Texas Ebola patient in critical condition
The first person diagnosed with the
deadly Ebola virus on US soil is faring worse and now in critical condition,
health officials said Saturday, having previously described him as seriously
ill.
“Mr. Duncan is in critical
condition,” the Texas hospital treating Thomas Eric Duncan, who traveled from
Liberia to Texas in late September, said in a brief statement.
The update came as US authorities
said none of the individuals believed to have had exposure to Duncan, including
nine deemed to be at high risk, had shown any signs of Ebola infection.
“We are confident that none of those
with definite contact had any symptoms related to Ebola, none of them had
fever,” said Tom Frieden, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC).
The nine people deemed at high risk
would be monitored closely, Frieden said.
“We will be looking very closely
particularly at the nine individuals in the coming days, understanding that the
peak period after exposure is about eight to nine days but can be as long as 21
days,” he said.
Duncan was initially sent home when
he first sought medical care, leaving a four-day span when he was sick and
contagious while in contact with others, sparking concern over how many others
may have been exposed.
Frieden said the publicity
surrounding the Duncan case, and the mistaken decision to send him home from
hospital, had heightened awareness amongst health workers.
“As we anticipated, the arrival of
the first case diagnosed in the US has really increased attention on what
health care workers need to do in this country to be alert and ensure that
travel history is taken into account,” Frieden said.
The Ebola outbreak is the worst
epidemic involving the disease on record and has spread into five west African
countries since the start of the year, infecting more than 7,000 people and
killing about half of them.
The virus, spread through infected
bodily fluids, can only be transmitted when a patient is experiencing the
symptoms — severe fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and, in some cases, massive
internal haemorrhaging and external bleeding.
No comments:
Post a Comment