Public health officials in Dallas, TX suspect a second potential Ebola patient, closely related to the index patient. They are waiting for test results before confirming. Officials say between 12 to 18 people came in contact with the original patient, including five children.
Public health officials, at a press conference today at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, confirmed that five school aged children came in contact with the index patient over the weekend. The children attended school after the exposure, but were asymptomatic. The virus can only be transferred when the patient is symptomatic. They are all now home and likely not returning to school for 21 days.
Our infectious disease expert, Jim Wilson, MD, Vice President of Ascel Bio, noted in his report, “Dallas’ medical and public health community are about to experience some difficult lessons in the days ahead. We are fortunate we are not in the peak of RSV or influenza season. Let us hope the experience of Dallas provides ample evidence to those who resist proper preparedness that Ebola is a serious risk to any medical facility and community caught by surprise.”
Wilson suggested the following precautions for health care workers.
Travel histories are important but not fool proof. Wilson noted there have been instances where individuals have traveled from a hot zone to a safe area and not disclosed possible exposure to contacts or medical personnel. He goes on to say, “trust but verify, any suspicion of an arrival from Guinea, Sierra Leone, or Liberia should be treated as a suspect case until proven otherwise.”
Properly execute screening protocols. Since it’s possible that Ebola could appear anywhere due to travel, all medical personnel should work with local health officials to enact screening protocols appropriate to their practices, clinics or hospitals. For more see our post on medical preparedness.
Did Dallas Miss It?
“There are strong indications that the healthcare provider community in Dallas failed to properly execute the screening protocol,” wrote Wilson. “It is clear there were several lost opportunities to isolate this patient during his initial presentation to the hospital. This failure may well result in a limited outbreak in Dallas — an unnecessary outcome had proper preparedness and response been executed.”
The original Dallas patient sought treatment on September 26th, the local hospital gave him a prescription for antibiotics and released him. On September 29th he was transported back to the hospital when his symptoms worsened. The CDC is aggressively tracking down possible contacts and testing for possible Ebola exposure. We will keep you updated as we learn more. A representative of the hospital said the original patient had been symptomatic for 4 or 5 days before being tested for the virus.
Confusion with the Flu
With flu season just beginning early symptoms of Ebola can present as the flu. “The sole distinction early on is travel,” said Wilson. “A travel history for Ebola affected countries such as Guinea, Liberia and Sierre Leone is required to initiate a suspicion for Ebola.”
We are actively discussing this inside the Sermo community. If you’re an MD or DO please join us on our Infectious Disease Hub.
Read more information about Ebola here.
Thanks for accurate reporting without sensationalization.