Ebola doctor dies after he tests negative
The Washington Post reports that Doctor Martin Salia has died from the Ebola virus, just a few weeks after he tested negative for the disease;
When Martin Salia’s Ebola test came back negative, his friends and colleagues threw their arms around him. They shook his hand. They patted him on the back. They removed their protective gear and cried.
But when his symptoms remained nearly a week later, Salia took another test, on Nov. 10. This one came back positive, sending the Sierra Leonean doctor with ties to Maryland on a desperate, belated quest for treatment and forcing the colleagues who had embraced him into quarantine.
“We were celebrating. If the test says you are Ebola-free, we assume you are Ebola-free,” said Komba Songu M’Briwa, who cared for Salia at the Hastings Ebola Treatment Center in Freetown. “Then everything fell apart.”
So they flew him to Nebraska where he died yesterday;
“Dr. Salia was extremely critical when he arrived here, and unfortunately, despite out best efforts, we weren’t able to save him,” said Dr. Phil Smith, medical director of the biocontainment unit.
Salia arrived Saturday to be treated at the Omaha hospital, where two other Ebola patients have been successfully treated.
We’ve been scolded by the healthcare industry because we’re panicking about the spread of this disease, but, you know, when it’s the healthcare industry that is flying around the world taking the disease with them, like luggage, I think we have the right to panic. It’s almost as if the US government wants to create a crisis here. It also seems that the healthcare professionals don’t know what they’re doing in regards to the virus.
Category: It's science!, WTF?
The guy had both feet on a banana peel beside a grave when he got here. I found it interesting that those who hugged him were immediately quarantined.
Gee . . . those who actually, you know, have experience in managing Ebola quarantine people after possible exposure.
Who’d a thunk it?
FWIW: apparently the current Ebola tests aren’t effective for the first 3 days or so after infection – or maybe longer. Remember all that “test them on arrival and let them go if they’re negative” talk we heard? Um, well maybe that’s not exactly such a good solution, either.
Quarantine exists for a reason. It freaking works.
“Quarantine exists for a reason. It freaking works.”
Word.
But… but, Barry keeps telling me that everything is groovy and to just go on with my life, citizen.
So basically, we’re still at the “wait for the fever and abdominal pain” stage of detection. Lovely.
Worse than that, Pinto Nag. If I’m reading this correct, ever for the first 2-3 days of symptoms, the blood test may return a false negative. It apparently did in the late doctor’s case.
There might just be one silver lining in this horrific cloud – this may work against the civil lawsuits in Dallas against the hospital there for failing to properly use their crystal ball in diagnosing the guy there until too late to save him.
Does this info re:Ebola tests mean that the TSA temp scans are less than 100% effective?
There you go again, Hondo, confusing the argument with logic!
A lot of the Dr’s that worked in Doctor’s Without Borders in that area have died from Obola.
Including many that had the state of the art equipment to deal with that level of quarantine.
This does not have a happy outcome from what I can see, especially when you realize exactly how inept our government is in dealing with this level of a threat.
I would be extremely interested in seeing our government be adept in their response at ANY level of threat. I’m 51 years old, and I have yet to think, “Hell, yeah!!” at ANY government response to a threat. If you can think of any, feel free to refresh my memory.
The atom bombs dropped at Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the last examples I can think of that fit your description of an appropriate response.
MacArthur’s solution to Chinese interference in the Korean War would have qualified, if only Truman hadn’t shot it down.
Y’know what? I had planned on flying home at Christmas.
I think I’ll just pack some food and drinks in the cooler and drive cross country.
You couldn’t pay me to fly on an aircraft now. Not with this level of ineptitude and/or political correctness driven policy.
I won’t fly for three little letters: T-S-A.
‘Nuff said.
Let me provide a quote from the WaPo article Jonn linked to above that will really “make you feel safe”. (Emphasis added.)
