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A series of biosafety breaches in federal labs working with highly pathogenic agents has created a rift in the research community, with some calling for a moratorium until safety can be assured and other scientists arguing that this important work should continue with appropriate precautions to prepare for pandemics and bioterror attacks.
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As the first cases of Ebola ever treated in the U.S. were recently admitted to a special containment unit at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, clinicians and public health officials continued to reassure a jittery public that infection control measures would prevent transmission and contain the virus.
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A 58-year-old woman from Southern Australia with a history of medically-managed liver abscess eight months prior to admission and recurrent urinary tract infections presented to our hospital with two weeks of fever and right upper quadrant.
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There was no evidence of significant benefit from the administration of the antiviral agent, celgosivir, in the treatment of patients with dengue fever.
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Dosing of beta-lactam antibiotics in critically ill patients is often inadequate and results in poor clinical outcomes.
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An issue that has caused considerable confusion and fear during the Ebola outbreak is the difference between airborne, aerosol and droplet transmission. There are clear differences, but they werent elucidated particularly well at the onset of Ebola cases in the U.S., leaving the public uninformed and then panicked when some reputable scientists warned that there was a small chance the Ebola virus could mutate and spread like a truly airborne pathogen such as measles.
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After the index case of Ebola in the U.S. died and two nurses who treated him in a Dallas hospital became infected, there was an outbreak of irrationality that spread as rapidly as any epidemic.
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A U.S. Ebola outbreak characterized more by fear than science marked by distrust, rumor and false assumptions may yet yield something positive: A rededication to basic infection control practices in the nations hospitals and increased support for infection prevention programs and public health.
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While it has been duly noted that many hospitals lack the surge capacity and training to deal with an Ebola patient, the public health system is also ill prepared for emerging infectious disease outbreaks and pandemics, an expert in the field warns.
