FrenchieGirl
Senior Moderator
Re: Discussion - 1st ebola case in US (excluding health care worker transfer) Dallas, Texas
Re: Discussion - 1st ebola case in US (excluding health care worker transfer) Dallas, Texas
I think it is rather naive to assume that such a temperature check would be an efficient way of screening travellers.
Here's why and how it can happen when you travel around Africa's less-developed countries:
In the Ebola case, if the patient did not think to have been contaminated, and surmised he only suffered from a case of flu, with a small fever, headaches and fatigue, he might well have taken loads of paracetamol or ibuprofen prior to flying.
In fact, if he believed he suffered from a flu, he might even have taken such fever-lowering drugs right through 4 to 7 days prior to his health worsening a lot and seeing the first doctor in the US. After all, that's what we all do when we catch the flu.
It may be that he only realized he might have contracted Ebola when he worsened after the first medical visit. Then wouldn't it be tempting to say that one only very recently had symptoms - and not mention the first days on arrival in the US?
Also, it's a distinct possibility that this patient may have thought that having felt rundown may have exposed him to some Ebola suffering patient on the plane itself - such being the level of ignorance about the illness.
I would venture to say that any one of us who may feel unwell just before a plane trip will simply swallow one or two tablets of painkillers and be able to pass through temperature detectors at an airport without being given a second glance - that is even assuming these detectors are properly manned, which is not a given.
Re: Discussion - 1st ebola case in US (excluding health care worker transfer) Dallas, Texas
I think it is rather naive to assume that such a temperature check would be an efficient way of screening travellers.
Here's why and how it can happen when you travel around Africa's less-developed countries:
In the Ebola case, if the patient did not think to have been contaminated, and surmised he only suffered from a case of flu, with a small fever, headaches and fatigue, he might well have taken loads of paracetamol or ibuprofen prior to flying.
In fact, if he believed he suffered from a flu, he might even have taken such fever-lowering drugs right through 4 to 7 days prior to his health worsening a lot and seeing the first doctor in the US. After all, that's what we all do when we catch the flu.
It may be that he only realized he might have contracted Ebola when he worsened after the first medical visit. Then wouldn't it be tempting to say that one only very recently had symptoms - and not mention the first days on arrival in the US?
Also, it's a distinct possibility that this patient may have thought that having felt rundown may have exposed him to some Ebola suffering patient on the plane itself - such being the level of ignorance about the illness.
I would venture to say that any one of us who may feel unwell just before a plane trip will simply swallow one or two tablets of painkillers and be able to pass through temperature detectors at an airport without being given a second glance - that is even assuming these detectors are properly manned, which is not a given.
