Author: lamh31

Hey guys, so I just finished a thread at Balloon Juice, where I answered some questions from Commenters, you can check it out at this link:

Ebola, Labwork, Microbiology.
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2014/10/20/ebola-labwork-and-microbiology/

Check it out and maybe your questions were answered. I hope so. If not, here’s my layman’s “What You Need To Know About Ebola” factoid.

Ok.

What you need to know about Ebola, Update [2014-10-20 23:12:52 by lamh31]:from CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/pdf/what-need-to-know-ebola.pdf Update [2014-10-20 23:12:52 by lamh31]:

1)The 2014 Ebola epidemic is the largest in history.  The outbreak is affecting multiple countries in West African.  The first “travel-associated case of Ebola in US” was Mr Duncan which was confrimed by CDC. About 1/2 of the people who have gotten Ebola in this outbreak has died and although the risk of spreading it US is low, hospitals (let’s forget about Presby for a minute) along with the help of the CDC are taking precautions to make sure it doesn’t spread in the US.

2)A person infected with Ebola can’t spread the disease until symptoms appear.  Time from exposure to when signs and symptoms appear (incubation period) is 2 to 21 days, but on average, they occur between 8-10 days from exposure. Signs of Ebola: fever (+101.5F), Symptoms of Ebola: severe headaches, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, or unexplained bleeding or bruising.

3)Ebola is spread through direct contact (thorough broken skin or mucous membranes) with blood and body fluids (urine, feces, saliva, vomit, sweat and semen) of a person with Ebola. Also too, objects like needles, that have been contaminated with blood/body fluides of Ebola patiend can also spread the virus.

EBOLA IS NOT SPREAD THROUGH AIR, WATER OR FOOD.  

4)If you someone or someway have to be in contct with a person who is suspected of having Ebola, protect yourself.  There is no FDA-Approved vaccine available.  Experimental vaccines and treatments are under development, but they have not yet been fully tested for safety and effectiveness.  DO wash your hands often with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.  DO NOT touch blood or bodily fluids of people who are sick.  DO NOT handle items that may have come in contact with sick person’s blood or body fluids.  DO NOT touch the body of a person who has died of Ebola.

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.

Ok, I’ve been at work all day.

But I”ve been getting pieces and bits on the newest Ebola case.

So I am a Microbiologist. I have worked in hospital labs for the past 10 years and I currently work here in NOLA. I lived in Dallas for 7 years. I worked in the big public hospital for 5-6 years then I worked for a sister hospital to Presby Dallas, and all I’m gonna say is Presby D has a reputation. I have a former coworker who had a job there PRN and he left within a month because of some issues he found with personnel and the limited experience of the techs working there.

So when the first case came, I always figured from jump that Presby dropped the ball the first time he came to hospital. the entire team that day, including nurses, PA, MDs etc failed arm Duncan that day and now that failure ended with his death and chickens are now coming home to roost.

The problem I had with this latest case was that the nurse knowingly travelled even after she absolutely came in contact with the Ebola patient , but now we find out that she actually called the CDC and they told her it was ok to fly??

What I now wonder if she was a buddy to the other nurse? A friend in DFW tells me the protocol at Presby is a buddy system. It should be the same as my current hospital protocol whis is also a buddy system. For the laboratory purposes, this means that there is a “clean” tech and a “dirty” tech.

the buddy system is supposed to work where one helps the other when it comes to taking off PPE and also the buddy tech is supposed to be paying attention as the “dirty” tech manipulates the specimen…ie they are supposed to be eye balling you and making sure that u aren’t scratching, rubbing head or mopping sweat.

And as you see they are taking the latest case to Emory instead of Presby Dallas and I’m pretty sure I know why.

I honestly am beginning to think the problem is that this is all voluntary. Soon as this guy came through the 2nd time, the CDC probably should have quarantined the whole staff who was gonna be working on him and just as they did the family, quarantine them right at the hospital and do not let them leave until a complete negative cycle of 21 days!

I think though that what needs to be understood is that this IS NOT considered to be an outbreak. Because so far the only people who have become infected so far are the two who were in close contact and caring for Patient 0, in this case Mr Duncan

The thing to do now is CONTAIN the virus so that it doesn’t spread outside of the zero zone in this case presby dallas. hopefully the nurse who travelled didn’t was in the contagious stage and no others become infected, but we won’t know until we know

As to who should be contained? I think they should contain any and everyone who came in contact with Mr Duncan, particularly the care givers at Presby Dallas. If it means they don’t let them leave the hospital, so be it. the family of Mr Duncan is still being monitored and will continue doing so. the same should be done for any staff at Presby Dallas.

the problem you have is the free-will of the people quarantined. in other words, you have a case like the MSNBC physician, Nancy Synderman, who left her quarantined cause she was tired of the food they were giving and she wanted some soup! that is a breach of protocol that should not have happened, but how to you stop someone from exercising their free rights?
Cause let’s be clear, the same ones who are outraged now, would be the same one outraged if they were told that they were being monitored and quarantined. How many among us would be happy with that, particurlarly if we feel fine and don’t think there is a chance that we contracted

 

Hi ya’ll,

I just got back from a 3 movie day.  I saw in the following order: GI Joe, 500 Days of Summer, & The Time Traveler’s Wife.

