Ebola virus: Top Sierra Leone doctor, Sheik Umar Khan, dies of disease aged 39
Source: Independent UK
The top doctor treating patients infected with the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone has died from the disease, officials have confirmed.
Dr Sheik Umar Khan had been hospitalised in quarantine since he contracted the virus last week. The virologist was credited with treating more than 100 patients at the hospital in Kenema - one of the worlds leading Ebola diagnosis facilities.
The current outbreak is the largest in history, so far killing more than 672 people across West Africa since the outbreak began in February, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Nations affected include Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria.
Dr Khan's death on Tuesday afternoon was confirmed by chief medical officer Dr Brima Kargbo, who had previously hailed him as a "national hero" when she announced he had contracted the the disease.
Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/ebola-virus-top-sierra-leone-doctor-shek-umar-dies-of-disease-9636406.html
Huge loss for the country.
DURHAM D
(32,610 posts)RIP
TygrBright
(20,760 posts)Physicians dedicated to saving lives in such difficult circumstances and environments are among our treasures, and it hurts to lose them.
sadly,
Bright
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Very sad to hear of his passing.
bigwillq
(72,790 posts)RIP.
A true hero indeed. Rest well, Sir.
onecent
(6,096 posts)beginning to scare the beejesus out of me...If it hits the US it's gonna keep ALOT OF PEOPLE HOME...I am one of them....
glad I'm retired.....dammmmnnnnn
Response to n2doc (Original post)
lostincalifornia This message was self-deleted by its author.
PeoViejo
(2,178 posts)but all it takes is a tiny drop of infected body fluids to contract the disease. He had to take the suit off, risking contamination.
Response to PeoViejo (Reply #8)
lostincalifornia This message was self-deleted by its author.
grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)bemildred
(90,061 posts)hedda_foil
(16,375 posts)From what I've read about this disease, it was believed by the medical community to be transmitted only through direct personal contact with an infected person's bodily secretions. But the protocols used by this doctor and the rest of the hospital staff treating Ebola patients should have been more than sufficient to avoid their becoming infected. I hope that this doesn't mean that it's become communicable through aerosolized droplets from patients' coughing or breathing. Although this was a possibility, it hadn't been seen before this outbreak.
Laffy Kat
(16,383 posts)Another filovirus, Marburg, became aerosolized, although I think it only infected lab monkeys. If you truly want to wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat I recommend Hot Zone by Richard Preston. Fascinating and terrifying.
onecent
(6,096 posts)company, and am now almost afraid to pick it back up.
Zorra
(27,670 posts)pretty safe say he knew what he was doing and took every precaution not to come into contact with body fluids from infected patients.
Airborne Ebola could be our "Captain Trips".
No expense should be spared to contain this awful disease.
magical thyme
(14,881 posts)to make sure that nothing was exposed anywhere.
I also read the the American doctor and American worker who were diagnosed last week are believed to have been exposed while the doctor was suiting up in the dressing room. Apparently 2 local workers that were in the room with them on one particular day were both been diagnosed shortly after. So it seemed as though they picked it up outside the hospital and then transmitted it before they were showing symptoms.
gvstn
(2,805 posts)She was a missionary but one of her tasks was spraying down/decontaminating personnel who were entering and leaving the quarantine area. So there could have been some splashback type scenario. It was basically just a tent and a spraying apparatus but she was probably only 6-10 feet away from those coming out of the quarantine area. Some video here (spraying scene is in the first minute or so) http://abcnews.go.com/Health/american-contracts-ebola-liberia/story?id=24733440
And here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2709140/American-Ebola-victim-terrified-say-colleagues-tell-dedicated-life-Africa-refused-flee-young-family-virus-began-spread.html If you scroll down and look at the pics it appears that different folks are wearing different versions of protective gear; different shoes different layers of clothing and in only one is any one wearing protective eye gear.
So I think they are following protocols but "in the field" they might not always have "perfect" equipment.
I hope it is imperfect gear rather than a more virulent strain.
PADemD
(4,482 posts)His family had returned to the U.S. for a pre-planned trip last week, before he found out about his condition. They have shown no signs of the disease.
MailOnline understands that his wife is not at their home in Fort Worth, Texas, but is elsewhere and staying with family.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2709140/American-Ebola-victim-terrified-say-colleagues-tell-dedicated-life-Africa-refused-flee-young-family-virus-began-spread.html#ixzz38wAWp8cm
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
LisaL
(44,973 posts)With incubation period of up to 21 days, that doesn't seem wise to me at all.
suffragette
(12,232 posts)I was just reading an article yesterday about some villages resisting treatment because they believed that medical staff were spreading the disease.
Now with the news that this doctor has died and other doctors are ill, there is likely to be even more resistance to identification and treatment/quarantine.
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)Accidents even happen in a level 4 lab with all the best and latest equipment.
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)is it has always been theorized that if the virus did make the leap to become airborne, the death rate would likely be significantly less than 50-90%. The death rate with this outbreak is still very high, I read at 50%. If it has become airborne, with the high death rate, that would not be good at all. I really hope the people taking care of the sick who have contracted it got it because of an error (got splashed with fluids or something) and NOT that the virus has become airborne.
B2G
(9,766 posts)the number of healthcare workers who have contracted this...while wearing full hazmat suits.
catbyte
(34,402 posts)pandemic is that it's such an efficient killer. Although I heard an unsettling report on NBC Nightly News tonight that said there were 84 direct flights daily from the effected areas in Africa to the USA. Gack.
What a loss.
magical thyme
(14,881 posts)remote villages. Entire villages were wiped out before it could spread to other villages.
In this situation, however, it has been erupting in more populated areas. That is also why the American who traveled on an international flight into a major city with it is so worrying. It's the first time it has had the opportunity to spread to densely populated areas.
