Trends-in-Medicine is offering updates on Ebola, which recently has shown up inside the United States. We don’t normally cover this type of story on Policy and Medicine, but found Lynne Peterson’s articles to provide important information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CDC itself is providing daily updates as well, and we have offered some additional coverage of the latest news about Ebola’s spread into the United States.
On October 2, the CDC confirmed that the first case of this strain of Ebola outside of Africa has been diagnosed, and that patient is in Dallas, Texas. The New York Times provides a detailed account of what health officials are doing to contain the virus here.
Along with quarantine, another pertinent issue is the removal and disposal of potentially infected materials. Reuters explores that issue here.
On October 3, two Washington D.C. area hospitals—Howard University and Shady Grove Adventist—both admitted a patient with Ebola-like symptoms and travel histories associated with the virus. These cases have not been confirmed, noted the Washington Post. “In an abundance of caution, we have activated the appropriate infection control protocols, including isolating the patient,” a spokeswoman for Howard stated. “Our medical team continues to evaluate and monitor progress in close collaboration with the CDC and the Department of Health.”
CNN also reports that an NBC camera-man has just been diagnosed with Ebola as well.
In speaking specifically about the Texas situation in a teleconference Friday, CDC director Thomas Frieden, MD, insisted the CDC is “stopping it in its tracks in this country.” Dr. Frieden stated that the patient in Texas is currently “critically ill” in intensive care at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas and has not been given any experimental therapy, at least so far. Dr. Frieden was emphatic that this is not the start of an American epidemic, “I have no doubt that we will control this…case of Ebola, so that it does not spread widely in this country. It is possible someone who had contact with this individual…could develop Ebola in the coming weeks, but there is no doubt in my mind that we will stop it here.”
Flight Restrictions?
Politico reports that several politicians have called on the Obama administration to impose travel restrictions on flights to the U.S. from countries with Ebola outbreaks. Travelers have also asked for it.
Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) sent a letter to Dr. Frieden, asking the CDC to recommend that the president invoke his authority to impose certain travel restrictions.
Friday evening, the White house has reiterated that they will not inact a travel ban.
Friday morning, Dr. Frieden argued that a travel ban likely would “backfire” and make it harder for health officials to fully root out the virus. “Even if we tried to close the border, it wouldn’t work,” the director said on MSNBC. “People have a right to return. People transiting through could come in. And it would backfire, because by isolating these countries, it’ll make it harder to help them, it will spread more there and we’d be more likely to be exposed here.”
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal stated: “We should stop accepting flights from countries that are Ebola stricken.” He argued that “President Obama said it was ‘unlikely’ that Ebola would reach the U.S. Well, it has, and we need to protect our people,” he said. “But the Obama administration keeps saying they won’t shut down flights. They instead say we should listen to ‘the experts.’ In fact, they said it would be counterproductive to stop these flights. That statement defies logic. How exactly would stopping the entry of people potentially carrying the Ebola virus be counterproductive? This seems to be an obvious step to protect public health in the United States.”
New Drugs Needed
The Wall Street Journal was critical of how the government has handled drug development so far, and noted that “classic containment methods are deficient for an epidemic at this scale and the world may soon need a new therapy or vaccine. So of course Washington has spent the year excoriating the pharmaceutical industry for supposedly excessive drug prices for innovations like the Hepatitis C cure Sovaldi.”
Medical Progress
Meet the Drug Companies Fighting Ebola – Market Watch looks at the companies, mostly small and losing money, who are fighting Ebola. The big name is GlaxoSmithKline, who is working with the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease unit to develop an Ebola vaccine. Interestingly, Fujifilm is also testing an anti-influenza drug on an Ebola patient.