UTA grad isolated at New Jersey hospital as part of Ebola quarantine

Your Star said:

She is a mother****ing hero. She risked her life to go over there and help people, and to do a hero's work. Calling her selfish is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard.

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Perhaps a better word that selfish, would be thoughtless. I understand why people would think she's selfless and brave, but to expose yourself to ebola, and take a chance on bringing it here, is pretty thoughtless, wrt your fellow countrymen. If I were exposed to ebola, and thought there was an outside chance that I had contracted it, I'd self-isolate. The last thing I would want on my conscience is that I may have endangered others because of my desire to go ahead with life as usual. A temporary isolation isn't exactly a huge sacrifice to make.

lizzie said:

Perhaps a better word that selfish, would be thoughtless. I understand why people would think she's selfless and brave, but to expose yourself to ebola, and take a chance on bringing it here, is pretty thoughtless, wrt your fellow countrymen. If I were exposed to ebola, and thought there was an outside chance that I had contracted it, I'd self-isolate. The last thing I would want on my conscience is that I may have endangered others because of my desire to go ahead with life as usual. A temporary isolation isn't exactly a huge sacrifice to make.

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All the things I have read on the subject states that she showed no symptoms and was not a risk to anyone; they just locked her up. Now, I can understand about being pissed off about that.

Your Star said:

All the things I have read on the subject states that she showed no symptoms and was not a risk to anyone; they just locked her up. Now, I can understand about being pissed off about that.

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I can understand it too, but then, as I said, I'd self-isolate. I wouldn't want to take the chance, until I knew absolutely for certain that I hadn't contracted it. I'd be overly cautious.

lizzie said:

I can understand it too, but then, as I said, I'd self-isolate. I wouldn't want to take the chance, until I knew absolutely for certain that I hadn't contracted it. I'd be overly cautious.

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That is fine if that is your personal choice. However, I don't believe the government should just be locking people in a tent because of people fear mongering, and a politician wanting to look "tough". There was no medical reason to detain her, therefore, she shouldn't have been detained.

Your Star said:

She is a mother****ing hero. She risked her life to go over there and help people, and to do a hero's work. Calling her selfish is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard.

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Her " heroism " doesn't justify her putting others at risk.

They just released a study where they found Ebola can survive on surfaces as long as 50 days.

Its apparent that Obama's increased airport screening doesn't work and neither does " self quarantine ".

Your Star said:

All the things I have read on the subject states that she showed no symptoms and was not a risk to anyone; they just locked her up. Now, I can understand about being pissed off about that.

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Niether did Duncan when he flew in from Liberia.

He went on to infect two nurses.

Fenton said:

Niether did Duncan when he flew in from Liberia.

He went on to infect two nurses.

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No, he had a fever and was turned away from a hospital. Also, he didn't infect anyone that wasn't with him in the hospital caring for him. Hence, he didn't infect anyone that didn't come into contact with his blood, feces, or vomit.

Ontologuy said:

I "dismiss" them, as you say, only after I've weighed both sides.

Clearly, and without question, we cannot have an infected person developing symptoms, as DR. Spencer did, roaming freely in the populace.

That potential for starting an epidemic far outweighs the inconvenience to the returning healthcare worker.

The irrational fear that people won't volunteer to intimately care for patients in West Africa because of a quarantine is simply that: irrational.

They will simply add on to their good deed doing a quarantine when they return, which they will do happily, because they truly care about not only the physical well-being of their fellow countrymen, but their psychological well-being as well.

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What's irrational about it. If you have a month to volunteer, three weeks of that month will be in quarantine, a couple days on either side traveling, and you've got just a few days in country helping others. Two months, and half is spent traveling or in quarantine. If we go out 42 days, only full time charity employees will likely find it worthwhile to make the trip to Africa, as you'd need at least 3 months from your 'real' job to make a real difference. If there's any chance a person will be needed at home, they can't go - could be 42 days till they'd be available. It would be virtually impossible for a specialist or logistical person or senior person to travel to the area and provide expertise because a job that takes a 7 days on the ground to do now takes at least 30 days, including travel, maybe 50 days, to get a week's worth of work done. Etc.

You haven't given this much thought.

The front line of Ebola work in West Africa is being performed by West Africans, not aliens.

What they truly need from us would be money for adequate facilities and protective garb.

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They need it all. They're overwhelmed on all fronts.

We're sending soldiers to enforce quarantines, and guess what -- those soldiers are returning when they're done to do a quarantine themselves before mixing with the population again. That's the right thing to do.

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That's still up in the air. Some have been quarantined, but it depends on the service and not all have announced policies yet.

The epidemic would be stopped if every healthcare worker, whether professional or not, was properly attired.

Clearly that's the lesson learned here.

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I'm not seeing that lesson. The vast majority of new cases are not healthcare workers, so that's not going to help much in Africa. And there are no outbreaks in the developed world. Doctors without Borders, according to the NYT, has sent 700 doctors to help out. About 270 are still there, and only 3 have gotten sick. I've seen nothing that indicates any healthcare worker has spread the disease in his or her home country.

Fenton said:

Her " heroism " doesn't justify her putting others at risk.

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Unless and until she runs a fever, she puts no one at risk.

They just released a study where they found Ebola can survive on surfaces as long as 50 days.

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Which is relevant for a hospital or a house where a very sick person vomited or bled on glass and it was kept at a constant 4 degrees C under controlled conditions.

Its apparent that Obama's increased airport screening doesn't work and neither does " self quarantine ".

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It's not apparent at all, since those NOT quarantined have self monitored, checked themselves into treatment and we know of no one they have infected. At least hundreds of others have returned home and gone about their business - not one person other than healthcare workers present while the patient was vomiting and diarrhea have gotten infected.