Sampling of news stories from 9/9/14:
NBC News: Ebola Spreading ‘Exponentially’ as Patients Seek Beds in Liberia. e Ebola virus is spreading exponentially across Liberia as patients fill taxis in a fruitless search for medical care, the World Health Organization said Monday. In Sierra Leone, a doctor working for WHO tested positive and was preparing to be evacuated from the country. Meanwhile, the newest U.S. patient, a doctor infected in Liberia, was feeling a little better and could even eat a little, doctors treating him in Nebraska said. The various reports illustrated in the clearest possible way the disparities driving the epidemic in West Africa, where there’s almost no medical system structure. The three patients evacuated to the United States have all begun to recover quickly once they get good supportive care, which includes around-the-clock nursing care and good nutrition.
Outbreak News Today: 4th Ebola patient coming to Emory, Dr. Sacra update, Dr. Kent Brantly NBC special. A fourth Ebola patient is coming to the United States for treatment, and once again, Emory University Hospital will be caring for the patient. According to a Reuters report, the yet unidentified patient is expected to arrive on Tuesday morning by air ambulance from West Africa and will be treated in the same isolation unit as two previous Ebola patients, Dr. Kent Brantly and Mrs Nancy Writebol, who have since been discharged from the hospital. In Nebraska, where SIM USA physician Dr. Rick Sacra, the 3rd Ebola patient who returned to the US, is being treated at the Nebraska Medical Center has shown some progress, according to a statement by his wife, Debbie Sacra. “He had some breakfast this morning, which is a change,” said Sacra. “He hasn’t been able to eat much since he got here, but he had some toast and apple sauce. He also tolerated the research drug well – better than he had the previous doses he was given.”
The Star Online: U.S. Ebola patient at Nebraska hospital eats, listens to music. A U.S. medical missionary infected with the Ebola virus in West Africa was able to eat breakfast on Monday and was listening to music at the Nebraska Medical Centre where he was taken for treatment last week, his wife said. “He hasn’t been able to eat much since he got here, but he had some toast and apple sauce. He also tolerated the research drug well – better than he had the previous doses he was given,” Debbie Sacra said in a statement.
Kearney Hub: Omaha doctors say Ebola virus patient is alert and inquisitive. Nebraska Medical Center doctors caring for an Ebola patient said Sunday that they’ve seen positive signs in his condition but that his chances for recovery still are uncertain. “He’s still stable, medically,” Dr. Angela Hewlett said of the patient, Dr. Rick Sacra. “The improvement we’re seeing is that he is more alert and he is talkative, asking questions — questions about his course (of treatment) and what he’s doing here and what we’re doing to help him.”
