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magical thyme

(14,881 posts) Mon Oct 6, 2014, 10:09 PM Oct 2014

Spanish nurse reported in as soon as her temp rose; they sent her away. The threshold is TOO HIGH [View all]

For the 2nd time in a week, a potentially exposed person reported in with mild symptoms and was sent on their way. For the 2nd time, that person was left to walk around for days potentially infecting others.

"She had alerted them to a slight fever on 30 September, said Antonio Alemany from the regional government of Madrid, and checked into a hospital in Alcorcón with a high fever on Sunday. Ebola protocol was immediately activated at the hospital and initial and secondary tests were both positive for the virus."
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/06/nurse-spain-tests-positive-ebola

The problem is with the fucking criteria. The temperature threshold is 101.5F -- and it is too effing high.

Duncan's was only 100.1 when the ED doctor followed the criteria and sent him home.

How many symptomatic people are they going to let loose before they figure out that the problem is the guidelines?!?!

20 replies

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Spanish nurse reported in as soon as her temp rose; they sent her away. The threshold is TOO HIGH [View all] magical thyme Oct 2014 OP

OH GEEZE! elleng Oct 2014 #1

Unreal...n/t haikugal Oct 2014 #2

Regardless of the temperature... Agschmid Oct 2014 #3

the point is that the official guidelines that have been sent out use 101.5F as the threshold temp magical thyme Oct 2014 #4

That's nutz RobertEarl Oct 2014 #5

This needs to change now; ebola is not fcking around. n/t eShirl Oct 2014 #11

... grasswire Oct 2014 #6

I've been working on my protocol, because the sr techs around me are so lax where I work magical thyme Oct 2014 #7

100.1 isn't technically febrile in most hospitals. Barack_America Oct 2014 #8

I'm referring to CDC criteria, not what a hospital considers a fever magical thyme Oct 2014 #10

Also, if the CDC is wrong about the temperature, ecstatic Oct 2014 #9

the guidelines are not outdated; they're based on this epidemic for US doctors. magical thyme Oct 2014 #12

If you lower the threshold too much, you get a lot of false postives Ex Lurker Oct 2014 #13

Better a hundred false positives than a real case that is sent back into the population. n/t pnwmom Oct 2014 #14

So why should the cutoff for Ebola be almost a full degree higher than that? It shouldn't. pnwmom Oct 2014 #15

Then fever should not be a criteria for exposed patients. magical thyme Oct 2014 #18

if these 2 positives were out of 100 other positives that were caught immediately, then maybe magical thyme Oct 2014 #20

Grhhh...... LeftInTX Oct 2014 #16

There's nothing that says they 'sent her away'; she was on vacation on Sept 30th muriel_volestrangler Oct 2014 #17

I think the "real factor" needs to be exposure/risk. IdaBriggs Oct 2014 #19