Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

General Discussion

magical thyme

(14,881 posts)

18. Then fever should not be a criteria for exposed patients.

Reply to Ex Lurker (Reply #13)

Tue Oct 7, 2014, 07:26 AM

Oct 2014

Because neither of the first 2 cases diagnosed outside of Africa met the threshold criteria.

Or any even slight temperature elevation of exposed patients should at least lead to temporary isolation and evaluation. Jeebus, we have totally non-sick people in our ED all the time, and even do extensive testing if they keep coming back, up to and including a recent spinal tap/CSF for somebody with normal CBC and CMP because of a headache and fever. But we won't isolate and monitor a potential Ebola case?!?!

"El Mundo reported that it was the nurse who asked to be tested for Ebola, having to insist repeatedly on being tested before it was done on Monday."
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/07/ebola-crisis-substandard-equipment-nurse-positive-spain

Edit history

Please sign in to view edit histories.

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

20 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

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the guidelines are not outdated; they're based on this epidemic for US doctors.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