DOCTORS’ LOUNGE
(continued from page 33)
urge to control and contain what might
possibly be tainted overwhelms rational
thought and careful gathering of facts.
What’s worse, facts are not believed, but
fears are fanned. There is an element of racism in this xenophobia. Most victims are
black, and it is easier for the average white
American to be afraid of them; it makes the
chasm between Over There and over here
seem deeper.
Much jockeying behind the scenes has
changed the face of quarantine in NYC –
now it will be at home, and the state will
fund it. Several more states have instituted
mandatory home quarantines, with twice
a day unannounced visits for temperature
taking and food delivery. Yet more medical
staff workers will be rotating out of West
Africa soon, and what will happen to them?
Thousands of US military personnel (who
will get a whole $5 more a day in hazard
pay) are training and joining the West African efforts to treat victims and curtail the
epidemic, and eventually they too, will be
quarantined, but at a base in Italy.
In the meantime, here in Louisville we ask
every 90 year old lady from Crescent Hill if
she has been to any of nine countries in West
Africa, before she is shipped upstairs to see
the doctor. In the official view, profiling is
haphazard, so everyone must be asked. ERs
are scrambling to obtain, and then drill on
using, the full hazmat wear. Updates on our
policies arrive daily in my office inbox. Ms.
Susan Sherman resigned today after years
of teaching at St Margaret Mary’s, because
they insisted on keeping her off duty for 21
days despite the fact that her mission work
in Kenya took place 3000 miles away from
the affected countries. Ignorance knows no
bounds, even in a school.
The only thing that can reduce the spread
of Ebola person-to-person is adequate care
at the source, with immediate and thorough
contact tracing for each infected person,
so that they too can receive modern care.
Right now this is not possible in West Africa
unless hundreds and hundreds of overseas
volunteers arrive to help, along with US
military efforts. Americans outnumber doctors and nurses from other countries so far,
among all the relief workers in West Africa.
Forcing them to go without pay for three
more weeks at home; to lose the comforts
of family, friends and neighborhood; to fall
behind at work, to be treated as pariahs
- all the while taking their temperatures
daily, with trepidation – this is wrong in
every possible way. They have followed strict
isolation procedures in order to stay alive.
They have given time, money, blood and
sweat to help some of the sickest people in
the world. They should be celebrated and
honored, not hunted down and locked up.
But the harder we make it for Americans to
help, the more likely it is that the epidemic
will not be contained.
Ebola is the caregivers’ disease. We might
end up being those caregivers, if nothing
works out overseas. Supporting, not punishing, our current volunteers is the best thing
we can do right now. I’m with the 29%: that’s
how few of us Americans disagree, as of
this writing, with mandatory quarantines of
people who have helped Ebola patients. To
the other, terrified 71%: fear is not useful to
you. Knowledge is. Learn something, donate
something, and stop spreading hysteria.
Note: Dr. Barry practices Internal Medicine
with Norton Community Medical Associates-Barret. She is a clinical associate professor at the University of Louisville School of
Medicine, Department of Medicine.
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