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Related: About this forumA message from Kaiser Permanente about Ebola
Email from Kaiser...
The outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa and recent cases here in the United States are serious. We want you to know that Kaiser Permanente is monitoring the situation closely and taking direct action in response to be sure we’re ready. As always, your health and well-being are our top priorities.
Most public health experts continue to believe it’s very unlikely that Ebola will become an epidemic in the U.S. Even so, we’re committed to being prepared in the rare event the virus does spread beyond the recent cases in Texas.
What is Kaiser Permanente doing to prepare?
We’re dedicated to protecting our patients, members, physicians, nurses, and entire staff. We’ve taken a wide range of steps to be ready to safely evaluate and treat anyone who might have Ebola:
• We’re meeting or exceeding all recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and are working closely with public health officials. This includes making sure our caregivers have the right equipment and training in case they do need to treat a patient with Ebola.
• We’ve updated our clinical procedures and training protocols based on the latest information from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and the handful of cases here in the U.S.
• We’re following national and state standards for early detection and care.
• We have an expert team of infectious disease and emergency management specialists overseeing the process to make sure our patients and staff are protected.
What to do if you have symptoms or think you’ve been exposed
Public health experts have confirmed that Ebola can only be spread through direct contact with the body fluids of someone sick with Ebola, or objects contaminated with the virus (like needles).
This means:
• Ebola is NOT spread through casual contact.
• Ebola can only be spread when people who have the virus are actively showing symptoms.
If you recently traveled to Sierra Leone, Guinea, or Liberia and have a fever or are otherwise ill, or you’ve been in contact with someone who was diagnosed with Ebola, call our appointment and advice line for additional instructions at 1-866-454-8855.
Please call us before coming to a Kaiser Permanente facility. This will help our medical staff direct you to the right location and quickly provide you with the best care possible. However, if you reasonably believe you’re experiencing a medical or psychiatric emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest hospital.
What are the symptoms?
The most important early symptom of Ebola in someone who’s been exposed to the virus is a fever. Patients may also have: headache, joint and muscle aches, weakness, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain, lack of appetite, or abnormal bleeding. Symptoms may appear anytime from 2 to 21 days after exposure to the Ebola virus, though 8 to 10 days is most common.
For more information
Visit kp.org for updates about Ebola from Kaiser Permanente. For the latest information, including details about prevention and symptoms, please visit the CDC website.
Another important health reminder: Flu Shot
At this time, it’s very unlikely you’ll need to worry about protecting yourself from Ebola here in the U.S. However, there is a virus that, each year, takes the lives of tens of thousands of Americans, and sickens millions more — the flu. And you can help stop it. In fact, getting a flu shot is the single most important thing you can do to protect your health and the health of others this season, and we encourage you to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
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Warpy
(111,261 posts)I'm getting sick of trying to pour cold water on the people running around with their hair on fire over Ebola. Yes, it's a grotesque virus that kills people rather horribly if they don't get treatment or get it too late. Yes, it's really hard to look at those pictures of suffering people in Africa.
This aint Africa. We don't live in one room houses with dirt floors and no sanitation. We have safe water, we have toilets and we have couches to sleep on if our bed partner is contagious with anything. We also don't have a plethora of diseases that mimic Ebola until the last stages of it so there is no confusion in people who have been to west Africa--if they get sick, they need to go in and be tested and treated. Early treatment increases survival rates substantially.
The experience in Dallas caused hospitals to learn very quickly that new precautions had to be in place to protect their staff, the people at highest risk in this country.
So if you're scaring yourself stupid over this, knock it off. Ebola is a very poor candidate for a world wide plague that kills off the working class while sparing the rich, it's just too hard to catch. We don't want to see it in a place like India but it is not going to be a huge problem here.
