Dallas' Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital on Thursday defended the quality of care it provided a Liberian man who died of Ebola, saying treatment was not affected by the man's nationality or lack of health insurance.
The hospital released a written statement in response to questions raised around the world about the treatment Thomas Eric Duncan, 42, received before becoming the first U.S. Ebola fatality, saying it wanted "to correct some misconceptions.''
"Our care team provided Mr. Duncan with the same high level of attention and care that would be given any patient, regardless of nationality or ability to pay for care,'' the hospital said in a statement from its director of public relations, Wendell Watson.
"In this case, that included a four-hour evaluation and numerous tests,'' he said. "We have a long history of treating a multicultural community in this area.''
Duncan initially sought treatment Sept. 25, five days after arriving from Africa, and was sent home with antibiotics, despite informing health workers he came from West Africa where the virus has created an epidemic. He returned three days later in an ambulance and was diagnosed with the deadly infection. He died Wednesday.
The hospital also said:
• Duncan requested that his care team "not perform chest compressions, defibrillation or cardioversion to prolong his life.''
• He was treated "with the most appropriate and available medical interventions, including the investigative antiviral drug brincidofovir.'' Duncan was the first Ebola patient to receive the drug, and it was administered following consultations with federal health officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Federal Drug Administration.
• Another potential Ebola medicine, ZMapp, was not administered because it was not available.
•Duncan did not receive the same type of serum transfusion as an American patient being treated in Nebraska because his blood type was not compatible with donors.
•An entire 24-bed intensive care unit was devoted to Duncan's care by a team of more than 50 people. After his death the treatment area was sealed and is being "aggressively decontaminated."
Meantime, state health officials said a Texas sheriff's deputy who was transported to the Dallas hospital Wednesday as a possible Ebola patient does not have the deadly virus, and hospital officials say he was discharged. Conclusive tests Thursday ruled out Ebola for Dallas County Sgt. Michael Monnig, state Health Commissioner David Lakey said.
Monnig, who had accompanied health officials into Duncan's apartment, this week complained of stomach pains. Lakey said Monnig was feeling better.
Duncan had already been hospitalized when Monnig entered the apartment. All known cases of Ebola have occurred through direct contact with blood or other bodily fluids or exposure to contaminated objects, such as needles, Lakey said.
Ebola is not contagious until symptoms appear, which can occur two to 21 days after exposure. Other early symptoms include headache, abdominal pain and overall weakness.
Also Thursday, Britain announced that passengers from West Africa arriving at Heathrow and Gatwick airports and Eurostar train terminals will faced "enhanced" screening for signs of the Ebola virus.
The decision comes a day after U.S. officials announced plans to screen travelers arriving at five U.S. airports that handle almost all passengers arriving from Ebola-besieged nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Canada announced a similar plan at six of its airports.
The virus has killed more than 3,800 people in West Africa, including more than 230 health workers, the World Heath Organization estimates. NBC News reported that the first trial of an Ebola vaccine in Africa has started with the vaccination of three health care workers in Mali. The network said the vaccine was developed by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, and that trials are also underway at NIH outside Washington, D.C., and in Britain.
Speaking to a World Bank meeting in Washington, the presidents of all three Ebola-stricken nations sought financial and medical aid to stop the fast-growing tragedy.
"Our people are dying," said Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma, speaking by video from his capital, Freetown.
He described devastating effects of "this evil virus" that is killing valued medical professionals, overwhelming this nation's health care system and leaving behind thousands of orphans.
A contingent of about 100 Marines were sent to Liberia on Thursday as U.S. health officials continued to press their case that the best way to keep the deadly virus from sweeping across the U.S. is to stop the outbreak in Africa. The Marines will support the "whole-of-government" U.S. effort to contain Ebola, said U.S. Army Capt. Carter Langston, a military spokesman.
The whole-of-government approach — including such efforts as U.S. troops and medical personnel on the ground in Africa, tighter security at select U.S. airports and an alert medical community across the U.S. — has been stressed by U.S. officials.
"As long as Ebola continues to spread in Africa, we can't make the risk zero here," said Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
About 350 U.S. military personnel are now in Liberia, but the total force could reach 4,000 troops in the effort to build medical centers in the Ebola-riddled nation of 4 million people. Most troops deploying to Liberia will be soldiers from Fort Campbell, Ky., and Fort Hood, Texas, the Pentagon said. In addition, at least 700 combat engineers from across the Army will be deploy.
Pentagon officials emphasize that troops will not provide medical care to, or have direct contact with, individuals infected with Ebola. The U.S. military mission is to support civilian health care efforts through construction of facilities, providing logistics support and training locals in prevention methods.
More than 8,000 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have been infected with Ebola, according to the World Health Organization, which notes that this figure underestimates the true number of cases.
"It's going to be a long hard fight, but we maintain that we can contain the outbreak in West Africa," Frieden said. "If we can't do that, then it's a different situation because it could spread to other parts of Africa and beyond."
Contributing: Rick Jervis and Liz Szabo; Andrew Tilghman, Marine Corps Times; Associated Press
Source: http://www.usatoday.com/
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