{"id":1067,"date":"2014-10-13T11:30:58","date_gmt":"2014-10-13T15:30:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/?p=1067"},"modified":"2014-11-10T22:39:32","modified_gmt":"2014-11-11T03:39:32","slug":"ebola-and-breach-of-protocol-makes-me-bristle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/2014\/10\/13\/1067\/ebola-and-breach-of-protocol-makes-me-bristle\/","title":{"rendered":"Ebola and “Breach of Protocol”: Makes Me Bristle\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

We are told by\u00a0Tom Frieden \/ CDC that it was a \u201cprotocol breach\u201d when a nurse in Texas taking care of US Ebola patient no. 1 got infected? \u00a0At the same news conference, he tells us he doesn\u2019t know what kind of breach actually occurred. \u00a0So what is he talking about?\u00a0\"T<\/a><\/p>\n

I am dumbfounded: Next time a tire blows on a truck driving down the highway, should we assume the driver did not follow protocol?\u00a0 Because our US tires don\u2019t blow up \u2013 ever!<\/p>\n

What if our CDC-promulgated Ebola protection measures turn out later to be totally inadequate?<\/p>\n

When nurses and doctors take care of patients with infectious diseases, don\u2019t they all take a \u2018risk\u2019 of getting infected?\u00a0 Does it always amount to a \u2018breach in protocol\u2019, or is it always considered to be a lack of care givers following precautions?<\/p>\n

From the safe distance of an office at CDC or NIH, it is easy to talk about isolation measures in absolute terms.\u00a0 The real world is different: How many surgeons got infected with HIV when they had a torn glove\u00a0during an operation?\u00a0 They were double-gloving and wearing face masks but the nature of the intervention brought them into intimate contact with highly infective body fluids. How many physicians in training in the early 80ies\u00a0became\u00a0infected with HBV because they were drawing blood on patients they didn\u2019t even know were infectious?\u00a0 They all followed protocols that existed which we now know were at times woefully inadequate.<\/p>\n

Ebola is a foe we have little to no experience with. The African nations, much maligned in recent weeks for their \u2018inadequate medical systems\u2019 were able to handle several outbreaks in past decades. The claim that US hospitals are well equipped to deal with this scourge is based on \u2013 nothing.\u00a0 There is no track record, quite the contrary.<\/p>\n

If anything, the uncontrolled CRE outbreak at the NIH hospital in recent years should have taught our top ID representatives at NIH and CDC some lessons in humility.\u00a0 By Tom Frieden\u2019s standards, protocols were breached there, constantly, by the best trained teams, over many months.\u00a0 If NIH cannot do a better job, why this air of confidence, actually arrogance, that \u201cwe in the US\u201d can control Ebola, a much more dangerous foe, by following a protocol?<\/p>\n

And, one claim recently in the press that we needn’t worry because “we are not West Africa” \u00a0– \u00a0does the Ebola virus really care whether here or there?<\/p>\n

