The Dangers of Quarantines: Ebola Policies Made in Panic Cause More Damage [View all]

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The Dangers of Quarantines: Ebola Policies Made in Panic Cause More Damage

Editorial Board, NY Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/28/opinion/ebola-policies-made-in-panic-cause-more-damage.html?smid=re-share

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It’s not surprising that they have started to adjust their earlier positions, which seemed politically motivated, as they have come under a barrage of criticism from public health experts for their dangerous overreaction. They now say they will allow health care workers to be confined to their own homes, where they will be checked twice a day by public health officials.

Lost in this grandstanding was one essential point. The danger to the public in New York in the case of Dr. Craig Spencer, who had worked in Guinea for Doctors Without Borders, was close to nonexistent. Health experts are virtually unanimous in declaring that people infected with the virus do not become contagious until after they develop a fever or other symptoms, such as diarrhea, vomiting, or severe headaches, at which time they need to be hospitalized and taken out of circulation.


Health care workers like Dr. Spencer know that it is in their interest to ensure that — if symptoms do arise — they get care quickly to improve their chances of survival and to reduce the risk of infecting their friends and families. Dr. Spencer reported his temperature promptly when it was a low-grade fever of a 100.3 degrees and was rushed to Bellevue Hospital Center for isolation and treatment while his fiancée and two friends were put into voluntary isolation.

Fortunately, for the public, there are clearer heads at the federal level than there are in the statehouses of New York and New Jersey. On Monday, strict new federal monitoring rules, announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week, went into effect for travelers entering the United States from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The rules are designed to avoid the confusion of state-by-state policies, give health workers and other travelers a clearer idea of what to expect and reassure the public that somebody is in charge. State and local health departments will contact travelers daily for 21 days after their departure from West Africa to check on their temperatures and other symptoms (21 days is the maximum period for symptoms to develop). If the returning health care workers fail to report as required, health officials will track them down using contact information they have provided upon entry.




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