Kayci Hickox, please go away! Literally.

[joeychitwood]

Originally Posted by Rootbeer

Joey, what do you blame the reported fever on? I'm no doctor but my guess would be either the reading was wrong or the report was wrong. I've heard it reported that KH states the reading was wrong and I've not heard the 'tired and flushed' explanation. The body can do weird things but if every other data set is normal you question the validity of the anomaly right? She was screened for fever before getting on the plane too.

It could be an instrument error, or it could have been a real fever which dropped before the retest. Perhaps she took a medication taking Tylenol or some other antipyretic agent. Even hydrating could drop a temp somewhat. The point I was making is that until everything is sorted out, she should have consented to isolate just like our military members and many others who were asked to quarantine because of some contact with an active patient. Instead, all we heard in our "hysterical" news reports were her threats of lawsuits and her rebellion as exhibited by her bike rides.

[bondtoys]

Uh, yes that bike ride was nasty. Lots of ebola squirrels in Maine now

[KKB]

Originally Posted by joeychitwood

When Hickox got off the plane from West Africa, she had a fever, which she blamed on being tired and flushed, (reasons that I am unfamiliar with, BTW, after 26 years as a physician.) Later, she tested negative. I agree that sitting her down in a tent in a parking lot was not cool, but during the period when no one knew if she was sick or not, she romped and frolicked out and about with total disregard for others. THAT is my problem with her. The fact that she tests negative three weeks later is not cogent to the original post in this thread. I still think she is an arrogant, self-centered, media-loving, litigious person who used this event to gain her 15 minutes of fame.

I agree with all of this, and I wasn't even aware that she had had a fever.

I hope that the media will announce to the public the facility where she works. I would never want to be under the care of a nurse who demonstrates so much self-centeredness and so little common sense as she does.

And if I were her fiance, I would be wondering about the love she has for me if she's willing to put me in harm's way for the sake of her power trip.

[Rootbeer]

Originally Posted by joeychitwood

It could be an instrument error, or it could have been a real fever which dropped before the retest. Perhaps she took a medication taking Tylenol or some other antipyretic agent. Even hydrating could drop a temp somewhat. The point I was making is that until everything is sorted out, she should have consented to isolate just like our military members and many others who were asked to quarantine because of some contact with an active patient. Instead, all we heard in our "hysterical" news reports were her threats of lawsuits and her rebellion as exhibited by her bike rides.

Thanks for the reply. I did read an article that 70 members of the US military are to begin treating ebola patients. But until now I understood their role had been limited to setting up camps to be used by patients and they were departing before they were occupied.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/w...vice/18538273/

[bayerische]

Originally Posted by Rootbeer

Some good news it seems about Dr Craig Spencer:

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-styl...icle-1.2000196

Nice to hear!

All this is bringing down the mortality rate of Ebola in the industrialized world. Ebola can be won.

[Rootbeer]

So it's the end of KH's 21days and she is actually going away. He boyfriend withdrew from his senior year at nursing school too, having been requested not to attend due to, well, media attention and public hysteria. She's calling for public health policies ground in science not fear.

I recall there were only 3 states that tried to impose knee jerk forced quarantine: NJ, NY and CA. I wonder in the last 21 days how many others have returned to those states and others, having risked their lives to help those in West Africa? How many others have failed to needlessly quarantine themselves?

Last count I read was 310 fatalities among health workers in Liberia alone - nearly 10% of the total deaths. In my book these guys are heroes whichever way you cut it.

Let's hope one way or another this outbreak ends and this disease is eradicated once and for all.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...h-workers.html

[bondtoys]

Good to see that the USA are ebola-free without even locking down the borders

Still waiting for the people with the bold statements on this thread coming up with a kind of "sorry" - hope that everyone has enjoyed the witchhunt.

[mjclark32]

Originally Posted by mjclark32

Agree, just stay home for a couple weeks. Put others before yourself at home, just as you did abroad!

Originally Posted by bondtoys

Good to see that the USA are ebola-free without even locking down the borders

Still waiting for the people with the bold statements on this thread coming up with a kind of "sorry" - hope that everyone has enjoyed the witchhunt.

