topic Re: NYC Doc Tests Positive for Ebola in Community Chat

NYC Doc Tests Positive for Ebola

focksie — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 01:50:51 GMT

The preliminary test is positive.

On the news earlier this evening, it was reported that 33 year old doctor, Craig Spencer, who returned from treating ebola patients in Guinea about 2 weeks ago, has preliminarily tested positive for ebola. He spiked a fever of 103 this morning with nausea and GI symptoms, called the Health Dept. and was rushed to isolation at Bellevue Hospital. He lives in Harlem with his girlfriend and she is now quarantined.

Contacts are trying to be identified. Wednesday night, Dr. Spencer rode the subway from Manhattan to Brooklyn to a bowling alley and took a taxi home. Thursday morning, he woke with symptoms.

This is the first documented case in NYC.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/24/nyregion/craig-spencer-is-tested-for-ebola-virus-at-bellevue-hospital-in-new-york-city.html?

Re: NYC Doc Tests Positive for Ebola

Say Nay — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 01:51:43 GMT

Thanks for the info.

Re: NYC Doc Tests Positive for Ebola

focksie — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 01:55:22 GMT

Your welcome Gato.

Mayor DeBlasio spoke earlier commending responders and the procedure that has been in place for weeks. He said the transition to Bellevue which is one of the designated hospitals in Manhattan went extremely smoothly.

Re: NYC Doc Tests Positive for Ebola

docsgirl — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 02:04:29 GMT

Any New Yorkers who can answer a question for me? I was born and raised in New York and lived most of my life there or on Long Island. If I recall correctly, Bellevue was a mental hospital and was closed many years ago. I also recall part of Bellevue being in Queens which is where I lived. Am I correct in this? I would appreciate any information that anyone can provide. Thank you in advance. I hope the doctor will make a full recovery. docsgirl

Re: NYC Doc Tests Positive for Ebola

focksie — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 02:13:14 GMT

Hi docsgirl, I was born and raised in NYC too. Now I live north of the city. Bellevue is well known for its psychiatric services and emergency services although it also provides other specialties like cardiology, neurology, etc. I'm not quite sure of the history of the hospital but I think it opened in the 1700's and it was probably mostly for psychiatric patients at the time, hence the "joke" we always heard as kids about being committed to Bellevue.

Like so many of the other NYC hospitals, Bellevue has "satellite" hospitals in Queens. I know of one for children's psychiatric services.

Re: NYC Doc Tests Positive for Ebola

NoelSeven — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 02:15:02 GMT

On 10/23/2014 focksie said:
Hi docsgirl, I was born and raised in NYC too. Now I live north of the city. Bellevue is well known for its psychiatric services and emergency services although it also provides other specialties like cardiology, neurology, etc. I'm not quite sure of the history of the hospital but I think it opened in the 1700's and it was probably mostly for psychiatric patients at the time, hence the "joke" we always heard as kids about being committed to Bellevue.

Like so many of the other NYC hospitals, Bellevue has "satellite" hospitals in Queens. I know of one for children's psychiatric services.

The history was really bad, but then again, I assume most psychiatric hospitals were horrible years ago.

Re: NYC Doc Tests Positive for Ebola

NoelSeven — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 02:20:21 GMT

CNN

The doctor, identified as Craig Spencer, 33, came back from West Africa about 10 days ago, and developed a fever, nausea, pain and fatigue Wednesday night.

The 33-year-old physician, employed at New York's Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, has been in isolation at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan since Thursday morning, the official said.

At a news conference Thursday, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio sought to allay public concerns about the spread of the deadly virus, saying that "careful protocols were followed every step of the way" in the city's handling of the case. The hospitalized doctor has "worked closely" with health officials, the mayor said.

The doctor exhibited symptoms of the Ebola virus for "a very brief period of time" and had direct contact with "very few people" in New York, de Blasio told reporters.

Re: NYC Doc Tests Positive for Ebola

focksie — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 02:22:16 GMT

Hi Noel, I just started reading some of the fascinating history:

Bellevue Hospital, you might have heard, once had a very notorious psychiatric ward. But those horror stories have only distracted from the rather breathtaking -- and heart-breaking -- history of this historic institution, a lifeline not only for the sick, but for the poor, the incarcerated, the abandoned -- even the dead!

The hospital traces its origins to a six-bed almshouse that once sat near the location of New York City Hall today. Despite its humble and (to the modern eye) confusing original purposes, the almshouse was miles better than the barbaric medical procedures of early New York, courtesy the ominous sounding 'barber-surgeons'.

A series of yellow fever epidemics moved care for the sick to a former mansion called Belle Vue near Murray Hill -- and, in fact, with a strong connection to the Murray of said Hill. Soon the institution fulfilled a variety of roles and in rather ghastly conditions, from 'pest house' to execution ground, from a Pathological Museum to New York's first city morgue.

A great many medical advances came from Bellevue, not least of which the origins of the modern ambulance. But some of that progress has been obscured by the reputation of the Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital which opened in 1931 and 'hosted' a variety of famous people with disturbing issues. And in the 1980s, Bellevue would take on another grim role -- during the most distressing years of the AIDS crisis.

Re: NYC Doc Tests Positive for Ebola

NoelSeven — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 02:23:44 GMT

Spencer posted this image to Facebook on September 18 from Brussells, saying "Off to Guinea with Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

See photo on cnn link:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/23/health/new-york-possible-ebola-case/index.html

Re: NYC Doc Tests Positive for Ebola

NoelSeven — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 02:26:15 GMT

Thanks, focksie!

