© AFP/WHONurses take care of a patient with Ebola hemorrhagic fever.
In recent articles, I stated it's a mistake to jump to a conclusion about what's really making doctors and nurses sick in African Ebola clinics. (see here and here).
Here's a missing factor in understanding what is happening to some of those doctors and nurses.
I'm not talking about Ebola. I'm talking about physiological shock, huge and sudden dehydration, and more.
On top of that, factor in a falsely positive diagnostic Ebola test for a few of those health workers, and what do you have? A nightmare.
From the Daily Mail, August 5, an article headlined, "In boiling hot suits...":
"Doctor Hannah Spencer revealed how she wills herself to feel safe inside a boiling hot air-sealed Hazmat suit..."
"Boiling: Doctors and nurses lose up to five litres in sweat during an hour-long shift in the suits and have to spend two hours rehydrating after..."
"To minimise the risk of infection they have to wear thick rubber boots that come up to their knees, an impermeable body suit, gloves, a face mask, a hood and goggles to ensure no air at all can touch their skin."
"Dr. Spencer, 27, and her colleagues lose up to five litres of sweat during a shift treating victims and have to spend two hours rehydrating afterwards."
"At their camp they go through multiple decontaminations which includes spraying chlorine on their shoes."
"Dr. Spencer: 'We would like to keep a [patient] visit between 45 minutes and one hour, but now, we're stretching it to almost two hours. We put ourselves through a very strong physiological stress when we're using personal protection gear.'"
"'We sweat, we're losing water; we're getting hotter and it wreaks havoc on the body. Our own endurance starts to wear down.'"
From another Daily Mail article (see "What's shocking is how Ebola patients look before they die..."), Dr. Oliver Johnson describes working in protective gear: "The heat of the suits is quickly overwhelming, as your goggles steam up and you feel the sweat dripping underneath. And the smell of chlorine is intense."
Getting the picture? Imagine losing five quarts of water from your body in an hour. While you're trapped inside a bulky hazmat suit. While you're treating a patient who, for example, wants to do everything he can to escape the clinic.
Imagine needing two hours after you climb out of your suit to rehydrate. Then you go back for more. Of course you also decontaminate yourself with toxic chemicals, including chlorine.
And as one doctor mentioned above, you're also inhaling chlorine, a highly toxic compound, while you're inside the hazmat suit, and while you're approaching shock from loss of all those body fluids.
And then, imagine, because you want to treat as many patients as possible, you don't do just one hour at a time inside the hazmat torture, you expand the time to two hours. How many quarts of body fluid do you then lose in one shift?
But of course, this has absolutely nothing to do with why you might fall ill. No. If you fall ill, or collapse, or suddenly die, it's Ebola.
Sure it is.
No need to wonder. Don't ask questions. Believe the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control. They always tell the truth.
Chlorine? Such as we are told to put in our pools to kill stuff? Maybe they should add some flouride as well?