Researchers weigh in at Ebola symposium at Johns Hopkins
Doctors meet in Baltimore to discuss fighting Ebola in U.S.
In the fight against Ebola, researchers were at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health on Tuesday to focus on the challenges of stopping
Researchers weigh in at Ebola symposium at Johns Hopkins
Doctors meet in Baltimore to discuss fighting Ebola in U.S.
In the fight against Ebola, researchers were at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health on Tuesday to focus on the challenges of stopping the spread of the virus.
The director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy said much attention has been placed on the cases in Dallas, where a man from West Africa died and a health care worker contracted the disease. Early Tuesday morning, it was announced that a second health care worker tested positive for Ebola.
"We're obviously concerned about any individual, but we can't take our eye off the ball. The ball is West Africa. There were over 400 health care workers that have been infected. There, we've seen an uncontrolled outbreak. As long as that goes on, we’re going to see sparks flying out of that infectious forest fire to places all over the world," said CIDRAP director Dr. Michael Osterholm.
How to get a handle on the large-scale community outbreak in West Africa, as well as experimental treatments, possible vaccines and the hundreds of millions of dollars needed to fight the epidemic were topics discussed during Tuesday's symposium.
Also, the challenges combating the problem in the affected African countries were discussed.
"There is a lack of personal protective equipment. Sometimes it is reused and not appropriately cleaned, and sometimes it's even makeshift," said Dr. Trish Perl, of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Retired pediatrician Dr. Roseda Marshall wondered if Hopkins was going to increase its role.
"Is Johns Hopkins also thinking of developing a site for training volunteers or others who want to go to these countries to help?" Marshall asked.
The answer: It was something to consider.
Marshall said she plans to go back to her home country of Liberia in three weeks. She's had some intensive training from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on using protective gear and controlling infections.
"I think anyone would have anxiety if you’re going into an Ebola-stricken area because of what has been happening, so I don’t think it’s just me, but I think education plays a lot into how we learn about the disease," Marshall said.
As the group discussed the global challenge of containment, one researcher said while the goal currently is to get Ebola under control, even with a vaccine, he did not think the virus would vanish.