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Beringia

(4,316 posts) Sat Oct 18, 2014, 04:31 PM Oct 2014

When Holding An Orphaned Baby Can Mean Contracting Ebola

(I saw this story on Democracy Now, with Amy Goodman and I wondered how you could contract Ebola from a baby.)

by NPR Staff
October 10, 2014

Anne Purfield and Michelle Dynes are epidemiologists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They spent the past several weeks responding to the Ebola epidemic in the Kenema district of Sierra Leone, and recently returned to Atlanta.

One of the many difficult aspects of working around the disease is not being able to comfort people who are grieving, Purfield and Dynes explain during a visit to StoryCorps in Atlanta. (Ebola is spread through contact with bodily fluids.)

"You can't touch anyone," says Purfield, 37. "You can't comfort them."

"Imagine losing 10 members of your family, and no one giving you a hug," replies Dynes, 39, a nurse epidemiologist.

One day, an Ebola-infected mother brought her baby into a hospital, Purfield recalls. The mother died, and the baby was left in a box.

"They tested the baby, and the baby was negative," says Purfield. "But I think the symptoms in babies and the disease progression in babies is different than adults.

"So the nurses would pick up and cuddle the baby. And they were taking care of the baby in the box," she continues.

Twelve of those nurses subsequently contracted Ebola, Purfield says. Only one survived.

"They couldn't just watch a baby sitting alone in a box," Dynes says.

The toll on Sierra Leone's local health care workers has been high. "By the time we had arrived," Dynes adds, "more than 20 nurses had died from Ebola. And nearly all of the phlebotomists had died. ... They've taken care of their own colleagues and watched them all die."

"And they still go back into the wards," says Purfield.

"It just hits you really hard, because you realize we're only here for five weeks, six weeks," Dynes says. "They're here for the long haul."

http://www.npr.org/2014/10/10/354888965/when-holding-an-orphaned-baby-can-mean-contracting-ebola

8 replies

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Highlight:

When Holding An Orphaned Baby Can Mean Contracting Ebola (Original Post) Beringia Oct 2014 OP

k&r, it justs sucks. I wonder how many of those nurses would've survived if they had better uppityperson Oct 2014 #1

Babies are regular little fluid factories. enlightenment Oct 2014 #2

On Democracy Now Beringia Oct 2014 #4

I was responding to your question: enlightenment Oct 2014 #5

Everyone must read this article. greatlaurel Oct 2014 #3

Kicked and recommended In_The_Wind Oct 2014 #6

Reminds me of the workers trying to shut down the TEPCO plant after the Japanese tsunami. SunSeeker Oct 2014 #7

The blind eye kills. n/t MerryBlooms Oct 2014 #8

uppityperson

(115,677 posts)

1. k&r, it justs sucks. I wonder how many of those nurses would've survived if they had better

Reply to Beringia (Original post)

Sat Oct 18, 2014, 04:35 PM

Oct 2014

access to iv's and medicines we have here.

enlightenment

(8,830 posts)

2. Babies are regular little fluid factories.

Reply to Beringia (Original post)

Sat Oct 18, 2014, 04:43 PM

Oct 2014

If something isn't coming out of one end, it's coming out of the other.

Urine, feces, vomit (spit-up), drool, mucus . . . healthy babies deliver quantities of that every single day. Why would this baby be any different? If they thought the baby was not infected, they probably were not as careful as they would have been otherwise.

Beringia

(4,316 posts)

4. On Democracy Now

Reply to enlightenment (Reply #2)

Sat Oct 18, 2014, 04:54 PM

Oct 2014

the woman from the CDC said they thought the the baby may have it, because the mother had it and died, and is transmitted through breast milk. The baby tested negative at first and then later was positive.

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/10/16/a_us_nurse_witnesses_ebolas_ravages

MICHELLE DYNES: Shortly before I arrived in Kenema, a woman had come into the treatment center sick with Ebola. And she had brought her baby with her. The mother, unfortunately, tested positive for Ebola, but the baby tested negative. In a situation like that, it’s very, very difficult to know how to move forward with the care of the baby, because we know, as healthcare providers, as public health professionals, that the risk of that baby becoming Ebola-positive is quite high. We know that the Ebola virus is found in breast milk, and that baby was breast-fed. And so, in that situation, the hospital staff chose to keep the baby in their presence so that they could monitor the baby for symptoms of Ebola, especially since the baby had tested negative initially. Unfortunately, over time, the baby did develop Ebola, and those hospital workers had all placed themselves at risk by caring for that baby. It’s the humanitarian side of all of us that reaches out and says, you know, we have to pick up this baby and take care of it, even though you know you’re at risk.

enlightenment

(8,830 posts)

5. I was responding to your question:

Reply to Beringia (Reply #4)

Sat Oct 18, 2014, 05:11 PM

Oct 2014

how you could contract Ebola from a baby

Apologies if that was unclear.

greatlaurel

(2,004 posts)

3. Everyone must read this article.

Reply to Beringia (Original post)

Sat Oct 18, 2014, 04:46 PM

Oct 2014

This is a terrible disease that the West has ignored for far too long. The health care workers who have sacrificed their own lives and those who continue to put themselves at risk to treat patients are brave beyond words. These men and women should be memorialized and their bravery and self sacrifice must never be forgotten.

I do not forget that Dr. Fauci has already stated that without the slashing of the budget at the CDC, we would already have a vaccine to combat this disease.

Thank you for this post.