Dallas nurse infected with Ebola identified
A Dallas health care worker diagnosed with the Ebola virus over the weekend
has been identified by her family as Nina Pham.The 26-year-old is the most
recent victim of Ebola. Hers is the first known case of Ebola spreading in
the United States. (USA NOW, USA TODAY)
John Bacon and Marjorie Owens, USA TODAY 4:07 p.m. EDT October 13, 2014
(Photo: Pham family)
A Dallas health care worker diagnosed with the Ebola virus over the weekend
was identified Monday as nurse Nina Pham, her family confirmed.
Pham, 26, became infected while treating Thomas Eric Duncan, the first Ebola
patient to die in the United States. Pham, who graduated from Texas
Christian University's nursing program in 2010, is the first person known to
contract the disease while in the United States.
Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
said Monday that Pham was "clinically stable."
Frieden also apologized to officials at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital
in Dallas. He said his comments Sunday that Pham's infection was the result
of a "breach of protocol" did not reflect on Pham or the hospital's efforts.
"I apologize if people thought I was criticizing the hospital," Frieden said
at a press conference Monday. "And I feel awful that a health care worker
became infected while helping an Ebola patient."
Frieden said investigators have yet to determine how Pham was infected. But
he stood by the protocols including the use of masks, gloves and other
equipment saying they have proven safe for health care workers for
decades.
While nurse is quarantined, her dog remains at home
"The existence of the first case of Ebola spread in the U.S. changes some
things and it doesn't change somethings," he said. "It doesn't change the
fact that we know how Ebola spreads. It doesn't change the fact that it's
possible to treat Ebola safely. But it does change substantially how we
approach it."
More than 4,000 people have died in the current Ebola outbreak, the vast
majority of them in the West African nations of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra
Leone. Frieden urged hospital workers across the USA to watch for patients
with fever or other Ebola symptoms who have traveled from those nations.
World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan issued a statement
Monday at a conference in Manila calling the outbreak "the most severe,
acute health emergency seen in modern times."
She said development of a vaccine or cure for Ebola has lagged because the
virus is prevalent in such poor nations.
"The outbreak spotlights the dangers of the world's growing social and
economic inequalities," Chan added. "The rich get the best care. The poor
are left to die."
USA TODAY
La.: Don't bring waste from Ebola victim's personal items
She said the outbreak is disrupting economies and societies around the
world. She said 90% of economic costs of any outbreak "come from irrational
and disorganized efforts of the public to avoid infection."
Adequately educating the public should allow governments to curb those
disruptions, Chan added. Fear, she said, spreads faster than any virus.
"I have never before seen a health event attract such a high level of
international media coverage, day after day after day," Chan said. "I have
never seen a health event strike such fear and terror, well beyond the
affected countries."
The effort to keep infected people out of the U.S. is slowly being ramped
up. Screenings of people from the three West African nations began Saturday
at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. Four more airports are
scheduled to begin the enhanced screenings Thursday.
In Jacksonville, Fla., Baptist Medical Center said Monday it had isolated a
patient who was being tested for Ebola but added that the diagnosis is
"highly unlikely." The hospital released a statement saying the patient had
no fever, a common symptom of Ebola, but did report recent casual contact
with a traveler from West Africa.
USA TODAY
In patient's neighborhood, business as usual almost
Across the nation, health care professionals continued to evaluate how best
to treat U.S. Ebola patients should more of them emerge. Anthony Fauci,
director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was
asked on ABC's Good Morning America if Ebola patients should be sent only to
highly specialized "containment" hospitals.
"That is something that should be seriously considered," said Fauci, an
immunologist.
Rose Ann DeMoro, executive director of National Nurses United, a
professional association claiming 185,000 members, said the infection of the
Dallas nurse "only heightens the concerns" for medical professionals who are
now or in the future could be interacting with Ebola patients.
DeMoro called for hospitals to implement emergency preparedness plans that
would provide training, hazmat suits, isolation rooms and other steps.
"Nurses at multiple hospitals are alarmed at the inadequate preparation they
see at their hospitals," DeMoro said in a statement. "The time to act is
long overdue."
Marjorie Owens reports for WFAA-TV, Dallas-Fort Worth.
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