According to LBC this morning the screening at Heathrow is not mandatory. Seems a bit pointless if you can opt out
According to LBC this morning the screening at Heathrow is not mandatory. Seems a bit pointless if you can opt out
Most will probably lie anyway if they have been in infected countries or have been in contact with EbolaOriginally Posted by bigmarco
According to LBC this morning the screening at Heathrow is not mandatory. Seems a bit pointless if you can opt out
Thomas Duncan who died in the USA of Ebola said he had never been in contact with anyone who had Ebola when he filled out his pre flight questionnaire = untrue
With Spain and the US already having failures in isolation units, I very much doubt that would work.
Keith - Administrator
No screening at Dover & 50 plus germs were pulled out of trucks there last month
http://www.dover-express.co.uk/EXCLU...ail/story.html
Another US health worker has Ebola. Good to see the CDC doing its job.
Keith - Administrator
'Who's the idiot with the clipboard?' Disbelief and panic as mystery man WITHOUT a hazmat suit helps second Ebola nurse board her plane to Atlanta, disposes waste and then climbs aboard
- Man casually dressed in shirt and pants seen on TV walking with Ebola patient Amber Vinson
- He carried a clipboard and walked alongside Ms Vinson and healthcare workers who were ALL dressed in hazmat suits
- He has been identified as a supervisor for Phoenix Air, the company that flew Miss Vinson to Atlanta
- Miss Vinson walked onto the plane in Dallas and the man without protection also boarded the plane, flying with her to Atlanta, Georgia
- Social media has dubbed him the 'clipboard man' - expressing shock that he came so close to an infected patient and unprotected
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz3GJcqPaIl
Air France have a suspected case of Ebola in Madrid at the moment. We are seriously having second thoughts on flying to Philippines in January as the Ebola outbreak is accelerating throughout the world quite rapidly now, we'll just have to monitor the danger until nearer the time. Hope it gets nipped in the bud sooner rather than later and the main reason we are concerned is going to Philippines is not a problem, it's getting home if there is an International decision regarding flying!
Airline shares are dropping.
Keith - Administrator
Not surprising Keith!
Nice to hear you listen to LBC occasionally Marco. Good radio station.According to LBC this morning the screening at Heathrow is not mandatory. Seems a bit pointless if you can opt out
• Screening travellers arriving at airports is not an effective way of identifying those with serious infections. That’s why pre-entry screening for TB was introduced. Canada introduced airport screening during the SARS ( severe acute respiratory syndrome ) epidemic – it cost £ 9m and not one case was identified.
The longer the incubation period in relation to the flight duration, the lower the chance of successful entrance screening.
WHO recommends passengers on international flights out of Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia should be screened BEFORE boarding their flights.
• Providing adequate testing facilities on site is a challenge:-
1. There’s a limit to how many doctors and nurses with the necessary expertise can be on " stand by " ;
2. would passengers answer questions voluntarily and honestly ( even if they might be expected to do so if there was a one in two chance of dying without care ) ;
3. isolation of all passengers waiting for test results is a problem ;
4. and illegal immigrants would neither be tested, nor would they necessarily seek early medical help if they had symptoms.
• The Philippines is not sending health workers to West Africa ; the government preferring to focus on efforts to prepare the country for possible entry and spread of Ebola virus. The DOH has identified one referral hospital for each of the country’s 17 regions. It’s preparing the Lung Center of the Philippines, San Lazaro Hospital, and the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine to accommodate possible cases. DOH claims to have enough protective gear, and will train health personnel in all government and private hospitals – better late than never !
Filipinos in West Africa have apparently not come forward to be repatriated, despite the government offering to pay their airfare.
• Apart from daily coverage in the media, articles in medical journals continue to proliferate. This is still an evolving situation.
Points from the articles :-
1. Critical care services in the countries at the centre of the epidemic are urgently needed ( and only now being addressed ) - such that the death rate could be reduced from the present 70% to below 40% and ultimately the epidemic controlled.
2. It’s ethical to try drugs and vaccines with potential benefits even before their effectiveness and safety are fully understood.
3. Many Ebola infections may not have symptoms. These are thought not to be infectious – such people have " naturally acquired immunity ". They need investigating as possibly the best people to care for acutely ill patients ; and their immune serum could be useful.