GI Joe the cartoon, was more entertaining than the movie.  I’d wait to see if at the dollar movie, or on DVD.

Time Traveler’s Wife was basically a romance novel come to life.  I haven’t read the book, so I can’t say whether or not is was true to the novel, but my sister hadn’t seen it either, and now she wants to read the book, so work well done.  Besides which, I really like Rachel McAdams who stars in it, and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Eric Bana.  Once he cleaned himself up in the movie, hubba, hubba!!!!

My favorite of the 3 thought was 500 Days of Summer.  Once again, my sister and I were a spot of chocolate in a sea of vanilla, but it was worth it.  500 Days is this indie movie about the guy named Tom, and this girl, of course, named Summer.  It’s about, obviously, 500 days in the life of the relationship between Tom & Summer.  It is an indie rom/com, but it was really funny.  For those who remember the feeling when you first fall in love, and your first break-up, you’ll love 500 Days.  Isn’t it funny, how the little things that you loved about someone becomes the things you hate once ya break-up (ya know, how you like his smile, then you broke up, and you couldn’t stand his ole crooked azz smile).  If you’ve ever thought you were in love and even if you hadn’t (I know I haven’t) then you will love this movie.

BTW, I want to take the time to plug your local library.  I can tell you now, that the only reason why I am so into indies, and foreign films, brit comedies, and old 40s & 50s musicals/movies, it’s because of when I was young, and I found out that you could check out movies at the library.  As you can imagine, at the time, the library was not known for having the most up to date movies available, but I didn’t have any money, but I had my library card, so I check out “Bringing Up Baby”, “Pillow Talk”, Doris Day movies, Gene Kelly movies, Monty Python tv videos, and all the big indies of the day, whatever the library had, I watched it.  

To this day, I can credit the library for alot of why I have such an ecclectic sensibility when it comes to movies and such.  The library is so different now of course, but I drag my sister along with me when I see these movies, and when I see a good one, I try to coerce as many people as I can to see them.

So anyway, rambling over.

500 Days of Summer was a great movie.  Ya’ll should go see it…oh, and Julie & Julia too.

Let me first say, that no one knows for sure if race was a factor in the arrest of Henry “Skip” Gates Jr.  Personally, I think it was a small part, but not all. What I do know though, is that this whole discussion and the ensuing “media fire-storm” that’s been happening, is just making me angry.

Warning, this is just a serious rant, it’s probably pretty inchohernt, so read it at your own peril.
As an African American, you just write off many of these occurences and just being apart of the African American experience in America.  You know that no matter what you do, or what activity you are involved in, the phrase “while black” can be added to all of them, and somehow makes otherwise completely normal things for white people seems somehow “foreign” for black people (i.e. “driving while black”, “shopping while black”, etc).

You talk and joke about it with your family and your friends, but inside you know it’s pisses you off.  It may not have personally happened to you, but you know at least 1 personal acquaintance or relative who has had the “…while black” experience.  You don’t expect anyone white to discuss it, and if they do, you expect that they will probably just try to give you a “there, there” pat on the back, while secretly thinking WTF is she talking about.

If it does happen that it somehow makes the local news.  It’s usually does so because something more fatal has occurred or someone has decided to speak up, and 9 times outa 10, the news will just report it from the PD side anyway, usually with the usual buzz words: belligerent, disorderdly, disruptive, suspect seemed to threaten PD…etc.

So we finally get someone in the WH who speaks honestly about the feelings of a whole group of Americans (black males) who have these shared life experiences simply by virtue of their skin tone, and damn it we are happy that finally someone knows our experiences, and what happens, the national media just follows the same pattern as the local media.  Instead of some real reporting about racial profiling or at the very least some real reporting about the increasing trend of the use excessive force, or abuse of power by some (not all) policeman, instead it’s “Obama calls policeman stupid”, or “Heroic policemen smeared as racist by President Obama” (never mind that Obama never said the policeman was stupid or racist).

I’m finding a lot of comments on some of  “liberal” blogosphere that sayt that Dr Gates “over-reacted”.  That’s one reason why I wrote this diary.

The problem I have with this whole thing is because of some of the blatantly biased stories and comments on what I used to consider “friendly” & reputable news programs and news site. Maybe it’s my naivete, but I expect such completely biased coverage on FOX news, and the RW radio bigots.

But I was watching CNN, and had to hear that prick Rick Sanchez, quoting verbatim from the report the police officer did as “the definitive record” on what happened even though Gates had given an interview to Soledad O’Brien telling his side. Didn’t matter to Rick, because what the police officer wrote was “on the record” therefore it just HAD to be the TRUE story, thank goodness that Roland Martin was on the show and called Rick on his b.s.

Between this bullcrap, the birther nonsense, the Malia Obama peace shirt brouhaha, the racist emails, the racist twitters, and whatever else…IT’S PATHETIC, and it’s not even 1 year into the Obama Presidency.  I don’t know how I’m gonna get through the whole 4 years without wanting to pull my hair out (or somebody else’s)