Catalogue of errors in Ebola nurse's treatment
By Tom Cain and Nuria Pérez NURSE Teresa Romero is being treated with an unlicensed antiviral vaccine - as well as hyper-immune blood serum taken from African nurse Paciencia Melgar, who survived the disease and was a close friend of one of the dead Spanish missionaries.
Another five people are under observation in Carlos III hospital - Sra Romero's husband, another two nurses who treated missionary Manuel García Viejo, a GP who attended Sra Romero and an emergency services doctor.
According to the health authorities, they are still undergoing Ebola screening, with the second test done 72 hours after the first.
Another two in-patients, an engineer who had been in Liberia recently and another nurse, have been sent home after Ebola tests proved negative.
A total 54 people who have been in contact with Sra Romero in the last two weeks are under surveillance at home. They take their own temperature twice a day and are told to call Carlos III hospital if they have fever or show any symptoms.
CATALOGUE OF ERRORS
After missionary Manuel García Viejo died on September 25, nurse Teresa Romero started her holidays, although she remained in the Madrid area.
A light fever began September 30 and she went to her GP in Alcorcón health centre.
Sra Romero admitted that she had not told the doctor she had been treating the infected missionary, because she never thought it could be Ebola.
On October 2 she called the Ebola surveillance team in Carlos III hospital because she still had a fever but was told to stay at home and keep on taking her temperature. When she felt very ill on October 6 an ambulance took her to Alcorcón hospital.
Neither the ambulance nor its paramedics had any protection. She was treated in a normal room for several hours until tests revealed she had Ebola.
VALENCIA REGION 'PREPARED'
Valencia health councillor Manuel Llombart claimed this week that healthcare professionals in the region 'are prepared to tackle cases of Ebola'.
"They have received adequate training courses and have the necessary materials," he said.
He admitted that training 'may seem insufficient' to some medics and 'excessive' to others.
"What is clear is that they can come in contact with possible cases of Ebola," he stated.
World Health Organisation (WHO) chief, Zsuzsanna Jakab, said sporadic cases of Ebola virus in the EU are 'unavoidable', with people travelling between Europe and affected countries.
"Nevertheless, the risk of Ebola spreading in Europe is avoidable and extremely low," she said. "There is a risk of accidental contamination for people exposed to Ebola patients; strict infection-control measures can and must be used to mitigate this risk."
SAN JUAN STAFF THINK NOT
Health professionals at San Juan hospital say that despite assurance by regional health councillor Manuel Llombart that they have been given adequate training to allow them to care for patients with the Ebola virus, the reality is that they have not and they do not feel capable or prepared.
They say that to date they have not carried out any simulations using the protective equipment that has been provided and not enough training has been given to teach them how to put it on and take it off safely.
The CCOO and UGT unions warned that medical staff could refuse to look after patients with the virus if they feel they have not had the right preparation.
San Juan hospital was chosen to set up an isolation unit so that any cases in the province could be treated there. Since the Ebola scare began it has dealt with two suspected cases both of which turned out to be false alarms.
The UGT's secretary general in Alicante, Rosa Montes, said that the law states a medical professional does not have to put his or her life at risk to save a patient if they believe they are not trained to do so.
She added that legally, any member of staff could refuse to look after a patient with the virus.
Staff at the hospital are demanding they get the right training by way of simulations so that they can get used to using the new equipment and everybody is working on the same wavelength.
They said that the theory over what should be done is far removed from the practical side and staff need to practice putting on and taking off protective clothing.
The hospital has altered its protocol for receiving patients with Ebola. Now when an ambulance arrives with a suspected Ebola case, the patient is taken straight to the isolation room on the third floor without having to pass through the emergency department.