Doctors, nurses in Liberia fleeing Ebola hospitals
A study conducted by the
CDC in Liberia has found that ignorance and incompetence, plus unalloyed fear
is contributing to the epidemic in Liberia.
A new and remarkably candid on-the-ground audit from the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention of the Ebola crisis in Liberia said that
doctors and nurses have fled hospitals in the infection zone and that obstacles
to killing the virus remain.
The analysis of four remote
Liberian counties conducted by local and
CDC officials that were Ebola-free in August revealed that massive amounts of
aid are still needed in the areas to fight the virus, which can be spread
as simply as by burying a dead victim.
While the CDC said locals are getting a handle on the crisis, it
warned, “obstacles to preventing spread of Ebola remain, and personal
protective equipment, sufficient personnel for effective contact tracing and
case management, efficient patient transport and regional diagnostic laboratory
capabilities are urgently needed.”
In
other words, they've got nothing and need everything. Now imagine a million
cases in West Africa and you have a good idea of the potential for an
unprecedented humanitarian disaster.
The review of the southeastern Liberian counties in August found
utter chaos and a full breakdown in the medical system, which has contributed
to the spread of Ebola. It also found that locals didn’t know how to identify
Ebola, even though the virus was dominating other areas of the country.“No
Ebola surveillance systems were in place,” the doctors found in the report issued
Tuesday.
And the lack of medical staff seemed to surprise the report
authors. “Before the epidemic, six physicians served all four counties. At the
time of the evaluation, only three physicians remained; the others had left
Liberia because of the epidemic. In two of four hospitals assessed, nursing
staff members were not coming to work or had abandoned facilities; in another
hospital, health care providers had not been paid for three months but were
still providing basic care,” said the analysis.
Once locals were explained about the symptoms of Ebola, they
realized that the virus had already hit.
“After basic training on case definitions and surveillance was
provided to local officials, River Gee County health officials reviewed recent
deaths and identified a patient with suspected Ebola. On Aug. 3, a pregnant
woman (patient 1) died during a spontaneous abortion after leaving Monrovia
where she had contact with an infected person at a funeral; she was buried by
the community in the week after her death.
The
number of Ebola cases is still under 7,000 and a massive effort by the West
could still contain the virus. But that massive effort is not forthcoming which
is why the WHO is warning of an "exponential" increase in Ebola cases in the next few months. The
administration is correct; it is easier to stop the virus in Africa before it
has a chance to spread beyond the continent. But our relatively meager response
to the crisis has not inspired the rest of the west to contribute much of
anything at all to the effort.
This
is why the World Health Organization believes there could be more than a
million Ebola cases by January.
A
study conducted by the CDC in Liberia has found that ignorance and
incompetence, plus unalloyed fear is contributing to the epidemic in Liberia.
A new and remarkably candid on-the-ground audit from the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention of the Ebola crisis in Liberia said that
doctors and nurses have fled hospitals in the infection zone and that obstacles
to killing the virus remain.
The analysis of four remote
Liberian counties conducted by local and
CDC officials that were Ebola-free in August revealed that massive amounts of
aid are still needed in the areas to fight the virus, which can be spread
as simply as by burying a dead victim.
While the CDC said locals are getting a handle on the crisis, it
warned, “obstacles to preventing spread of Ebola remain, and personal
protective equipment, sufficient personnel for effective contact tracing and
case management, efficient patient transport and regional diagnostic laboratory
capabilities are urgently needed.”
In
other words, they've got nothing and need everything. Now imagine a million
cases in West Africa and you have a good idea of the potential for an
unprecedented humanitarian disaster.
The review of the southeastern Liberian counties in August found
utter chaos and a full breakdown in the medical system, which has contributed
to the spread of Ebola. It also found that locals didn’t know how to identify
Ebola, even though the virus was dominating other areas of the country.“No
Ebola surveillance systems were in place,” the doctors found in the report
issued Tuesday.
And the lack of medical staff seemed to surprise the report
authors. “Before the epidemic, six physicians served all four counties. At the
time of the evaluation, only three physicians remained; the others had left
Liberia because of the epidemic. In two of four hospitals assessed, nursing
staff members were not coming to work or had abandoned facilities; in another
hospital, health care providers had not been paid for three months but were
still providing basic care,” said the analysis.
Once locals were explained about the symptoms of Ebola, they realized
that the virus had already hit.
“After basic training on case definitions and surveillance was
provided to local officials, River Gee County health officials reviewed recent
deaths and identified a patient with suspected Ebola. On Aug. 3, a pregnant
woman (patient 1) died during a spontaneous abortion after leaving Monrovia
where she had contact with an infected person at a funeral; she was buried by
the community in the week after her death.
The number of Ebola
cases is still under 7,000 and a massive effort by the West could still contain
the virus. But that massive effort is not forthcoming which is why the WHO is
warning of an "exponential" increase in Ebola cases in the next few months. The
administration is correct; it is easier to stop the virus in Africa before it
has a chance to spread beyond the continent. But our relatively meager response
to the crisis has not inspired the rest of the west to contribute much of
anything at all to the effort.
Poster’s comments:
1) I don’t know what to believe these
days.
2) I don’t trust the USA government to be
honest about Ebola these days, be it good news or bad news.
3)
I don’t wish to contribute to any kind of panic. A panic can be
worse than a pandemic in its effects on we citizens.
4)
I am preparing as best I can for any kind of pandemic, just in
case.
5)
Ebola is scary and sparks my imagination in the worse sort of way.
6)
Whether you have a person ill from a pandemic or otherwise, do
keep them as hydrated and warm as best you can. If you think the person is also
ill from a pandemic cause, then also protect yourself as best you can. Better
one very ill person than two.
7)
If an ill person should die from what you think is pandemic
causes, still protect yourself as best you can. Don’t let up. Again, better one
dead person than two. Think of others.
And don’t be a burden to others if you can avoid that.
8)
Practice preventive medicine all the time. Corrective medicine is
often too late to use as an effective method. Keep yourself and your Family and Friends as
clean as you can (within reason since we all still have our work to accomplish).
Practice the routines for hand washing, and sneezing and coughing, too (like
sneeze into your sleeve or Kleenex). Don’t spit indiscriminately.
9)
Segregate the ill as your judgment and experience suggests.
10) “Home” is a good place to be.
11) Always seek medical help if you can.
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