• As if there wasn’t enough information readily available, here are a few links which are perhaps less easily found :-
1. Philippines :-
• http://www.philstar.com/headlines/20...ola-deployment
• http://www.philstar.com/headlines/20...-ebola-workers
2. Medical journals :-
• http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g6202
• http://www.thelancet.com/journals/la...lltext?rss=yes
• http://www.thelancet.com/journals/la...839-0/fulltext
• http://www.thelancet.com/journals/la...734-7/fulltext
I wouldn't pussy foot about - complete ban on travellers from the affected African countries
Politicians and some medical staff are telling us what we want to hear. i.e. we expect a few cases here and our hospitals can cope. The truth is if there is a breakout here we will not cope. There will be too many infected to deal with.
Good old Cuba.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...t-ebola-africa
Phoenix Air responds (via ABC News)...
Source"Our medical professionals in the biohazard suits have limited vision and mobility and it is the protocol supervisor’s job to watch each person carefully and give them verbal directions to insure no close contact protocols are violated," a spokesperson from Phoenix Air told ABC News said.
"There is absolutely no problem with this and in fact insures an even higher level of safety for all involved," the spokesperson said.
And we're supposed to put trust in these folks
I agree and i am thinking along the same lines as youAir France have a suspected case of Ebola in Madrid at the moment. We are seriously having second thoughts on flying to Philippines in January as the Ebola outbreak is accelerating throughout the world quite rapidly now, we'll just have to monitor the danger until nearer the time. Hope it gets nipped in the bud sooner rather than later and the main reason we are concerned is going to Philippines is not a problem, it's getting home if there is an International decision regarding flying!
I have little faith in the Uk dealing with any Ebola outbreak and zero faith in the Philippine government dealing with it
There should be a travel ban on everybody from Africa until this outbreak is under control
Drastic measures are needed now before it spreads everywhere
No one now doubts that the Ebola crisis is the most severe acute public health emergency in modern times. It is a matter of opinion, whether among Forum members or so-called experts, just how bad this epidemic will become, and how to respond – to bring it under control.
• A travel ban on everybody from the affected African countries – quarantine in other words – would be hard to enforce. Borders are " permeable " – people would " escape " and pay bribes to do so. If the virus conquered West Africa unchecked, more untraceable emigrants would carry it inside their bodies. When the epidemic spread, could Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and the entire African continent be quarantined ? What if the virus travelled on to India, with its slums and poor healthcare, or China, where infection control in hospitals may be substandard ?
• The brave volunteer health care workers from other countries including Cuba and Medecins Sans Frontieres - who are so desperately needed - deserve to be cared for and if necessary flown out if they get ill. More treatment centres, with the necessary resources to build them, and healthcare staff to run them, are urgently needed.
• Ebola is not just a public health emergency – it infects everything ! In West Africa, children are orphaned, people stay away from fields and market places, businesses close, and there’s a risk of hunger.
• Errors will continue to occur in this uncharted territory. An outbreak of litigation is being predicted. Care workers and hospitals have a duty of care, not only to infected patients but also to protect those treating and working with the patients and other members of the public.
• I’m optimistic that outbreaks CAN be contained in countries such as the UK, with robust medical systems and the ability to trace contacts, and that in future effective vaccine(s) and drugs will become available. I would have less optimism – but not " zero faith " - in the ability to cope in countries such as the Philippines.
However, as I have said already – I don’t claim expertise and can’t predict with certainty the eventual outcome of this war on Ebola.
A couple more very informative post's Alan, thank you!
I see the nurse Pham in the US has a video out. She is just in a normal hospital ward
Keith - Administrator
I do think it is a good idea what the British Army Medical team are doing though, building a field hospital close to the outbreak and wish them every success.
What has surprised me in some of the pics I have seen is an amateur looking way of decontamination. I had to call in specialized companies for Asbestos removal on sites and they completely seal off an area and the removal workers have to go through showers in their working equipment before leaving the area. No one standing around with what looks like a garden spray.
Phl won’t send Ebola workers
MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines is not sending health workers to Ebola-plagued countries in West Africa despite the World Health Organization (WHO)’s call for states to deploy health personnel.
Department of Health (DOH) spokesman Lyndon Lee Suy announced yesterday that the Philippine government has not made a commitment to WHO’s appeal to send health workers to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, but it is considering other assistance for these affected countries.
“We are not taking the call (to send health workers) but we are looking at other ways to help. We don’t have to be physically present there. Assistance is not only humanitarian, we can send money or in kind,” Lee Suy explained.
The government, he added, would rather focus on efforts to prepare the Philippines for the possible entry and spread of Ebola virus.
Lee Suy gave assurance that the Philippines is now in a better position to respond to the Ebola threat despite doubts on DOH’s capability to address the global health crisis.
“This is not the first time that we are receiving this kind of threat and because we have experienced preparing for MERS-COVs and SARS, we are now in a better position to address the threat of Ebola,” he said.