Good information.

Re: NYC Doc Tests Positive for Ebola

Shorty2U — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 02:27:10 GMT

I do not understand why these people who were around Ebola patients aren't made to stay over there in quarantine for the 21 days to see if they get sick BEFORE coming back to the USA. Doesn't anyone have common sense anymore?

Re: NYC Doc Tests Positive for Ebola

QueenDanceALot — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 02:28:47 GMT

On 10/23/2014 Shorty2U said:
I do not understand why these people who were around Ebola patients aren't made to stay over there in quarantine for the 21 days to see if they get sick BEFORE coming back to the USA. Doesn't anyone have common sense anymore?

Apparently not.

Re: NYC Doc Tests Positive for Ebola

~kaIypso~ — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 02:31:29 GMT

On 10/23/2014 Shorty2U said:
I do not understand why these people who were around Ebola patients aren't made to stay over there in quarantine for the 21 days to see if they get sick BEFORE coming back to the USA. Doesn't anyone have common sense anymore?

Common sense and personal responsibility were thrown out the window with the bath water.

Re: NYC Doc Tests Positive for Ebola

focksie — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 02:35:23 GMT

On 10/23/2014 Shorty2U said:
I do not understand why these people who were around Ebola patients aren't made to stay over there in quarantine for the 21 days to see if they get sick BEFORE coming back to the USA. Doesn't anyone have common sense anymore?

I could have sworn I heard (but don't quote me on it!) on our local news either yesterday or today of a ""new protocol"" for anyone flying in from affected West African countries -- that they would be required to be quarantined for the 21 day period after arrival here. It sounded extreme to me but is a very good idea. I'm sure this won't be the last we see of this type of situation.

Re: NYC Doc Tests Positive for Ebola

ROMARY — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 02:37:02 GMT

'From now on', they probably should be quarantined over there first, for sure. That would be the common sense thing to do. Can't someone over there step up and make that suggestion?

Re: NYC Doc Tests Positive for Ebola

focksie — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 02:39:15 GMT

Again on the news earlier, at the apartment building where he lives in Harlem they showed officials handing out ebola pamphlets to all his neighbors in the building who were standing out in the street. Can you just imagine how they must be feeling? They all looked scared and bewildered, especially one elderly woman who didn't seem to even understand what was going on.

Re: NYC Doc Tests Positive for Ebola

puglet1 — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 02:43:15 GMT

Focksie, I live in lower Manhattan not far from Bellevue. I was at NYU Medical Center a couple of days ago, which is just a few blocks from Bellevue. Yikes. A little too close to home.

Re: NYC Doc Tests Positive for Ebola

sophiamarie — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 02:45:31 GMT

On 10/23/2014 docsgirl said:
Any New Yorkers who can answer a question for me? I was born and raised in New York and lived most of my life there or on Long Island. If I recall correctly, Bellevue was a mental hospital and was closed many years ago. I also recall part of Bellevue being in Queens which is where I lived. Am I correct in this? I would appreciate any information that anyone can provide. Thank you in advance. I hope the doctor will make a full recovery. docsgirl

When I lived in NYC I had a neighbor who was a patient in Kings County Hospital. I think it was in Brooklyn. He had mental issues and his family visited him on the weekends. I also remember Bellevue was associated with mental illness but today, I think it's also a hospital with a psychiatric wing..... I might be wrong.

Re: NYC Doc Tests Positive for Ebola

Marienkaefer2 — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 03:02:00 GMT

On 10/23/2014 Shorty2U said:
I do not understand why these people who were around Ebola patients aren't made to stay over there in quarantine for the 21 days to see if they get sick BEFORE coming back to the USA. Doesn't anyone have common sense anymore?

I disagree with this. If they get sick over there, then what? There is no room in the hospitals to take care of the locals. People are being turned away. The Newshour had a report Monday night...they followed a ambulance driver around Monrovia all day as he got calls to pick up patients Hospitals are overcrowded and very sick people turned away . He had to bring them home to die Is that what we want for our own doctors who are HEROES for going over there? If we say they cannot come home, it will make it harder to get volunteers to go there. And we NE ED THOSE volunteers to fight the disease over there. If they are a US citizen they should be able to come home, ESPECIALLY if they are volunteering with ngos over there. I would be in favor of quarantine at home for 21 days here.

Re: NYC Doc Tests Positive for Ebola

NoelSeven — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 03:04:41 GMT

On 10/23/2014 Marienkaefer2 said:
On 10/23/2014 Shorty2U said:
I do not understand why these people who were around Ebola patients aren't made to stay over there in quarantine for the 21 days to see if they get sick BEFORE coming back to the USA. Doesn't anyone have common sense anymore?

I disagree with this. If they get sick over there, then what? There is no room in the hospitals to take care of the locals. People are being turned away. The Newshour had a report Monday night...they followed a ambulance driver around Monrovia all day as he got calls to pick up patients Hospitals are overcrowded and very sick people turned away . He had to bring them home to die Is that what we want for our own doctors who are HEROES for going over there? If we say they cannot come home, it will make it harder to get volunteers to go there. And we NE ED THOSE volunteers to fight the disease over there. If they are a US citizen they should be able to come home, ESPECIALLY if they are volunteering with ngos over there. I would be in favor of quarantine at home for 21 days here.

ITA