The second nurse who have contracted Ebola in the U.S. has revealed that she was in a commercial flight just the day before she showed symptoms of the disease.
Amber Joy Vinson, a 29-year-old nurse who also cared for Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan after he was admitted to the hospital, claimed that she was given the green light to board a plane after she contacted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday, even though she had an elevated temperature, said a report by NBC News.
According to the Associated Press, Duncan's medical records showed that the staff treating him did not initially wear the required protective gear.
National Nurses United Co-President Deborah Burger told The Guardian that the nurses who work at the Texas Presbyterian Hospital claimed that there were no protocols in treating the disease. The healthcare workers who were treating Duncan only wore generic gowns with three pairs of gloves and surgical masks; the full-face masks were merely optional.
The nurses were eventually given better gear, but parts of them are still exposed, including their necks, parts of their heads, and from the knees down.
By Wednesday, the CDC announced that Vinson was isolated after her fever spiked on Tuesday, with preliminary tests showing that she was positive for Ebola. She is currently in isolation but will be transferred to the Emory Hospital in Atlanta for further treatment.
The CDC also said that they are currently investigating three other people with whom Vinson had contact with before she went into isolation. Vinson is reportedly in a stable condition.
The Guardian said that the CDC is attempting to get in touch with 132 passengers and crew who were aboard the same flight with Vinson on her return to Dallas: Frontier Airlines flight 1143 from Cleaveland, Ohio.
CDC Director Dr Tom Frieden, however, said that the risks for the passengers are low considering that Vinson's symptoms did not show until the next day. He also said that Vinson and the other nurse who also contracted the disease, Nina Pham, had extensive contact with Duncan when he was very ill and excreting large quantities of body fluids.
The director added, "Our investigation increasingly suggests that the first several days before the patient was diagnosed appear to be the highest-risk period."
Vinson is the second case of Ebola reported among the almost 100 healthcare professionals who treated Mr. Duncan, according to the New York Times and federal health officials warned that more cases are likely to be expected.
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