Ebola in Texas.

[TFOGGER]

I think the concern is that the bodily fluids may become aerosolized, by traffic or some nitwit with a pressure washer, for instance. I'm guessing a lot of folks are not putting much faith in the CDC's info on transmission, either, given that all of the aid workers that have contracted it so far have closely followed the CDC PPE protocols. Because it is a hemorrhagic fever, ANY bodily fluids may be contaminated, including saliva, vomit and plegm, not just blood and semen.

[Great-Kazoo]

Heads up for people buying N95's. There is more to wearing a respirator than making sure it fits good. Unless you do a fit test, what you think fits may not. Having working in a Level 3 Bio-Safety research facility, there were some people we had to special order N-95's for.

Basic fit is for the mask to seal to mouth and nasal passage (nose) as good as possible. Having facial hair limits the effect of mask. Not having facial hair / light shaver may also limit seal to face. More expensive does not mean better, in this case.

[StagLefty]

^ so there is no good recommendation without trying them first ?

[Great-Kazoo]

^ so there is no good recommendation without trying them first ?

CORRECT.
The 3M have shown better fit for most folks when tested. Those green units, Dr offices hand out avoid The biggest issue i have seen is sloppy wearing of.
If i can get in touch with one of my old bio-safety reps i will have the stock numbers.

Interesting how many on Amazon show 2-4 left OR OOS. ONCE AGAIN PANIC BUYERS.

here is a 20 pk for $2-3 more than that $13 per unit.
http://www.amazon.com/3M-8210-N95-Re...447720&sr=1-13

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BUD0OW?psc=1

NO. The plastic breaks or flap doesn't seal right, serious integrity issues. I use these when welding.
http://www.amazon.com/3M-8511-Partic..._bxgy_hi_img_z

One more item.
it takes more than a N95 to avoid cross contamination / becoming a statistic .

When out in public do you take precautions when you touch something (wearing nitrile or latex gloves)
Are you wearing a N95 outside the home? You walk down the coffee/tea aisle, unaware 3 minutes ago the person who just left there had been sneezing. No N95?? you just walked in to air borne particulates still there from said person.

Handling that good looking roast in meats. 2nd to last person doing the same. Just came from the rest room, NOT washing hands before exiting.

In the library 3 people touched that same book. 1 of them was bleeding. You thought it was water OOPS.

Unless you live in a bubble you are always at risk. We've discussed it before. Follow good hand washing, and other health practices, minimize the risk.

[hollohas]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...oms-Ebola.html

"CDC officials have rushed to Newark Liberty International Airport after a passenger believed to be from Liberia showed symptoms of Ebola.

The man, said to be 35 years old, traveling with his daughter, reported to be around 10, on a United Airlines flight from Brussels was vomiting as they landed in New Jersey at 1.50pm, airport officials said.

They were both removed from the plane by a CDC crew wearing full Hazmat attire and taken to University Hospital in Newark..."

The 261 passengers were then handed leaflets titled, 'Possible Exposure: Ebola. What you need to do

[Great-Kazoo]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...oms-Ebola.html

"CDC officials have rushed to Newark Liberty International Airport after a passenger believed to be from Liberia showed symptoms of Ebola.

The man, said to be 35 years old, traveling with his daughter, reported to be around 10, on a United Airlines flight from Brussels was vomiting as they landed in New Jersey at 1.50pm, airport officials said.

They were both removed from the plane by a CDC crew wearing full Hazmat attire and taken to University Hospital in Newark..."

The 261 passengers were then handed leaflets titled, 'Possible Exposure: Ebola. What you need to do

it's always after the fact. Instead of putting a hold on all passengers from that flight. They'd rather let em walk. After all who wants to inconvenience someone that may be infected.

[sellersm]

it's always after the fact. Instead of putting a hold on all passengers from that flight. They'd rather let em walk. After all who wants to stop their plan of mass infection.

FIFY. Remember who owns the patent on this virus, and who stands to benefit from the one and only vaccine! Not to mention the delight in reducing the population even more...

[cmailliard]

The best N95's you can get are 3M 1860 or 1870. The 1860 is fine for indoor use the 1870 works great outdoors in humid environments. Avoid duckbill type respirators, they suck, plain and simple. Moldex are OK. Yes you must be fit tested, yes it is only part of personal protective equipment. No you do not need N95's for Ebola unless you are doing patient care.

[HoneyBadger]

No you do not need N95's for Ebola unless you are doing patient care.

Can you elaborate on this?

[cmailliard]

Can you elaborate on this?

Unless you are directly in the patients face or immediate area, i.e. intubating, providing ventilations, starting an IV, etc. the risk associated with being EXPOSED to Ebola is extremely slim. Even still the Ebola Virus can be as small as .2 microns, N95, P100, etc. all base their protection size on .3 microns or larger. So if you want to get extremely anal about it an N95 or even P100 will not protect you based solely on the micron size of the virus. Ebola requires fluid to carry it such as mucous from a sneeze, those are much larger than .3 microns so they will effectively stop Ebola, but so will a simple face mask. So why only around patient care? Because a simple face mask has plenty of gaps, it is not a tight fit respirator like an N95. If someone coughs or sneezes right in your face with a simple face mask it is possible that some of the bad stuff could sneak in. With an N95 or other tight fit respirator that risk all but removed, even in close proximity of patient care.

What is the difference between exposure and contamination? Contamination means something is on your skin and you can be decontaminated (wash your hands), exposed is the the bad stuff has entered your body through one of the 4 routes of exposure (inhalation, injection, ingestion, or absorption). You can get Ebola on your intact skin from a sneeze and still not be exposed to the virus, go wash with soap. It must come in contact with your mucous membranes or other body fluid for transmission.

If I was still working in EMS I would not be concerned to much about this yet, If you start to see clusters of patients, then you can start getting concerned.