You're not going to be getting an apology out of me.
I stand by what I said. I'm glad she's tested negative. But, even if there was a tiny chance that she had it and it could of spread she should have just stayed home and hung around for a couple weeks...

[Lol-x]

I didn't like her attitude.
Its about minimising the risk to the greater community.
So what if she tested negative 2, 3 or 10 times.....test results can be wrong just like false positive results..
When the incubation period is 21 days, you don't take any risks which may jeopardise others.
This is a tricky situation but it is always best to be safe than sorry.

She was/is such an arse face with her attitude....anyone would think 21 days isolation was a life sentence.

I would never EVER apologise to someone who thought they knew it all, when it is possible (albeit very slight even if it for example a 1 in 10,000,000,00 chance) that she is wrong.

[Rootbeer]

Originally Posted by Lol-x

.....test results can be wrong just like false positive results..

This is latest media myth regarding Martin Salia, the doctor that sadly died in Nebraska. I have no idea of the accuracy of whatever test they are using for ebola, but the idea that you can get a false negative and that testing is unreliable certainly plays well into a narrative of hysteria.In this case it also offers some explanation as to why this chap was close to death by the time he was medevaced to the USA.

Here is a recent report of a lady who died from a heart attack. Reported like it is straight out of Day of the Dead:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ose-mouth.html

Since KH, it is likely many more health workers have returned from West Africa. Without the glare of the media we don't know who these people are. There is no legal restriction on them to quarantine and no scientific reason to do so. They could be walking around anywhere literally not infecting thousands of people. Should we know who these people are so we can fear and avoid them too?

[joeychitwood]

Originally Posted by bondtoys

Good to see that the USA are ebola-free without even locking down the borders

Still waiting for the people with the bold statements on this thread coming up with a kind of "sorry" - hope that everyone has enjoyed the witchhunt.

Yeah, because we don't ever have to worry about Ebola again. I wish I was as confident as you, but unfortunately, I have 26 years as a practicing emergency physician to poison my thinking about infectious disease and contagion. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

[vitalsignsrn]

I appologize for nothing & retract not one word I said. Imagine if she had just come home, & went on home quarantine voluntarily how different this would have played out. She would have been loved by the press instead of being slaughtered. In my mind, she deserved it. She would have still been in the news but this time, in a positive light. Her neighbours probably would have been dropping off pies at her doorstep. Instead, she left her community, either from pressure or voluntarily, who knows. Her boyfriend had to drop out of school because of how this was impacting OTHERS around him. Why didnt she stay in her home? Seems odd that a person with so much conviction about her rights would have been run off? So much for that. Regardless of where she moves, this will follow her forever. I'm laughing (& not in a good way) ..maybe she will get a reality show out of this. I said before, something doesn't add up. To go live & give so much of yourself in a foreign country where death is staring at you in the face, only then to come home & disregard the people you will live, work, & socialize with, I don't know.

[vitalsignsrn]

Originally Posted by joeychitwood

Yeah, because we don't ever have to worry about Ebola again. I wish I was as confident as you, but unfortunately, I have 26 years as a practicing emergency physician to poison my thinking about infectious disease and contagion. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

100% agree. I certainly haven't forgotten SARS & neither of the health care workers of that time will either. We work by the mantra that if it happened once, it can happen again. New policies & procedures are always being implemented to minimize future outbreaks, future risks. No one is ever truly comfortable anymore. I think it's just a matter of time. What concerns us is that this time it might be worse. ** shaking my head ** It's a grim thought but a realistic one. Remember, 1 woman, unknown to her, brought a virus that affected millions of people in Toronto. The impact is mind boggling. I'm not saying this with anger but more with a dejected tone. Thats the reality. Something can happen at any time.

[Rootbeer]

Judy, I wouldn't expect anyone in this thread to change their views and that is what is so interesting here. We all have received broadly similar information and have come to diametrically opposing views.

Originally Posted by vitalsignsrn

Her boyfriend had to drop out of school because of how this was impacting OTHERS around him.

