completely agree with you. I learned last night that he already knew he had
disease resistant TB before he even left the country. It was only after he left
that it was discovered he had *extremely* drug resistant TB. Regular TB's bad
enough, he knew he had a more dangerous version, yet left anyway. And as we all
suspected, the CDC says they had no intention of forcing him to stay in Rome
and get the wrong treatment. They were working on bringing him back to the
States when he fled.
Again, I shudder to think would could have happened had his TB been more
contagious, or if he'd been carrying a new strain of influenza. He may not have
committed a crime, but I wouldn't complain if he were held financially culpable
in some way. There's a lot of discussion in the health care and international
circles aout why he wasn't *ordered* to stay home from the get-go. Evidently
there's concern about limiting his personal freedom at that earlier stage. I
guess there's fear of the social and legal ramifications and precedence set of
ordering an American to stay home when his good judgement could do the same
thing. And there was concern that the system in place which can order a person
not to go anywhere would have triggered the very coverage and worry we're now
seeing as it became known. But I guess in the future they might have to risk
it...
-------------- Original message --------------
From: "g123curious" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
The guy's doctor advised him NOT to fly.
He decided to fly anyway.
He flew twice.
He didn't bother to buy travel insurance (which would have reimbursed
him for the TOTAL of his trip: air, hotel, wedding, everything.)
Some folks refuse to accept personal responsibility.
Hence, I have no problem with him being locked up.
IMHO, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one...
especially when there's the risk of of a highly contagious TB
infecting a lot of people. Many people have weak immune systems
(e.g., the elderly, children, etc.).
I travel a lot on cruise ships. It is standard procedure now....
ships will not let you board if you are sick. They'll give you a
voucher to travel later. If you get sick while onboard, they'll
quarantine you (and your spouse/family) in your cabin.
It's a (brave) new world and people have to learn to adjust to it.
Some choose to learn the hard way... and get locked up.
George
--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> This is wild. Every day, I drive by the hospital where "Typhoid
Martin" is being held. The confusion here stems around what the CDC
and county health officials say they told him, versus what *he* says
they told him. I'm trying to understand why, if he's been diagnosed
since January, the agencies just now found out he had XDR TB. Not
understanding why, even with the less-virulent strains, the health
officials only "suggested" he stay in the States, instead of making
it an order. But then, the officials seem to be saying they ordered
him to stay here. Also not getting why--assuming he's telling the
truth--the CDC didn't make arrangements to fly him from Italy on a
CDC jet. I have to assume they would have done something like that,
since they'd want him cured to avoid an epidemic.
>
> Either way, while I get his fearing ineffectual treatment in Italy,
I'm having a hard time with this man jumping on a trans-Atlantic
flight, driving from Canada to the States while knowing he had the
XDR version. At that point, he could have been extremely contagious.
We could have been looking at a chain-reaction of infections if
people on that plane, in the terminal, or at the car rental location
had been infected by him. Hasn't he seen "Twelve Monkeys"?!
>
> Last year I participated in a seminar sponsored by the CDC here in
Atlanta to come up with procedures for dealing with the next deadly
worldwide flu pandemic. (And if you want nightmares, read about the
flu pandemic of 1918). One of our major concerns was how health
officials could track and warn infected people in this world of
international travel. Scenarios exactly like this were discussed,
where stubborn or fearful people defy orders and do their own thing.
How far does the medical community go to issue quarantines to prevent
epidemic? When do personal freedosm get abridged for the common good?
This is exactly what we meant. Something broke down here. And just
imagine if this guy had been infected with a deadly new mutation of
influenza. Then we really could have been talking about an pandemic.
That's scary...
>
> ***************************************
>
> Atlantan quarantined with deadly TB strain
> CDC issues rare isolation order; air passengers warned
>
> By ALISON YOUNG
> The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
> Published on: 05/30/07
> An Atlanta-area man infected with a rare, potentially deadly type
of tuberculosis is under federal quarantine at Grady Memorial
Hospital with an armed sheriff's deputy outside his door following
his odyssey on international flights, including some to smuggle
himself back into the country.
> The globe-trotting tale of the man, his fiancee, their wedding and
honeymoon abroad and conflicting recollections of what he was told
about his disease and whether he could travel culminated Tuesday
with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issuing an
international health alert.
<snip>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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