The Tampa Bay Times (see below) reported today that two Florida children had died of flu. Which is odd, because if you scroll down to the current CDC charts below you will see a) that the mortality from flu and pneumonia is about as low as it gets, right now, and b) only one flu-associated child…

From Gallup:  Americans’ Ratings of CDC Down After Ebola Crisis No other agencies measured showed a decline in ratings PRINCETON, N.J. — Americans’ ratings of the job being done by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are down significantly from last year, from 60% saying it is doing an “excellent” or “good” job to 50%….

From NBC News: … Although the CDC initially said any U.S. hospital should be able to care for an Ebola patient, Gold (Chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical School, where 3 victims were treated) argued that it really often does require a special biocontainment unit. There are only four in the country: at Nebraska,…

A woman arrived in NY 3 weeks ago from Guinea and was being monitored (presumably by phone) daily and allegedly had no Ebola symptoms.  But she just died.  No one seems to know why. And so, yes, they will test her remains for Ebola… but only out of an ‘abundance of caution.’  What happens to…

US media have been silent about this elephant in the room: those who recover from Ebola are likely to have positive PCR tests of semen, vaginal fluid, breast milk, urine and skin (including sweat) for one to several months after recovery.  There are several anecdotes describing disease transmission to a partner following recovery. Because it…

Click here for the full, free text.  Ideas and Opinions | online 16 October 2014 Caring for Patients with Ebola: A challenge in Any Care Facility Mark G. Kortepeter, MD, MPH; Philip W. Smith, MD; Angela Hewlett, MD; and Theodore J. Cieslak, MD The largest outbreak of Ebola virus continues unabated in West Africa. With the recent death of a…

Admittedly, I am biased about how I think clinical trials should be conducted.  I believe they necessitate the very finest care of patients, meticulous ethical conduct, and collection of the most complete data possible.  Most importantly, data obtained from human subjects, who have taken on some risk to advance medical knowledge, should imho never be…

Ten months into the out-of-control Ebola epidemic, and 38 years since the first Ebola epidemic, the DHHS Assistant Secretary of Health for Preparedness, Nicole Lurie, had a workshop convened by IOM with NIH, CDC, NIOSH, academics, etc. to discuss what needs to be learned about Ebola, and how research can address these questions. Here is…

Let me start this piece with the bottom line: I want to be clear that patients with Ebola virus disease are sicker, in general, than patients with any other medical condition, in the US or anywhere else. They are subject to many more serious complications than other patients. They require more care, more lab tests, more procedures,…

I previously recommended alcohol hand rub (usually 70% ethyl or isopropyl alcohol) to kill Ebola on hands and gloves, which CDC recommends, along with soap and water. From more reading, I no longer feel this is adequate, as it appears alcohol has not been tested on Ebola, and because other environmental tests have found Ebola…

According to the Washington Post, NY’s Bellevue Hospital plans to discharge Dr. Craig Spencer tomorrow. This is great news.  Everyone who has been treated in the US, with the exception of Eric Duncan, has survived Ebola.  All those we know about (9 people) were diagnosed and treated early, except Mr. Duncan. This is an 89%…

Here’s the Report, written by the Transfusion Transmitted Disease Committee of the American Association of Blood Banks. Notable quotes: Physicochemical properties: Stable at room temperature and can resist desiccation (drying); inactivated at 60°C [140 F] for 30 minutes [However, the 1984 Mitchell and McCormick paper that studied virus inactivation found that the time to inactivation…

This type of approach is what I recommended in my Congressional testimony in 2001, for many potential pathogens, following the anthrax letters. What are monoclonal antibodies? The human immune system takes apart microbial pathogens and manufactures antibodies to a variety of sites on the microbe, honing its response as the infection progresses. Nearly 40 years…

From the Associated Press: The nasal spray version of the flu vaccine did not protect young children against swine flu last winter and might not work again this year, health officials said Thursday. Preliminary results from three studies found that AstraZeneca’s FluMist had little or no effect in children against swine flu. That was the…

I will elaborate on this important subject as I learn more.  And what more has been learned about the benefits of lamivudine, an antiviral used by a Liberian doctor with reported high survival in a small number of patients?  UPDATE Nov 14:  A WHO committee says it does not work.  MSF will test 2 antiviral…

The following table is current as of October 27, 2014 per FDA.  Experimental drugs are being authorized on a compassionate use basis, for those already ill from Ebola.  I find no legal authority in the US for using experimental vaccines currently. Diagnostic Test Date Letter ofAuthorization (PDF) Fact Sheet for Healthcare Providers (PDF) Fact Sheet for Patients…

Whatever happened to that Ebola czar?  He could, if he wanted, cut through any red tape blocking the sharing of new Ebola samples (which in some cases do not even have to be live, and therefore shipping issues should disappear) in a few minutes.   I doubt this is a red tape issue.  Blocking even…

In the news today is the story of how India has refused to agree with a World Trade Organization (WTO) demand that it scale back its stockpiling of grains.  I recall when the IMF/World Bank demanded something similar of African governments decades ago.  The governments sold off their stockpiles in exchange for IMF loans. Soon…

Reuters’ Sharon Begley has to be one of the very best science journalists in the US.  She always gets to the meat of the matter.  Here she gives us the highlights of what scientists said remains unknown about Ebola transmission, at an IOM meeting November 3.  The full article is below, and it confirms what…

This site‘s owner decided to fill the gap when the Associated Press chose to stop publishing articles on suspected Ebola cases.  Great info!

And that could be why we are hearing so little despite multiple suspected cases around the country. Sunday, Nov. 2, someone recently returned from Liberia developed a fever, and was hospitalized at Duke.  The publicy learned about this because a doctor at Duke is also a Forbes journalist, who had not signed on to the…

CDC changed its story again.  As of October 27, CDC updated its risk guidelines to acknowledge that being in a room or on a plane with someone who is symptomatic with Ebola puts others at low, but not zero, risk of contagion.  I applaud CDC for this change.  It admits there is much we do…

I would recommend that healthcare workers read the complete article.  We are used to outfit #1, but the details for #2 and #3 (especially their removal) are hazy for many of us, since we have never before had to use this level of personal protection to protect ourselves from our patients’ infections. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/15/us/changes-to-ebola-protection-worn-by-us-hospital-workers.html Changes to…