Thread: Sacramento Kaiser Treating Patient Possibly Exposed to Ebola Virus

Where did the exposure take place, I wonder?

Sacramento Kaiser Treating Patient Possibly Exposed to Ebola Virus

Wednesday, Aug 20, 2014 • Updated at 10:40 AM PDT


A patient admitted to a South Sacramento hospital may have been exposed to the Ebola virus, health officials said Tuesday.
The Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento Medical Center is working with the Sacramento County Division of Public Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to test blood samples from the patient.


"In order to protect our patients, staff and physicians, even though infection with the virus is unconfirmed, we are taking the actions recommended by the CDC as a precaution, just as we do for other patients with a suspected infectious disease," Dr. Stephen Parodi, director of hospital operations for Kaiser Permanente Northern California, said in a statement. "This includes isolation of the patient in a specially equipped negative pressure room and the use of personal protective equipment by trained staff, coordinated with infectious disease specialists. This enables the medical center to provide care in a setting that safeguards other patients and medical teams."
The Ebola virus got worldwide attention earlier this month when two United States aid workers were infected in Liberia. The aid workers were move to an Atlanta hospital for treatment in a specially equipped plane. Both patients are recovering, officials said.


The Ebola outbreak started in December of last year in West Africa. Since the outbreak, some 2,200 people have been diagnosed with the virus and nearly half o those people died.
Even though the Ebola virus can be deadly, doctors said, survival rates are improving because people are getting checked if they feel they have come in contact with the virus.

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local...271935511.html

California patient low risk for Ebola infection
USA TODAY - 7 minutes ago

Originally Posted by florgal

Where did the exposure take place, I wonder?

. . . Health authorities would not identify the person's age, gender or where he or she had traveled in the West African countries that are seeing the worst Ebola outbreak in history. . .

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...ient/14350687/

California patient low risk for Ebola infection

Karen Weintraub, Special for USA TODAY5:26 p.m. EDT August 20, 2014


(Photo: David Goldman AP)

In "an abundance of caution," a patient in California is being isolated in a Sacramento hospital, but public health officials said they think the person isat low risk for Ebola.

Health authorities would not identify the person's age, gender or where he or she had traveled in the West African countries that are seeing the worst Ebola outbreak in history.

The person is the only one in California at the moment who is considered to be at risk for having the virus; at least one person tested for the virus earlier this month in New York was shown not to have it.

To rule out Ebola, health authorities have sent a sample of the patient's blood to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Because of shipping time and high demand for testing, it will likely take another three days before test results are known, Gil Chavez, deputy director for the Center for Infectious Diseases and state epidemiologist at the California Department of Public Health, said in a telephone news conference.

To determine whether patients are at risk for Ebola, the CDC uses three criteria: Were they in an affected country, did they have exposures in that country that could have put them at risk for contracting the virus, and do they have symptoms consistent with Ebola, which might include fever, headache, muscle and joint pain, and irregular bleeding.

"Taking all those criteria into account, we have determined this patient is low risk," said James Watt, chief of the Division of Communicable Disease Control, Center for Infectious Diseases, who was also on the call.

Chavez and Watt would not detail how the California patient meets those criteria but said they showed the patient is at low risk.

More than 1,350 people have died in the current Ebola outbreak in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria – over half the people who have fallen ill with the virus.

Chavez stressed that even if the patient is found to have Ebola, the risk of transmission to others is very low. Ebola is passed only through contact with bodily fluids such as blood and feces – not through the air – and the virus dies quickly on surfaces, he said. Victims are only contagious when they show symptoms of the disease.

The patient was quickly isolated once healthcare officials at a Kaiser Permanente hospital in Sacramento determined the person was possibly at risk. The patient's caregivers are protected with masks, gowns and other gear. The state department of public health has already started reaching out to people who came into contact with the patient. In case Ebola is confirmed, those contacts would be placed on close watch to make sure they do not come down with symptoms.

"That's what limits the spread and eventually breaks the cycle of transmission," Chavez said.

During a teleconference, Dr. Gil Chavez, Deputy Director for the Center for Infectious Diseases and State Epidemiologist at the California Department of Public Health, and Dr. James Watt, Chief, Division of Communicable Disease Control, Center for Infectious Diseases, will share information concerning the current status of Ebola infection in California.

Health authorities would not identify the person's age, gender or where he or she had traveled in the West African countries that are seeing the worst Ebola outbreak in history.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/20/california-ebola-patient/14350687/