Hats off to the nurses that expose themselves to one of the most dangerous viruses we ever had to deal with. They are doing a job in a setting of inadequate training, emerging standards of care and precautions, inadequate knowledge about the disease and the way it is spread.\u00a0 They are at the frontlines in this battle to contain Ebola, they have all my sympathies and respect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are told by\u00a0Tom Frieden \/ CDC that it was a \u201cprotocol breach\u201d when a nurse in Texas taking care of US Ebola patient no. 1 got infected? \u00a0At the same news conference, he tells us he doesn\u2019t know what kind of breach actually occurred. \u00a0So what is he talking Continue reading Ebola and “Breach of Protocol”: Makes Me Bristle\u2026<\/span>→<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1073,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[18],"tags":[637,634,639,635,365,638,640,636],"class_list":["post-1067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the_viewpoint","tag-anthony-fauci","tag-breach-in-protocol","tag-cdc","tag-cre-outbreak-nih","tag-ebola","tag-nih","tag-nursing-care","tag-thomas-frieden"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/BSL4-nurses-slider.jpg?fit=640%2C200&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4KWFr-hd","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":661,"url":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/2014\/07\/31\/661\/ebola-fact-sheet\/","url_meta":{"origin":1067,"position":0},"title":"Ebola \u2013 Fact Sheet (Updated 10\/3\/2014)","author":"Harald","date":"July 31, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The WHO just released the latest statistics on what has turned into the largest ever outbreak of Ebola virus (EBOV) in Africa.\u00a0 The epidemic started in Guinea around\u00a0December 2013. As of 7\/27\/2014, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone have reported a total of 1323 cases, with 729 fatalities [i].\u00a0 Most\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The News"","block_context":{"text":"The News","link":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/category\/the_news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1092,"url":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/2014\/10\/31\/1092\/ebola-transmission-prevention\/","url_meta":{"origin":1067,"position":1},"title":"Preventing Ebola Transmission","author":"Harald","date":"October 31, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Chapter 166\u00a0[1] in the new Mandell textbook was written before the current Ebola outbreak, so I thought it would be interesting to read View Postit again and check whether the \u2018old\u2019 recommendations for personal protection were still valid now that we have learned much more during the ongoing outbreak. In\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Viewpoint"","block_context":{"text":"The Viewpoint","link":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/category\/the_viewpoint\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Lego-Hazmat-copy.jpg?fit=640%2C200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Lego-Hazmat-copy.jpg?fit=640%2C200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Lego-Hazmat-copy.jpg?fit=640%2C200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":885,"url":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/2014\/09\/17\/885\/new-pathogens-outbreaks-epidemics-2014\/","url_meta":{"origin":1067,"position":2},"title":"Bugs and Outbreaks That Scared Us in 2014","author":"Harald","date":"September 17, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"At the end of every year, some of us tally \u2013 in a retrospective \u2013 the most remarkable epidemics, newly recognized pathogens or resistance issues that occupied the headlines in the past 12 months.\u00a0 Here a sneak preview what you are likely to see in the coming December issue of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Viewpoint"","block_context":{"text":"The Viewpoint","link":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/category\/the_viewpoint\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Outbreak.gif?fit=638%2C230&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Outbreak.gif?fit=638%2C230&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Outbreak.gif?fit=638%2C230&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1741,"url":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/2015\/07\/17\/1741\/does-the-taxpayer-get-rewarded-for-funding-studies\/","url_meta":{"origin":1067,"position":3},"title":"Does The Taxpayer Get Rewarded For Funding Such Studies?","author":"Harald","date":"July 17, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Cabotegravir (S-1265744) is an integrase inhibitor similar to dolutegravir. \u00a0When formulated as a long-acting drug using crystalline nanoparticle technology it is called GSK'744 LAP.\u00a0 When injected intramuscularly, '744 LAP it has a half-life of >1 month which makes it ideally suited for PrEP\u00a0of HIV for high-risk patients who nowadays are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Did you know...?"","block_context":{"text":"Did you know...?","link":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/category\/interesting_facts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"LAP HIV Drugs - slider copy","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/LAP-HIV-Drugs-slider-copy.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/LAP-HIV-Drugs-slider-copy.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/LAP-HIV-Drugs-slider-copy.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3257,"url":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/2017\/03\/29\/3257\/fake-news-spectinomycin\/","url_meta":{"origin":1067,"position":4},"title":"The CDC and Spectinomycin","author":"Harald","date":"March 29, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Pfizer discontinued US distribution of spectinomycin (Trobicin\u00ae) in November 2005; remaining inventory expired in May 2006\u00a0[1]. Nonetheless, at the FDA website we still find a Package Insert for Trobicin updated as late as Aug 2012, a thin 6-page leaflet which seems to have survived from the 80s. The drug is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The News"","block_context":{"text":"The News","link":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/category\/the_news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Spectino-slider.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Spectino-slider.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Spectino-slider.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1640,"url":"https:\/\/allphasepharma.com\/dir\/2015\/07\/04\/1640\/plazomicin-a-quick-take-on-a-complex-drug-with-a-complex-development-path\/","url_meta":{"origin":1067,"position":5},"title":"Plazomicin \u2013 A Quick Take On A Complex Drug\u00a0With A Complex Development Path","author":"Harald","date":"July 4, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Whenever a new drug is in late stage development, its prospects become the focus\u00a0of intense scrutiny. 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