Yes, you’re reading that correctly. The common test for Ebola apparently often doesn’t produce a positive result until after the individual has been sick with the disease – and contagious – for up to 3 days.
Tell me again why we’re not quarantining people?
And it appears the “Ebola Nurse” one Kaci Hickox is now telling us how hysteria violated her constitutional rights and it shouldn’t be that way for “volunteers.”
That it was not necessary. She’s still having an adult temper tantrum about Christie Q’ing her. Get. over. it. She is no different than any other civilian, or volunteer of the military who treats an Ebola patient. Period.
She is no different, period. I am unable to comprehend how she is unable to comprehend that.
But she IS different! You see, it’s all about HER, and her convenience and making her feel good about herself. Her, her, her.
The world does revolve around each and every Special Snowflake.
Therefore, each and every Special Snowflake needs their very own and separate world.
She needs to be kicked in the cunt, and used for a snowshoe.
Why stank up your perfectly good feets?
I won’t gloat over this, because the tragedy of it extends beyond just this doctor’s death. It includes the sheer stupidity and nearly intentional ignorance surrounding this deadly disease.
I am so angry I could spit nails over this.
“It also seems that the healthcare professionals don’t know what they’re doing in regards to the virus.”
They don’t know and don’t care. It’s all about them, like that diva up in Maine. My trust in medical professionals is taking some serious hits when I see shit like that. If they care so much about their fellow man, they wouldn’t be jumping on airplanes and jetting across the country and then phoning it in, when they start to show symptoms.
Seriously; WTF is wrong with you people?
Don’t even get me started on the administration’s position, and what they’re subjecting our troops to.
Read The Last Centurion and replace “the bitch” with a male designation. That’s what we can look forward to should a major crisis happen now.
It’s my favorite book, but that doesn’t mean I want to live the scenario for real!
Funny how the Ebola stories sort of died out after the drubbing the Democrats took on 4 November. The news all revolved around who the Dems were going to point their fingers at next in regards to their electoral ass whipping. Now I am not happy that this doctor died, but I am happy to see that Ebola will once again be a topic of conversation instead of ignored.
Hey media, it aint going away just because you ignore it.
Um, Anastasia Mather (Facebook commented): you’re correct about no need to panic – yet. But this is quite troubling.
You also might want to read, you know, the linked article. The guy essentially DID follow the protocol. In fact, best I can tell the guy exceeded it – rather than “self-monitoring”, he had a blood test that gave him an “all clear” early on in his illness. That is why he wasn’t treated initially.
Unfortunately, that initial blood test was a false negative. He wasn’t retested until several days later, after his illness had worsened. The 2nd test showed he was indeed suffering from Ebola. At that point, he was actively treated.
Unfortunately, at that point it was too late.
And they still misinterpret our anger as panic. They are still very wrong.
Word.
Hey Obama, guess what? This whole Ebola shit has changed…again! Are you paying attention…yet?!
I believe the correct answer is “NO”….
Word.
I’m sure that B. Hussein 0bama’s teleprompter will give him a speech to deliver to us peasants after he returns from the golf course!
I trust his teleprompter.
Continue to golf Mr. President – except for errors of omission you cannot hurt anyone that way.
I am one of those people who think that we aren’t that smart and we don’t know everything so we should be extra cautious.
The CDC said that they have hard science that will keep us safe. We don’t need quarantines or travel restrictions.
So now a doctor who knows and follows the rules and sees the disease every day dies after negative blood test.
You cannot have it both ways, either we know everything and following the rules will keep everyone safe or we don’t know everything and we should be extra cautious. It is crystal clear, we don’t know everything. So when will we have quarantines and travel restrictions? ANY other actions smells to high heaven.
Now, Richard, there you go again . . . trying to use that stuff called “facts” and “logic”. Everyone knows that to the left, all that matters is how they feel!
What’s the possibility of a few hundreds or thousands of seriously ill and dying people compared to their feelings?