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The head of the group that runs the Texas hospital under scrutiny for mishandling an Ebola scare apologized Sunday in full-page ads in local Dallas newspapers, saying the hospital “made mistakes in handling this very difficult challenge.”
Barclay E. Berdan, chief executive of the Texas Health Resources, which operates a network of 25 hospitals here, said in an open letter that hospital officials were deeply sorry for having misdiagnosed symptoms shown by Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian man who was sent home after his first visit to the emergency room of Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital but was later readmitted and then died of Ebola two weeks later.
“The fact that Mr. Duncan had traveled to Africa was not communicated effectively among the care team, though it was in his medical chart,” Berdan wrote. “On that visit to the Emergency Department, we did not correctly diagnose his symptoms as those of Ebola. For this we are deeply sorry.”
The letter was the latest in an attempt to turn around a crippling public relations disaster for the hospital, which was criticized for making serious errors and then announcing incorrect information about those mistakes.
By the time Duncan died, two nurses involved in his treatment were also infected. Berdan pushed back against allegations that the hospital failed to articulate the proper infection prevention guidelines to its nursing staff.
Spanish nursing assistant clear of Ebola virus
Spain says a test has shown a nursing assistant who became infected with Ebola is now clear of all traces of the virus.
A blood test has revealed that Teresa Romero’s immune system has eliminated the virus from her body, according to a statement released by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s office late Sunday.
Manuel Cuenca, microbiology director at Madrid’s Carlos III health care complex, says a second test in the coming hours is needed to absolutely confirm Romero’s recovery.
Romero, 44, had treated two patients who died of Ebola at Carlos III hospital. The first, Miguel Pajares, contracted the disease in Liberia and died on Aug. 12 despite having been treated with the experimental drug ZMapp. The second was Manuel Garcia Viejo who died, aged 69, on Sept. 25.
New military medical team to help with Ebola in US
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered the military to prepare and train a 30-member medical support team that could provide short-term help to civilian health professionals if there are more Ebola cases in the United States.
His spokesman, Rear Adm. John Kirby, says the team drawn from across the military services will include 20 critical care nurses, five doctors trained in infectious diseases and five trainers in infectious disease protocols.
The team will go to Fort Sam Houston in Texas for training in infection control and special protective equipment. Training is expected to start within the next week.
Kirby says the team won’t be sent to West Africa or elsewhere overseas. He says members will be called up for service in the U.S. only if needed by public health officials.
Spain gives US go-ahead to use bases against Ebola
Spain has agreed to allow the U.S. to use two military bases in the southwest of the country to support its efforts to combat the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
A Defense Ministry statement says the deal permits U.S. armed forces to use the air base at Moron de la Frontera near Seville and the naval station at Rota on Spain’s Atlantic coast to transport personnel and materials to and from Africa.
Defense Minister Pedro Morenes sealed the deal with U.S. counterpart Chuck Hagel in Washington.
The ministry statement, released late Saturday, says the agreement will be reviewed and updated on a case-by-case basis and would also permit U.S. forces to use the bases against IS militants.
Friends, family of Ebola patient reach milestone
Louise Troh, girlfriend of the late Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan will be released from confinement on Sunday night, along with several friends, family and others who had contact with Duncan after he first became infectious. Ebola has a maximum 21-day incubation period, and the people who interacted with Duncan after he first arrived in Dallas from Liberia will be in the clear.
It’s an important milestone in the nation’s efforts to contain the outbreak and a cause for celebration for Troh. After three long weeks, she will able to have a clean bill of health, leave the house and be done with twice-daily temperature readings by government health care workers. She likened the period to being a prisoner.
"I want to breathe, I want to really grieve, I want privacy with my family," Troh told The Associated Press on Friday, lamenting that she was missing Duncan’s memorial service at his mother’s church in North Carolina because of the quarantine. Troh says she and Duncan planned to get married later in the week.
Duncan arrived in Dallas from Liberia in late September and went to the hospital complaining of headache and stomach pain. He was sent home with a prescription for antibiotics to treat a misdiagnosed sinus infection. He returned two days later, was diagnosed with Ebola and died Oct. 8.
The day Duncan tested positive for Ebola, Troh, her 13-year-old son, Duncan’s nephew and a family friend were ordered by a Dallas court to stay inside the apartment among Duncan’s used linens and any lingering virus. The unusual confinement order was imposed after the family failed to comply with a request not to leave the apartment, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said. The four were later taken to an undisclosed gated community.
Ebola protocols to call for no skin showing
Revised guidance for health care workers treating Ebola patients will include using protective gear "with no skin showing," a top federal health official said Sunday.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said those caring for an Ebola patient in Dallas were left vulnerable because some of their skin was exposed.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working on revisions to safety protocols. Earlier ones, he said, were based on a World Health Organization model in which care was given in more remote places, often outdoors, and without intensive training for health workers.
"So there were parts about that protocol that left vulnerability, parts of the skin that were open," Fauci said.
"Very clearly, when you go into a hospital, have to intubate somebody, have all of the body fluids, you’ve got to be completely covered. So that’s going to be one of the things … to be complete covering with no skin showing whatsoever," he said.
Ebola’s incubation period is 21 days.
Reports by Associated Press and New York Times News Service
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