Thomas Eric Duncan passed 3 temperature checks. He did not have a fever when he was flying.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/02/health/ebola-us/index.html
Duncan was screened three times before he boarded his flight in Liberia to Brussels, Kesselly said.
“The first screening was at the gate, before you get to the parking lot. The second time is before you enter the terminal building and the third is before you board the flight. At every point your temperature is scanned.”
His temperature at those checkpoints was a consistent 97.3 degrees Fahrenheit, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention chief Thomas Frieden told reporters Thursday. “Basically, he didn’t have a fever,” Frieden said, noting that the Ebola patient’s temperature was taken by a trained CDC health care worker with a thermometer approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Did he have a fever when he was screened probably not, but we should not put our nation’s health in the misplaced reliance on the accuracy of these thermometers.
Here is the truth on the use of thermometers in determining whether someone has a fever. I am a nurse and hubby is a pediatrician and this is what I know. Digital thermometers that measure temperatures on foreheads and in ears are notoriously inaccurate and untrustworthy for providing accurate temperatures and yes they are all FDA approved. The only way to get an accurate temperature on a person is rectally. When getting accurate temperatures, the accuracy of the device depends on its proximity to an artery.
This is why post operative patients have their temperatures taken rectally after surgery because it is very important to know whether they are developing a life threatening post operative infection. When our children were little and they were sick my husband would tell me unless you have taken their temperatures rectally I’m not interested in knowing what it is. Not a lot of fun for parent or kid, but necessary. Now it should be obvious why this is never done in pediatric clinics or in airports. But the truth is that unless a person’s temperature is taken rectally take that number with a grain of salt. Using the back of your hand is just as effective. If anyone doesn’t believe me, read the studies.
I understand that, but it would stop symptomatic people from infecting other travelers. One sick person on a plane could infect at least half a dozen others.
Screen them leaving and screen them again once they land. If anyone passes the first check, but develops symptoms en route, you isolate everyone who was on that plane immediately and start the 21 day countdown.
The way Nigeria dealt with this is that they quarantined *everyone* who Patient Zero *may* have had contact with. More than 900 individuals. Twice a day someone would come by with provisions and do a med-check.
They were very aggressive and stopped it in its tracks.
We need to do the necessary stuff and the ‘silly’ stuff. We cannot overreact to this situation.
(Incidentally, our great leaders are sending a crew to Nigeria to find out how they did it. You heard that right. We’re asking Nigeria for advice.)