Rozlee
(2,529 posts)via lab exposure. I'd like to think that such breaches of safety are always detected before the infected go out into the community, but all it would take is one.
magical thyme
(14,881 posts)Because in the US something like ebola would be classified as a Biosafety Level 4.
I can't imagine how it could breach that without either instrument failure or a major human error.
Just googled; they appear to use the same protocols.
In 2004 a Russian lab worker died from ebola due to an accidental needlestick. In that situation, the worker knows *immediately* that they have been exposed. So they would be immediately isolated, before the infection had a chance to get going, and immediately treated. I know that if a lab tech is exposed to, say Hep C, they are immediately treated with immune system boosters (gamma globulin, possibly others).
A German lab worker had an accidental needlestick with ebola in 2009. Apparently there is an unapproved (never even tested on humans, but effective in other primates.) vaccine developed in Canada that they shipped to her. They had to guess at the dosage. She was vaccinated within 40 hours of the needlestick and, per the article, had a fever spike 12 hours after the vaccine. Other than the fever spike, she was symptom free at 8 days. Didn't see any follow up and her name was not revealed.
Rozlee
(2,529 posts)I do, and I'm not usually conspiracy minded, but I'm reminded of the Anthrax terrorist and how the biological agent was stolen from a top government lab with no one the wiser. Consulting google though, I'm reading that Anthrax is considered Biosafety Level 3, since there's a treatment for it.
tblue37
(65,403 posts)being mishandled by the CDC, I always assume that human error will occur, if not today, then tomorrow, or the next day, or the next. . . .
Squinch
(50,955 posts)msanthrope
(37,549 posts)Stryst
(714 posts)Is also hot and heavy. Working and sweating all day in the stuff can suck the life out of you, so if these folks don't get some serious support, we're going to see care workers dropping of exhaustion and making mistakes.
magical thyme
(14,881 posts)She described the working situation in the gear. They try to limit themselves to working for 1 hour stretches, during which time they can sweat 2+ litres of water. It takes them 2 hours to rehydrate after a 1 hour stint. It wreaks havoc on their bodies.
Of course, that means they are suiting up and decontaminating/unsuiting multiple times throughout the day, each time risks a mistake and accidental exposure.
And the American doctor who now has it was pushing himself to work 3 hour shifts.
I suspect that is why they are dying even though they are diagnosed at the first hint of symptoms and receive immediate treatment, they're bodies are already very stressed.
Stryst
(714 posts)If they don't have proper salt rations and TIME for the water to actually hydrate them, then... well, we know how bad it is. When I was in Iraq, I didn't understand why I was being given salt pills until the first morning I woke up feeling hung over and the shirt I had laid out was solid white with dried salt.
This is one of those scary situations where I wish I was just a little less sick and weak, because I would rather see it contained and dealt with than spreading through an airport or something. Death by ebola is scary, but seeing triage lines in Chicago or New York is a whole lot scarier.
http://www.samaritanspurse.org/disaster/ebola-crisis/
Stop it in Africa, because ebola in Asia, Europe, or the America's will spread like fire. Especially in the US where we have dense cities, lots of traffic between them, and not enough medical care for everyone that would need it.
magical thyme
(14,881 posts)Rhiannon12866
(205,467 posts)First the loss of the AIDS researchers and now this!
Response to n2doc (Original post)
Rhiannon12866 This message was self-deleted by its author.
L0oniX
(31,493 posts)YarnAddict
(1,850 posts)to transfer an infected doc to a hospital in Europe for treatment. Does anyone know if it was this doctor? It seems that there is a truly alarming number of healthcare workers who have caught it.
What a horrible disease.
onecent
(6,096 posts)I think that would be kind of dumb...I think this could get very ugly.
B2G
(9,766 posts)He never made it.
"German authorities were expecting the arrival of Sheik Umar Khan, an Ebola expert who caught the disease while treating patients in Sierra Leone, but he died before he could be transported."
http://rt.com/news/176628-eu-ebola-high-alert/
LisaL
(44,973 posts)One who is still alive is reportedly not doing well.
And there really is no treatment right now as far as I can tell, except supportive care. Seems like supportive care can be provided in place.
YarnAddict
(1,850 posts)sent his family home just a few days before he started showing symptoms. I wonder if they could have been infected.
This is a very scary situation.
onecent
(6,096 posts)B2G
(9,766 posts)Read "The Hot Zone", by Preston. True story.
http://learn.flvs.net/educator/common/EnglishIIv10/TheHotZone.pdf
Didn't realize you were linking to the full book. Thanks, I just finished what I was reading (Terminal Freeze by Lincoln Child, don't bother unless you've read everything else in your house).
Oh, and large PDF warning for anyone who clicks on the link.
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)I had read the book years ago but didn't 'get' the book in my divorce, lol, so haven't read it in a long time. Now I can re-read it. Thank you.
B2G
(9,766 posts)I started it again yesterday and am halfway through (lot of typos, but they're manageable).
It's terrifying.
onecent
(6,096 posts)has been hospitalized with suspected Ebola, and had visited Africa. OH my that can take down ALOT OF PEOPLE. I remember the first time I heard about Ebola, in the 70's, and my children were little and it was all I could think about for months and months. I still cannot imagine why they would be willing to take a case in Germany.
But I don't understand half of the crap we see in the news every day. Thanks again for posting the article.
YarnAddict
(1,850 posts)Makes me think of The Stand by Stephen King.
B2G
(9,766 posts)onecent
(6,096 posts)maddezmom
(135,060 posts)Huge loss for the world.
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)closeupready
(29,503 posts)Just goes to show you how virulent this virus is.