Hospital workers were intensively exposed to the first U.S. Ebola patient without wearing protective gear for two days, according to The Dallas Morning News.
Between Sept. 28 and Sept. 30, medical professionals treating Thomas Duncan wore only gowns and scrubs in the interim. Duncan was suffering from projectile vomiting and explosive diarrhea from Sept. 28 on, but hospital workers weren’t provided with extensive protective gear, such as hazmat suits, until Sept. 30, according to the Associated Press.
The revelation makes the infection of two nurses at the hospital, Nina Pham and Amber Vinson, much less surprising. Frieden confirmed Wednesday that both nurses were treating Duncan during those three days and called them the “highest risk period” for spreading the disease.
Even after Duncan was diagnosed, health care workers exposed to the patients, including Vinson, were only self-monitoring for signs or symptoms of Ebola. At least 76 hospital workers were exposed to Duncan before he died.
And in the latest mishap, Vinson traveled to Cleveland on October 8 and returned to Dallas Monday evening, just one day before being diagnosed with Ebola herself.
Vinson had a slight fever of 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit while on the return flight, according to Frieden, but didn’t meet the standard 100.4 degree fever that the CDC considers a warning sign for Ebola.
Although she exhibited no symptoms other than a slight fever, by the time Vinson was to fly home, it was clear that she had been exposed to Ebola and she “should not have traveled and should not have been allowed to travel” by public transportation, such as a commercial airplane,” Frieden admitted Wednesday.
“We will, from this moment forward, ensure that no other individual being monitored for exposure travels” other than through controlled movements, such as a car or a chartered flight that limits exposure, Frieden promised.
Frieden and Health and Human Services secretary Burwell said it’s very unlikely that Vinson spread the virus on the plane, but the CDC is attempting to contact all passengers and crew for interviewing.
Both Texas Presbyterian and the CDC have come under fire for their slow response. Burwell admitted Wednesday that the federal government could have provided “much better oversight” of the hospital, echoing Frieden’s admission earlier this week that the CDC should have sent in more experts, more quickly.
Pham, the first nurse infected, will remain in Dallas to be treated for the time being, but Vinson, the second nurse infected, will be transferred to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.