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For wellness care workers and researchers , wearing pressurize , full - body suits around Ebola patient may be counterproductive to treating the disease , say three Spanish research worker in a new letter print in the daybook The Lancet . But other wellness expert , wary of wearing less protective gearing , disaccord .
Health means often require that health forethought workers like for Ebola patients wear out hazardous material ( hazmat ) courtship that protect against airborne disease . But the Ebola computer virus rarely spreads through the strain , according to the researchers at the University of Valencia and Hospital La Paz - Carlos III , in Madrid .
Ebola is transmitted through physical contact with septic patients ’ secretions ( such as blood , honk or feces ) , and such contact can be prevented by wearing gloves and masks , the researcher write .
Wearing full - trunk protection gearing is " expensive , uncomfortable , and unaffordable for countries that are the most affected , " they say . It may also transport the subject matter that such security against the virus is being preferentially give to health maintenance worker and is out of orbit to the general public , they wrote in their article . [ Ebola Virus : 5 Things You Should Know ] .
Moreover , the image of wellness care worker in hazmat causa could lead to panic , causing people to fly the area and possibly spread the computer virus elsewhere , they added .
rather , protective appurtenance such as gloves , waterproof smock , goggles , masquerade and isolated room may be enough to deal infected patient role , so long as they are not hemorrhaging or vomiting , the letter sound out . " In mastery of infective diseases , more is not necessarily just and , very often , the bare solvent is the undecomposed , " the researchers wrote .
The current Ebola virus outbreak is the worst in account . It began in February 2014 in Guinea and has since infected people in Liberia , Nigeria and Sierra Leone , killing more than 1,500 mass . Just 47 percentage of infected affected role have survived .
But other experts disaccord with the investigator , saying a high level of protection against the virus is needed in places with struggling health care systems , include the country inWest Africa where the outbreakis raging .
" The authors have a point , but I do n’t consider a very strong one , " said Dr. William Schaffner , a professor of preventive practice of medicine and an infectious disease medical specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville , Tennessee , who was not necessitate with the varsity letter .
" It must indeed be unsettling for people to see folks in hazmat suits come into their communities , " Schaffner differentiate Live Science . " It ’s very extraneous , and often increase their anxiousness about upshot . "
But it ’s good to err on the side of safety , he said . Because the Ebola virus does spread through striking with septic bodily fluids , if wellness care workers do n’t straightaway houseclean up such excretions , it ’s possible these fluids could infect others not wearing appropriate protective gear .
patient role may also set forth vomiting or bleed at any time , increasing the peril of infection for health care worker who are not wearing protective suits , he tell .
" I would remind us that there are any number of health care workers , including Dr. [ Kent ] Brantly and Ms. [ Nancy ] Writebol , were using elaborate equipment in Africa and nonetheless became infected , " Schaffner said . ( Brantly and Writebolhave both since recuperate . )
In infirmary with thin out - edge technologies , such as Emory University Hospital , health care workers may not have to wear full - physical structure suits for all Ebola patients , if thepatients are on the mend , he said . If they are not displaying symptoms such as vomiting or bleeding , health care worker may be able-bodied to scale down their uniform and apply goggles and baseball mitt in lieu of wear hazmat suits , Schaffner suppose .
But " when you have a circumstance as risky as Ebola , it ’s important to be strong , " Schaffner said .
The letter was published online Thursday ( Aug. 28 ) inThe Lancet .
