Wonkblog: Wonkbook: Lessons from the second U.S. Ebola case

By Puneet Kollipara October 14

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Wonkbooks Number of the Day:4,204. That's the estimated Ebola death toll worldwide, per the CDC.

Wonkbooks Chart of the Day:The world just experiencedits warmest September on record.

Wonkbook's Top 4Stories:(1) Lessons from the second U.S. Ebola case; (2) Washington's worries about the global economy;(3) oil producers' pain is drivers' gain; and (4) renewed tensions in St. Louis.

CDC chief: After Dallas nurses Ebola infection, U.S. must rethink protocols."As a 26-year-old Dallas nurse lay infected in the same hospital where she treated a dying Ebola patient last week, government officials on Monday said the first transmission of the disease in the United States had revealed systemic failures in preparation that must 'substantially' change in coming days....Frieden did not detail precisely how the extensive, government-issued safety protocols in place at many facilities might need to change or in what ways hospitals need to ramp up training for front-line doctors or nurses. But his message was clear: With Ebola, there is no margin for error. The Dallas case made that certain."Amy Ellis Nutt, Mark Berman and Brady Dennis in The Washington Post.

Medical records suggest 70 staffers were involved in treating Ebola patient."The size of the medical team reflects the hospital's intense effort to save Duncan's life, but it also suggests that many other people could have been exposed to the virus during Duncan's time in an isolation unit....The medical records given to the AP offer clues, both to what happened and who was involved, but the hospital said the CDC does not have them. A CDC spokeswoman said the agency reviewed the medical records with Duncan's care team and concluded that the documents were not helpful in identifying those who interacted directly with the patient."Martha Mendoza in the Associated Press.

What happened atthe hospital in Dallas?"While biocontamination units look similar to a standard hospital room, they usually have specialized air circulation systems to remove disease particles from the facility. And, perhaps more importantly, they're staffed by doctors who have spent years training, preparing and thinking about how to stop dangerous infections from spreading....This isn't true of Texas Presbyterian. Like most American hospitals, it doesn't have a biocontamination unit. It hasn't spent years running through the drills of how to treat an Ebola patient. It began receiving additional training from the CDC, director Tom Frieden told reporters Sunday, only this week."Sarah Kliff in Vox.

Should we transfer Ebola patients to the specialty hospitals?"Emory solved its problems, but the challenges it faced could overwhelm a hospital with fewer resources. At Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, mistakes in treating a patient from Liberia...have raised questions about the general level of preparedness in hospitals around the country. Medical experts have begun to suggest that it might be better to transfer patients to designated centers with special expertise in treating Ebola. Federal health officials are also beginning to consider that idea, though they emphasize that every hospital has to be able to diagnose the disease." Denise Gradyin The New York Times.

Charts:How does an American nurse contract Ebola? With directions like these. Sarah Kliff in Vox.

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Wonkblog: Wonkbook: Lessons from the second U.S. Ebola case