The focus of the fight against Ebola remains on Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas where Nina Pham is in isolation.
The nurse was infected with the Ebola virus while caring for Thomas Eric Duncan, the first Ebola patient to die in the United States.
“The most experienced Ebola doctor in the United States is here on-site involved in her care,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said Monday.
The Centers for Disease Control said it’s unknown how Pham contracted the virus, but earlier cited a “breach in protocol.”
On Monday, CDC Director Tom Frieden said that does not mean the hospital or the health care worker is to blame.
But, infection control efforts at Presbyterian are under CDC review.
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Frieden says three main parts will be reviewed including what happens when health care workers put on protective equipment before entering isolation, what happens while there are working in the isolation room and what happens when they exit and remove the personal protection equipment.
Frieden says CDC staff is watching health care workers put on and take off all protective gear, and they’re retraining the staff how to do that safely.
“They’re looking at the types of personal protective equipment used to see if there are some types that might be easier to put on or take off and thereby reduce the risk that someone would unintentionally contaminate themselves,” Frieden said.
Frieden said also under consideration is spraying down works with a product that would kill the virus if there is contamination on their protective wear; it’s already in CDC guidelines from gloves, but Frieden says they are looking at it more broadly.
Also, under review inside Texas Health Presbyterian is who else could be at risk.
“The thinking here is straight forward – if this one individual was infected, and we don’t know how within the isolation unit, then it is possible that other individuals could have been infected as well, so we consider them to potentially be at risk and we are doing an in-depth review and investigation,” Frieden said.
The CDC and state health leaders are working to identified all health care workers involved in Duncan’s care.
“That process is still under way,” Frieden said. “The team worked hard through the day yesterday and night yesterday and are actively working today to interview each one of a large number of health care workers who might have potentially had contact with the index patient when he was hospitalized.”
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins called the infection of Pham disappointing and concerning, but says Presbyterian hospital is a good hospital and will remain the hospital fighting Ebola in Dallas.
“This is the place, this is the place we brought in the state and national resources – this is a place that’s well capable of getting done what we need done,” Jenkins said. "We need to, as best we can, localize this in one hospital.”
