He caught it on Androzani and there was only enough medicne for Peri...
Posted on 07/29/2014 12:13:32 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
A doctor from Texas is in grave condition and terrified for his life after he contracted the incurable Ebola virus he was treating in West Africa, colleagues said Monday.
Dr. Kent Brantley, 33, is one of two Americans in the region who have contracted the deadly disease, which has now killed nearly 700 people in West Africa, according to the World Health Organization.
The father of two had been treating Ebola victims in Monrovia, Liberia, when he began to notice symptoms related to the virus, CBS reports.
“I’m praying fervently that God will help me survive this disease,” he said in an email sent to his colleague, Dr. David Mcray, who worked with Brantly at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth.
Modal Trigger Brantly with his wife and their two childrenPhoto: Facebook
He also requested that people send their prayers and well-wishes to Nancy Writebol, his co-worker at the hospital and second American doctor to contract the disease in Liberia.
Despite being scared for his life, family and friends said he had no regrets and was well aware of the numerous risks he faced when he chose to treat the dangerous epidemic.
“Kent prepared himself to be a lifetime medical missionary,” said his mother, Jan Brantly.
“His heart is in Africa.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
He caught it on Androzani and there was only enough medicne for Peri...
Not incurable. This outbreak has 55% mortality. Source -> http://www.theverge.com/2014/7/29/5946455/two-americans-in-west-africa-have-ebola-why-arent-they-coming-home .
The thing that always comes to mind in instances like this, is what kind of care are the people over there getting, as compared to what someone in the U. S. would get?
Would our people have access to better antibiotics? Would we give lipids and dietary supplements? Would we give certain peripheral drugs that aren’t being given in Africa?
Would we get better lab results, so we would know exactly what we were fighting, and what meds were most effective in a more timely basis?
I would have to think the mortality rate in the U. S. would be better than that in Africa, but I’m not convinced of it.
Doctor Who?
I’ve got to think his wing of the hospital is bigger on the inside.
of course. prayer can make a huge difference.
stats show 10% survival rate.
The thing I wonder about if a doctor can’t protect himself from this horrid disease......... what possible chance do the rest of us have?
Here the doctor would be suited up. At least that’s my take on it. I’m not sure how it is transmitted. If suiting up would help, it would be done.
I know that these people mean well when they go over to Africa and third world nations. I know that they take a hit personally to do it. It seems to me they expose themselves to real danger when they do it, especially with something like this.
If you want to do that as a single person, I’m all for it. When you have a spouse and two small children, not so much.
I don’t believe in exposing the family unit to that type of a hit. You have a responsibility to those kids, as well as your wife.
So while I admire what this guy was trying to do, I’m not exactly a big supporter of what he was willing to risk to do it.
According to articles I have read, a medical colleague in the U.S. he has been in touch with says he was “exhausted” when he contracted the virus. Sadly, the stress and the long hours he worked caring for his patients may make his immune system less able to fight the disease. He does need prayers.
My concern with the situation is with his family who was with him as recently as a few days before he became symptomatic. They are now back in Texas and are not quarantined. Word from Health Officials in Texas is that the virus is not contagious prior to the onset of symptoms. I am skeptical of this information as typically viruses are frequently contagious before symptoms occur... think of chicken pox for example. The incubation period is 2-21 days for Ebola. That leaves much time for his unfortunate family to interact with many people in Texas before they show symptoms. These people in turn could potentially interact with many more people... etc. This is how epidemics begin.
In my educated opinion, while it was and is a noble thing for this doctor to minister to the ill in Africa it was misguided for him not to send his family home once the outbreak began. In keeping them there with him, he may have inadvertently brought this virus to North America.
Reasonable question.
He let 50 million people get killed in WWII because of free will. Also, I know that all things work together for the good, however ugly it may be. That is, if men use free will to kill one another, that obviously is not the desire of God, but He can take that and turn it into good, such as liberating the world and ridding the world of the infection of Nazism.
All things are in His control and prayer can move His hand to change events. He is sovereign but He is willing to listen and be moved by the prayers of the righteous.
awful! That’s the first thing that passed my mind also after reading the headline.
I too am praying.....that he will be restored, healed fully.
There are those who have survived this.......
Not to mention that it appears that Dr. Who has Ebola.
Ebola kills senior doctor at Liberia’s largest hospital, health official says
MONROVIA, LIBERIA—One of Liberia’s most high-profile doctors has died of Ebola, a government official said Sunday, as an American doctor was treated in the West African country after contracting the disease, highlighting the risks facing health workers trying to combat the spread of the deadly virus.Dr. Samuel Brisbane is the first Liberian doctor to die in an outbreak the World Health Organization says has killed 129 people in Liberia, and more than 670 in several West African countries. A Ugandan doctor working in the country died earlier this month.
[snip]
Dr. Kent Brantly, an American helping respond to the outbreak in Liberia, is receiving intensive medical treatment there after he was infected with the deadly Ebola virus, a spokeswoman for aid organization Samaritan’s Purse said. Brantly was in stable condition, talking with his doctors and working on his computer while receiving care, she said.
-PJ
I wish him well and without doubt he is a very good man, bordering on a saint to go to Africa to help the poor, but it’s kind of like being a mountain climber. He chose to pursue a very, very dangerous (although noble) “career” with a high probability of something bad happening.
I think it would have been much safer and just as noble to help the poor within his own country.
Psalm 41
1 Blessed are those who have regard for the weak;
the Lord delivers them in times of trouble.
2 The Lord protects and preserves them—
they are counted among the blessed in the land—
he does not give them over to the desire of their foes.
3 The Lord sustains them on their sickbed
and restores them from their bed of illness.
God also promises protection from the plague in Psalm 91.
I wondered about that too. It's only a matter of time, one would think. A 21-day incubation period leaves too much room for error. Wish the TX health people quarantined the family "just in case."
Because that’s what missionaries do.
Initially, he wasn’t there to work with this contagion, he was working in a missionary hospital.....and answered the call for help.
Missionaries take their children to the mission field.....or have children while in the mission field.
Billy Graham’s wife was brought up in China....in the 1920’s
Jim Elliot and his wife, Elizabeth had their daughter while in New Guinea.
I've read that the survival rate is somewhere in the vicinity of 5%.Not very good odds surely.But if he's getting expert care one might think that his chances are better than that.
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