According to infectious disease doctor, Dr. Nancy Khardouri, Global health authorities should be concerned that the testing process for the Ebola virus could be flawed. Dr. Khardouri said that with the current tests that are being used to evaluate the disease, results will always turn out negative until there is enough of the virus that has built up inside the potential patient's body.
Dr. Khardouri , who is the Director of Infectious Diseases at the Eastern Virginia Medical School said that, "The test becomes positive when you have symptoms. So it doesn't help you before the symptoms, like many other tests do." This means is that even when a person is already infected with Ebola virus, the tests will show that that person is still in good health and could pass screening procedures undetected. She said that extra precautions must be taken at international points of entry. "People were coming from Africa, I'm hoping that this education will happen at the entry-level, like at the airports, custom checks, and all. 'Look, you're coming from XYZ country and therefore if you have fever, you don't feel well, please just don't take your time to go see a healthcare provider, go quickly.'"
Currently, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have already issued a set of guidelines that are to be followed by hospitals across the country in a continuing effort to prevent the spread of the bowl of virus within the country. One of the top priorities of the list is zeroing in on potential patients who travel from the affected countries in West Africa. Experts are now saying that people who are traveling into the country with symptoms as trivial as a low-grade fever must be detained and quarantined as an extra precautionary measure.
Dr. Khardouri's best recommendation for preventing the spread of Ebola virus is the use of the vaccines that are now being developed by various pharmaceutical companies around the globe. She is hopeful that these preparations could soon be administered on a massive scale, as drug companies promise to release the products a few months from now.