My understanding of why her boyfriend left his senior year of nursing was that he was asked to stay away by the institution and therefore could not proceed. My interpretation of that was that the institution did not want the media attention or they were afraid that others on his nursing course or the wider college would then panic and refuse to attend. So for me this reinforces the superstition/hysteria associated with ebola in the US, particularly as nursing necessarily is science so one might think that if there was anywhere that would support science-based pragmatism, a nursing school would seem a likely candidate.

[GED]

Originally Posted by Rootbeer

This is latest media myth regarding Martin Salia, the doctor that sadly died in Nebraska. I have no idea of the accuracy of whatever test they are using for ebola, but the idea that you can get a false negative and that testing is unreliable certainly plays well into a narrative of hysteria.In this case it also offers some explanation as to why this chap was close to death by the time he was medevaced to the USA.

Here is a recent report of a lady who died from a heart attack. Reported like it is straight out of Day of the Dead:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ose-mouth.html

Since KH, it is likely many more health workers have returned from West Africa. Without the glare of the media we don't know who these people are. There is no legal restriction on them to quarantine and no scientific reason to do so. They could be walking around anywhere literally not infecting thousands of people. Should we know who these people are so we can fear and avoid them too?

There is no legal restriction on them to quarantine and no scientific reason to do so. They could be walking around anywhere literally not infecting thousands of people. Should we know who these people are so we can fear and avoid them too?

Yes, and they could also be walking around anywhere literally infecting thousands of people too.

Should we know who these people are so we can fear and avoid them too? Um, yeah-better to err on the side of safety!(am aware of past witch hunts, McCarthyism, mass hysteria, etc. but hey, we're just asking for period of quarantine). Regarding people's fear and avoidance-that's a fairly natural reaction albeit perhaps not always rational, polite or politically correct.

[Laszlo]

KH simply did a Charlie Sheen. An adult should know that acting out so publically during the zenith of fear would cause irreversible harm to her being and reputation. Once the media gets a hold of something that'll drive theatre and clicks, they can either spin the context positively or negatively, and that can have profound and everlasting effects on one's character. They either get a movie deal, or they are excommunicated from society.

[bondtoys]

Let's keep in mind that she has been imprisoned right after her return without even having the chance of volutarily quaranteening herself.

If my governor did that to me without a proper scientific or legal ground but just for stirring up some hysteria, I'd go to court as well.

As far as I know, KH stayed mostly away from the public and the hysteria about her biketour was just that.

In the meantime probably hundreds of helpers have returned home and noone has infected people close to them - same with KH

[bondtoys]

*** replace "Imprisoned" with "locked up" ***

[SUBversive]

I think she's long forgotten. The news cycle has moved on. In fact Ebola is so yesterday ....

[vitalsignsrn]

Originally Posted by Rootbeer

Judy, I wouldn't expect anyone in this thread to change their views and that is what is so interesting here. We all have received broadly similar information and have come to diametrically opposing views.



My understanding of why her boyfriend left his senior year of nursing was that he was asked to stay away by the institution and therefore could not proceed. My interpretation of that was that the institution did not want the media attention or they were afraid that others on his nursing course or the wider college would then panic and refuse to attend. So for me this reinforces the superstition/hysteria associated with ebola in the US, particularly as nursing necessarily is science so one might think that if there was anywhere that would support science-based pragmatism, a nursing school would seem a likely candidate.

Sam, I didnt take the boyfriend being asked to leave because of hysteria. I understand the stance the school took was to keep him out to prevent further disruption, either by his own presence or of the media. The students don't have much time to learn the modules as the course moves along fairly quickly. Without him there the students could concentrate on their lectures & practical demonstration labs without all the stuff happening outside. I'm sure they were also concerned about him being there & being exposed to his girlfriend. But over all I don't think the schools position was hysteria based. The students have exams to write & material to learn before they do that. I remember burning the midnight oil & not sure if I had a lot of distractions & many questions from my own family & friends how frustrated I would have been to have to deal with it. I'm going in circles with my response for which I apologize. Im not feeling so good tonight & my thoughts are all over the place. But I think you get what I'm saying.