Via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: U.S. doctor with Ebola in Atlanta for treatment. Excerpt and then a comment:
A specially outfitted Gulfstream jet delivered the doctor to Dobbins from Liberia late Saturday morning; he was transferred to an ambulance, which then set out for Emory. When the ambulance arrived at the hospital, video taken from WSB-TV's NewsChopper 2 overhead showed a moon-suited worker helping Brantly, also covered from head to toe in a containment suit, step tentatively from the vehicle. Walking backward while holding both the patient's hands, the worker then made his way into the hospital a few steps away, leading Brantly through the door.
The second patient, missionary Nancy Writebol, is expected to arrive at Emory in the next few days.
A public outcry has arisen over the decision to bring the deadly contagion into the United States, and people have been quick to point out that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control has had recent and highly publicized lapses in handling dangerous microbes.
But CDC officials, Emory doctors and other public health experts insist there is little risk to the public in bringing Brantly and Writebol into the country. They point out that Ebola is not spread through the air but requires close contact with infected bodily fluids to move from one person to another. In addition, they point out that treatment here is the best chance both patients have at surviving the virus.
At Emory, the two will be staying in a small two-bed unit that was specially built to treat patients with dangerously infectious diseases.
Dr. Jay Varkey, an infectious disease specialist at Emory who will be involved in Brantly's care, told the Associated Press that the hospital's isolation unit is well-equipped to handle patients with diseases that are even more infectious than Ebola. The unit is one of only four of its kind in the nation.
There is no cure, nor even a specific treatment, for Ebola infection. The patient either fights off the virus or doesn't. I
n the cases of Brantly and Writebol, medical staff at Emory can only offer basic treatment -- making sure they are well-hydrated, for example -- to help them maintain the strength to beat Ebola.
I'm delighted that Dr. Brantly is well enough to walk into hospital almost unaided, and I wish him and Ms Writebol a full and prompt recovery.
But I'm beginning to wonder about the purpose of this whole exercise. If "basic treatment" is all that Emory University Hospital can offer these patients, why bother flying them home? Presumably they have been getting basic treatment in Liberia as well.
It remains unclear who paid for this trip: Samaritan's Purse? The US government? Some anonymous benefactor? And could the money have been better spent on more equipment and staff to care for Ebola cases in West Africa?
