So, with all this talk of Ebola, I’m willing to answer serious questions from commenters in the comments section to the best of my knowledge as an active Microbiology Medical Laboratory Scientist.
Any Micro or Clinical Laboratory question you got, I will try to answer to the best of my knowledge. Be it about Ebola, or MRSA, or infectious bacteria and other organisms.
I figured when you have experienced knowledge about some subject, it always better to help spread factual information rather than misinformation.
Any questions, I cannot answer or that is outside my purview of knowledge, I can ask some of my other friends who are currently working in the hospital laboratory, CDC and beyond.
I love my job, and I actually love educating people and using my knowledge and experience to answer legitimate questions people have.
So let’s go…”the doctor is in…”
BTW, I figured I’d post a weekly version of this if it seems to be something people are interested in.
Knowledge counteracts primitive reaction of fear. I started to read-up about the Dallas ebola case quite late, however when nurses got effected I put out a diary and my opinion. In a modern hospital setting, once ebola has been diagnosed, this should just not happen! I started to look for failures and found some shocking facts. In Europe (I don’t know the case in Spain) all ebola patients are treated in a BSL-4 facility. In the past there have been single cases of tourists returning with the Marburg virus.
What is your judgement of the following CDC Protocol …
○ Texas Biomedical Research Institute – Virology and Immunology
○ Outbreak of Ebola virus disease in West Africa
Main conclusions and options for risk reduction [pdf]
true level 4 biosafety labs and hoods are required to manipulate or culture or test extremely contagious and virulent organisms like Ebola.
The patients do not go directly to public health labs like CDC and give blood or drop off specimens. The specimens come from laboratories around the country. Usually via the state public health lab and then on wards to CDC, or in cases of blood borne pathogens, sometimes they aren’t handled at all by State Public Health Labs they may be sent directly to CDC.
For example, a hospital that collect, identifies, and retain specimens that may be infectious with TB have at least a BSC 2 biosafety hood coupled with a negative pressure room that essentially cycles the air up and filters out a vent and minimizes aerosols release along with PPE when manipulating these specimens.
A BSC 2 hood is also what hospital labs use when preparing any specimen either for culture, testing or for packaging and shipping to State Public Health Labs or CDC.
Per today, Oct. 20, 2014 …
Cross-posted from my diary asking this same question!
○ Presby D Failures On Protocol ¶ Ebola Patients Transferred [Update]
In a judgement why the ebola virus could cause such a vast outbreak in West Africa compared to earlier outbreaks, an expert mentioned this Zairian form of ebola virus seems more infectuous than in the past. Like any virus, it evolves in time. There is an extreme high count of infected cells in organs, blood and bodily fluids.
○ Chart: what makes ebola so deadly
The chance of contamination by airborn virus transmission is minimal, near zero, according to info I’ve read. True?
true. Ebola virus lives and breathes and is transmitted via body fluids. No is not concrete evidenced that it’s is or will can ever be an airborne transmission. I believe the nature of the bug doesn’t allow for airborne transmission.
An example of an airborne virus would be Influenza or the Common cold. this virus have ability to live outside the who via the airborne droplets and infect anew host. so in theory, say you walk into an elevator and someone right before had sneeze or coughed or wiped their nose and in doing do released these airborne droplets into the air, if any of these microscopic droplets are still in the air or on u sanitized surfaces then it can most definitely be transmitted to you.
With Flu, one of the ways hospitals combat this is by mandating that employee get flu vaccine, enforcing strict protocol of hand washing and sanitization and in cases of suspected Flu requiring patients to wear mask that will not allow aresols tone released in the air
so for based on all the research be have there has been no evidence that Ebola is transmitted the same way
Ebola is not as contagious as airborne viruses. So why do doctors & nurses need stronger than normal protection suits and measures to prevent transmission of the Ebola virus?
Since it is transmitted via “contact” with bodily fluids rather than via the nasal passage/respiratory passage like TB or Influenza. That’s why a person diagnosed with TB or Flu can wear a specialized mask that doesn’t allow the droplets to escape the mask and the viral particles aren’t “free floating” within the air.
For a person to contract Ebola, the viral particles unlike Influenze are not aerolized droplets. You can get Ebola from any bodily contact with the fluid.