By Todd Ackerman
The Houston Chronicle
DALLAS — The chance of Ebola spreading in Dallas continued to decline Thursday as the man hospitalized out of concern he might have been exposed to the virus tested negative and those being monitored for coming into contact with the nation’s first victim of the disease passed a critical time period without symptoms.
The Texas Department of State Health Services announced that Michael Monnig was not infected as a result of his time inside the apartment where the late Thomas Eric Duncan stayed. Monnig, a Dallas County sheriff’s deputy, was admitted to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in a precautionary move after developing stomach pain Wednesday.
The others — 48 people whose temperatures are being taken daily because they came into close contact with Duncan — now have gone at least 11 days without exhibiting any signs of Ebola, the health department confirmed. The vast majority of those who contract Ebola do so within 10 days of exposure, according to statistics.
Texas Health Commissioner David Lakey earlier in the week emphasized the 10-day window, but a spokesman had no comment Thursday.
Also Thursday, Presbyterian Hospital defended the level of care it provided Duncan, who died Wednesday. The hospital has been widely criticized for having sent Duncan home when he initially came in feeling ill and mentioning that he came from Liberia, the criteria for suspecting Ebola. Experts also questioned why it didn’t provide Duncan one experimental treatment and why it took so long for him to get the one he did.
Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price and the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. say Duncan died because his race and lack of privilege kept him from receiving the care he needed. Louise Troh, Duncan’s fiancée, said in a statement that “I trust a thorough examination will take place regarding all aspects of his care.”
Presbyterian’s statement, the longest it has made since Duncan was diagnosed, said it wanted to “correct misconceptions about Duncan’s first visit.”
“Our care team provided Mr. Duncan with the same high level of attention and care that would be given any patient, regardless of nationality or ability to pay for care,” said the statement. “In this case, that included a four-hour evaluation and numerous tests. We have a long history of treating a multicultural community in this area.”
The statement did not address its failure to take into account Duncan’s recent travel from Liberia. The hospital previously blamed its electronic health records system for obscuring that information from the treatment team, then recanted.
The statement said that the hospital was not able to provide Duncan a blood transfusion from an Ebola survivor because it could not match his blood type. Some experts had suggested such a transfusion might have given him antibodies to fight the deadly infection, as it did with a patient brought back from Africa to the U.S. for treatment.
The statement added Duncan was treated with “the most appropriate and available medical interventions, including the investigative antiviral drug brincidofovir.” It suggested brincidofovir was only given late in Duncan’s treatment because of the time it took for his doctors to consult with experts, the Centers for Disease Control and Food and Drug Administration and to obtain the scarce drug.
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