risk the contaminants on the gear could transfer to the worker’s skin. | Frieden said Tuesday that investigators have yet to identify the apparent breach in protocol that led to Pham’s contracting the virus.Experts say healthcare workers are at the highest risk of infection when they remove the protective gear after leaving the quarantine room. If the garments aren’t taken off in a careful and deliberate fashion, there is a risk the contaminants on the gear could transfer to the worker’s skin. |
| On Tuesday, the nation’s largest nurses union, National Nurses United, released a scathing statement, which it said was written by Texas Health Presbyterian nurses, accusing the hospital of being unprepared to treat Duncan. The statement described “confusion and frequently changing policies and protocols” and said the hospital did not provide the proper protective gear and repeatedly changed its protocols for his treatment. | On Tuesday, the nation’s largest nurses union, National Nurses United, released a scathing statement, which it said was written by Texas Health Presbyterian nurses, accusing the hospital of being unprepared to treat Duncan. The statement described “confusion and frequently changing policies and protocols” and said the hospital did not provide the proper protective gear and repeatedly changed its protocols for his treatment. |
| Frieden has come under pressure over the response to Ebola, but White House spokesman Josh Earnest said President Obama was confident of Frieden’s ability to lead the public health effort. | Frieden has come under pressure over the response to Ebola, but White House spokesman Josh Earnest said President Obama was confident of Frieden’s ability to lead the public health effort. |
| There are more than 120 individuals who are being monitored or are self-monitoring for symptoms of the disease in the US. | |
| Among them are 48 people who had or may have had direct contact with Duncan before he was admitted in isolation on 28 September. The group has nearly reached the end of the disease’s 21-day incubation period, which is a positive sign. The majority of people exposed to the disease develop symptoms after 8 to 10 days. Frieden said on Tuesday it would be “unusual” for these contact, all of whom are asymptomatic, to develop Ebola at this point. | Among them are 48 people who had or may have had direct contact with Duncan before he was admitted in isolation on 28 September. The group has nearly reached the end of the disease’s 21-day incubation period, which is a positive sign. The majority of people exposed to the disease develop symptoms after 8 to 10 days. Frieden said on Tuesday it would be “unusual” for these contact, all of whom are asymptomatic, to develop Ebola at this point. |
| At least 4,447 people have died in west Africa in the worst ever outbreak of the virus, which can cause fever, bleeding, vomiting and diarrhoea, and spreads through contact with body fluids, but cases in the US and Europe have been limited so far. | At least 4,447 people have died in west Africa in the worst ever outbreak of the virus, which can cause fever, bleeding, vomiting and diarrhoea, and spreads through contact with body fluids, but cases in the US and Europe have been limited so far. |
| Obama was due to hold a video conference on Wednesday with British, French, German and Italian leaders to discuss Ebola and other international issues, the White House said. | Obama was due to hold a video conference on Wednesday with British, French, German and Italian leaders to discuss Ebola and other international issues, the White House said. |
| Prospects for a quick end to the contagion fell as the World Health Organisation predicted that the three worst-hit countries in west Africa – Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea – could produce as many as 10,000 new cases a week by early December. | Prospects for a quick end to the contagion fell as the World Health Organisation predicted that the three worst-hit countries in west Africa – Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea – could produce as many as 10,000 new cases a week by early December. |