State commissioner: “The past week has been an enormous test of our health system”
DALLAS — The first person to be
diagnosed with Ebola in the United States died early Wednesday,
officials with Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital announced.
“It
is with profound sadness and heartfelt disappointment that we must
inform you of the death of Thomas Eric Duncan this morning at 7:51 a.m.,” the hospital said in a written statement. “Mr. Duncan succumbed to an insidious disease, Ebola.”
The Liberian citizen, who recently traveled from West Africa to
Dallas to reunite with a long-lost son and the teen's mother, had been
in isolation at Texas Health Presbyterian for 10 days.“This hurts deeply,” said Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings during a city council meeting. “We were hoping this was not going to happen.”
It was not immediately known what would happen to Duncan's body, which could remain contagious for several days. Guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
call for the remains to be immediately shrouded in plastic and
double-bagged in leak-proof bags at the hospital, then promptly cremated
or buried in an airtight casket.
Duncan’s death comes four days
after his condition was downgraded from serious to critical. Over the
weekend, he had begun receiving brincidofovir, an experimental antiviral drug that recently gained emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
“He fought courageously in this battle,” the hospital said in a statement. “Our
professionals, the doctors and nurses in the unit, as well as the
entire Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas community, are also
grieving his passing. We have offered the family our support and
condolences at this difficult time.”
Louise Troh, Duncan's fiancée,
and three of her family members have been in quarantine for more than a
week because they were living in the same apartment with him. On
Tuesday, Duncan's son Karsiah travelled from West Texas to try and see
his father for the first time in 16 years.
“My thoughts
are with the family and friends of Thomas Eric Duncan at this time,
especially his fiancée, Louise, their son, Karsiah, and all those who
loved him,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said in a written statement. “We
are also thinking of the dedicated hospital staff who assisted Mr.
Duncan daily while he fought this terrible disease. We offer prayers of
comfort and peace to everyone impacted by his passing.”
Duncan, 42, is the first person known to die of Ebola in the United
States. The virus, which is spread through direct contact with bodily
fluids, has killed more than 3,400 people in West Africa in 2014, the
World Health Organization estimates.
Five Americans who were
diagnosed with Ebola in Africa have returned to the United States for
treatment since late July. Aid workers Kent Brantly, Nancy Writebol and
Rick Sacra made full recoveries. WHO said one of its doctors was
transported to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta on Sept. 9. No other
details have been released. Ashoka Mukpo, a cameraman working for NBC
News, arrived at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha for treatment on
Monday.
Duncan’s illness and treatment
sparked controversy. He arrived in Dallas on Sept. 20 from Liberia, one
of the areas hit hardest by the outbreak.
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas has come under scrutiny for its handling of the Ebola case. (Joe Raedle/AFP …
Duncan answered “no” to questions about whether he had cared for an Ebola patient or touched the body of someone who had died in an area affected by Ebola.
CDC officials said Duncan didn’t
have a fever or symptoms of Ebola when he boarded his flight in
Liberia, which made multiple stops. He also had a three-hour layover in
Washington, D.C., before arriving in Texas.
Five days after getting to Dallas, Troh drove Duncan to the emergency
room at Texas Health Presbyterian. Hospital officials said he showed up
in the middle of the night with a fever of 100.1 degrees, abdominal
pain for two days, a sharp headache and decreased urination. The
hospital said Duncan told them he had not experienced nausea, vomiting
or diarrhea — strong indicators of Ebola.[Related: Questions and answers about the US Ebola case]
Federal guidelines published in August state that someone in Duncan’s condition and who was known to have been in West Africa should be placed in isolation and tested for Ebola. Instead, Duncan was given a prescription for antibiotics and sent home.
Hospital officials initially blamed a flawed records system for the mix-up but have since retracted that explanation. No other explanation has been given for how the Ebola diagnosis was overlooked.
Duncan’s condition had worsened by the time he was brought back to Texas Health Presbyterian two days after being discharged. He was reportedly vomiting as paramedics put him in the ambulance at the apartment complex where he had been living with family and friends.
Those paramedics are among seven
health care workers who are now being monitored for Ebola symptoms.
Three family members living in the apartment where Duncan stayed when he
arrived in Dallas are being watched closely for signs of the disease.
An additional 38 individuals,
including a man who was treated in the same ambulance after it had been
used to transport Duncan, are considered low-risk contacts but will be
monitored for 21 days, the maximum period it may take for symptoms to
appear.
Texas Health Presbyterian immediately isolated Duncan upon his second arrival at the hospital. According to the Dallas Morning News, the hospital may have violated federal guidelines by delaying a blood test for Ebola.
According to the report, other testing and blood work was done first
to rule out other causes. The Ebola test wasn’t performed and confirmed
until two days after Duncan was placed in isolation.
Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the CDC,
called the mishandling a "teachable moment" and issued a nationwide
alert to all hospitals updating them on how to appropriately respond to
possible Ebola cases.
On Wednesday, Dr. David Lakey, commissioner of the Texas Department
of State Health Services, acknowledged the hospital's efforts to care
for Duncan.
“The past week has been an enormous test of our health system, but for one family, it has been far more personal,” Lakey said. “Today,
they lost a dear member of their family. They have our
sincere condolences, and we are keeping them in our thoughts. The
doctors, nurses and staff at Presbyterian provided excellent and
compassionate care, but Ebola is a disease that attacks the body in many
ways. We’ll continue every effort to contain the spread of the virus
and protect people from this threat.” LINK
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