World
The medical charity Doctors Without Borders has warned some mandatory U.S. state Ebola quarantine measures are having a "chilling effect" on its work. The BBC reports:
The group has said it may shorten some assignments to West Africa as a result of recent state restrictions. One of the charity's volunteers has defied orders by the U.S. state of Maine that she remain quarantined in her house after being in Sierra Leone.
There have been nearly 14,000 cases worldwide, but only nine in the US. Doctors Without Borders - also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) - has 270 international and 3,000 locally hired staff in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
But the foreign workers now have additional concerns when heading home, said executive director Sophie Delaunay. "There is rising anxiety and confusion among staff members in the field over what they may face when they return home upon completion of their assignments in West Africa," she told Reuters news agency.
Some health workers are delaying returning to the US and staying in Europe for 21 days, she added, "in order to avoid facing rising stigmatisation at home and possible quarantine".
MSF health worker is seen in high risk area at the ELWA 3 Ebola Centre of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on October 16, 2024 in Paynesville suburb east of Monrovia, Liberia. ABCNews reports:
That message still hasn't reached many Americans, judging from stories ER doctors and nurses swapped this week at a Chicago medical conference.
Misinformed patients with Ebola-like symptoms can take up time and resources in busy emergency rooms, and doctors fear the problem may worsen when flu season ramps up.
That's one reason why doctors say this year it's especially important for patients to get their flu shots: Fewer flu cases could mean fewer Ebola false alarms.
"The whole system gets bogged down, even if it's a false alarm," Dr. Kristi Koenig said during a break at the American College of Emergency Physicians' annual meeting.
Since the first Ebola diagnosis in the U.S., on Sept. 30 in a Liberian man treated in Dallas, doctors say they've had to reassure patients with many fears but none of the risk factors.
