16 Members of Doctors Without Borders Infected with Ebola, Nine Dead

[Windy]

57. No, its very easy to inadvertantly slip up

I worked with HIV patients as a respiratory therapist when the disease was first beginning to be seen in the US. The patients were in full isolation. We had to gown, double glove and mask with shoe covers. When I would suction the poor souls who were on a ventilator, the mucous/blood would fly everywhere at times, depending on whether they coughed during suctioning. We also had to drain the ventilator condensation (full of sputum) several times per shift. My gown and gloves and sometime mask (standard surgical mask), became contaminated. Trying to get all the protective gear off without getting anything on your skin whatsoever was next to impossible. I would use hibiclens profusely after getting everything off. Of course back then we gowned and gloved to protect the patient with the comprised immune system and not for the protection of the staff. Things have changed the more that was learned about HIV and now face shields and full infectious disease precautions are in place for medical staff in ER/Surgery where HIV status may be unknown. Having said all of that, it is very possible that even when using the utmost care, you could still get some sort of contaminant on your skin. If you have a break in the skin, the ebola virus or any virus/disease for that matter(hepatitis etc) could enter your system.