The DOH has sufficient supply of protective gear and other necessary equipment to prevent the spread of Ebola for the next three months.
The DOH has also identified one referral hospital for each of the country’s 17 regions and is readying the Lung Center of the Philippines, San Lazaro Hospital and the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine to accommodate possible Ebola cases.
Lee Suy said the DOH would train health personnel in all government and private hospitals on how to properly handle Ebola cases.
A number of Filipino workers have returned from West Africa, but Lee Suy said the country remains Ebola free.
http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2014/10/17/1381099/phl-wont-send-ebola-workers
Thank you again Alan!A couple more very informative post's Alan, thank you!
The problem with Philippines is that only the people with money would get treatment for Ebola, so it would escalate!I agree and i am thinking along the same lines as you
I have little faith in the Uk dealing with any Ebola outbreak and zero faith in the Philippine government dealing with it
There should be a travel ban on everybody from Africa until this outbreak is under control
Drastic measures are needed now before it spreads everywhere
I'll probably get shot down for suggesting this, but I don't think it's very easy to become infected with Ebola.The problem with Philippines is that only the people with money would get treatment for Ebola, so it would escalate!
I'll be travelling to the Philippines as planned.
No harm in repeating the message in #41
You won't, and it isn't
I will also be travelling to Philippines as planned
#24 :
1. It’s ONLY transmitted among humans by close and direct physical contact with infected bodily fluids – especially blood, faeces and vomit.
2. It can be transmitted " indirectly " – by contact with previously contaminated surfaces and objects. Appropriate cleaning and disinfection procedures reduce this chance.
3. It is NOT an airborne virus. ‘Flu, common colds, measles, and TB are more easily spread because they ARE airborne. We’ve known this by studying the virus over the four decades since its discovery. There is NO evidence that the ebola virus could mutate into a form that could be easily spread among humans through the air.
• This epidemic IS out of control in West Africa – but is still very unlikely to become a pandemic, even if isolated cases are almost inevitable in other continents.
You won't, and it isn't
I will also be travelling to Philippines as planned
I'm still going to Cebu in November.
I will take some alcohol gel so I can disinfect my hands if needed.
Here is some info that I found useful.
EPIDEMIOLOGY: Occurs mainly in areas surrounding rain forests in equatorial Africa with the exception of Reston, which has been documented to originate in the Philippines. The Reston virus (RESTV), is not thought to cause disease in humans, but has caused disease in non-human primates.
So the Reston Strain of the Ebola Virus in the Philippines hasn't so far infected humans.
*Edit*Doc alan Mentions in his first post about the Reston virus. Reassuring for us guys going to the Philippines. soon
SUSCEPTIBILITY TO DISINFECTANTS: Ebolavirus is susceptible to 3% acetic acid, 1% glutaraldehyde, alcohol-based products, and dilutions (1:10-1:100 for ≥10 minutes) of 5.25% household bleach (sodium hypochlorite), and calcium hypochlorite (bleach powder).
The WHO recommendations for cleaning up spills of blood or body fluids suggest flooding the area with a 1:10 dilutions of 5.25% household bleach for 10 minutes for surfaces that can tolerate stronger bleach solutions (e.g., cement, metal). For surfaces that may corrode or discolour, they recommend careful cleaning to remove visible stains followed by contact with a 1:100 dilution of 5.25% household bleach for more than 10 minutes.
PHYSICAL INACTIVATION: Ebola are moderately thermolabile and can be inactivated by heating for 30 minutes to 60 minutes at 60°C, boiling for 5 minutes, or gamma irradiation (1.2 x106 rads to 1.27 x106 rads) combined with 1% glutaraldehyde. Ebolavirus has also been determined to be moderately sensitive to UVC radiation.
Very useful info!
You won't, and it isn't
I will also be travelling to Philippines as planned
#24 :
1. It’s ONLY transmitted among humans by close and direct physical contact with infected bodily fluids – especially blood, faeces and vomit.
2. It can be transmitted " indirectly " – by contact with previously contaminated surfaces and objects. Appropriate cleaning and disinfection procedures reduce this chance.
3. It is NOT an airborne virus. ‘Flu, common colds, measles, and TB are more easily spread because they ARE airborne. We’ve known this by studying the virus over the four decades since its discovery. There is NO evidence that the ebola virus could mutate into a form that could be easily spread among humans through the air.
• This epidemic IS out of control in West Africa – but is still very unlikely to become a pandemic, even if isolated cases are almost inevitable in other continents.
Thanks Doc - common sense prevails. I still think we should have an incoming travel ban on people coming from the affected African countries, no point encouraging possible problems
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