Texas Wrapping Up Monitoring Linked to Ebola Death
John Bacon, USA TODAY 3:07 p.m. EST
November 6, 2014
Vinson appeared on the "Today" show to talk about what really happened in the days before she was diagnosed with Ebola. USA TODAY medical reporter Liz Szabo weighed in on the interview
The last person being monitored in connection with the three diagnosed Ebola cases in Texas will be cleared from monitoring Friday after reaching the end of the 21-day maximum incubation period for the disease, the state Department of Health Services said Thursday.
The 177 health care workers, household and community members who had contact with at least one of the patients, their specimens or medical waste. The last person being monitored twice daily is a hospital worker who handled medical waste Oct. 17, the department said.
"We're happy to reach this milestone, but our guard stays up," David Lakey, the state's health commissioner, said in a statement. "We reached this point through teamwork and meticulous monitoring, and we'll continue to be vigilant to protect Texas from Ebola."
The department and the hospital that treated the patients, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, came under severe scrutiny during the crisis.
In recent months, Ebola has killed more than 5,000 people in the West African nations of Liberia, Guinea and Sierre Leone. Thomas Eric Duncan, who had recently been to Liberia, went to the hospital with a fever in September but was sent home. He returned days later when symptoms worsened and was diagnosed with the killer virus Sept. 30. He died at the hospital Oct. 8.
Four days later a nurse who treated him tested positive for the disease, and on Oct. 15 another nurse also tested positive. Both have recovered.
In an interview with NBC's Today show on Thursday, nurse Amber Vinson, who was released from an Atlanta hospital Oct. 28, said she had very little training for treatment of Ebola in advance of treating Duncan.
"The first time that I put on the protective equipment, I was heading in to take care of the patient," she said. "We did not have excessive training where we could put on and take off the protective equipment, where we could get to a level of being comfortable with it. I didn't have that."
The state Health Department and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention worked together on monitoring. The Health Department said it had recently cleared the people who were being monitored because they were passengers on a flight Vinson took before she was diagnosed.
Health officials continue to monitor all travelers who come into Texas from countries with widespread Ebola outbreaks. The CDC has identified about 50 people who have returned to Texas from those areas, the Health Department said. One of those travelers, a Central Texas nurse who cared for Ebola patients in Sierra Leone, is considered to be at "some risk" of exposure to Ebola and has agreed to stay home until she reaches the 21-day mark. The rest are considered to be "low risk" contacts and are being monitored for symptoms.
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| Nurse Amber Vinson of Dallas, Texas. |
November 6, 2014
Vinson appeared on the "Today" show to talk about what really happened in the days before she was diagnosed with Ebola. USA TODAY medical reporter Liz Szabo weighed in on the interview
The last person being monitored in connection with the three diagnosed Ebola cases in Texas will be cleared from monitoring Friday after reaching the end of the 21-day maximum incubation period for the disease, the state Department of Health Services said Thursday.
The 177 health care workers, household and community members who had contact with at least one of the patients, their specimens or medical waste. The last person being monitored twice daily is a hospital worker who handled medical waste Oct. 17, the department said.
"We're happy to reach this milestone, but our guard stays up," David Lakey, the state's health commissioner, said in a statement. "We reached this point through teamwork and meticulous monitoring, and we'll continue to be vigilant to protect Texas from Ebola."
The department and the hospital that treated the patients, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, came under severe scrutiny during the crisis.
In recent months, Ebola has killed more than 5,000 people in the West African nations of Liberia, Guinea and Sierre Leone. Thomas Eric Duncan, who had recently been to Liberia, went to the hospital with a fever in September but was sent home. He returned days later when symptoms worsened and was diagnosed with the killer virus Sept. 30. He died at the hospital Oct. 8.
Four days later a nurse who treated him tested positive for the disease, and on Oct. 15 another nurse also tested positive. Both have recovered.
In an interview with NBC's Today show on Thursday, nurse Amber Vinson, who was released from an Atlanta hospital Oct. 28, said she had very little training for treatment of Ebola in advance of treating Duncan.
"The first time that I put on the protective equipment, I was heading in to take care of the patient," she said. "We did not have excessive training where we could put on and take off the protective equipment, where we could get to a level of being comfortable with it. I didn't have that."
The state Health Department and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention worked together on monitoring. The Health Department said it had recently cleared the people who were being monitored because they were passengers on a flight Vinson took before she was diagnosed.
Health officials continue to monitor all travelers who come into Texas from countries with widespread Ebola outbreaks. The CDC has identified about 50 people who have returned to Texas from those areas, the Health Department said. One of those travelers, a Central Texas nurse who cared for Ebola patients in Sierra Leone, is considered to be at "some risk" of exposure to Ebola and has agreed to stay home until she reaches the 21-day mark. The rest are considered to be "low risk" contacts and are being monitored for symptoms.
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