...Introduction The statutory authority for imposing quarantines and isolations in the United States originally began at the local level in colonial times. The federal statutes came into existence at approximately the same time (1796). Later the federal statute was replaced by maritime quarantine inspection system (JAMA, 286/21/2711. downloaded 06/15/09). A far cry from the operations in place for quarantine and isolation in modern society, the institutions of the past, run by the local governments, consisted of, what was known as pest houses. People with contagious diseases were isolated in these institutions to prevent the spread of such diseases as, cholera, smallpox, typhoid, or yellow fever. Pest houses functioned mainly in seaport areas to prevent disease from entering the large cities. Contagious-disease and tuberculosis hospitals were to become the next means of infection control, and are the predecessors of the modern quarantine and isolation practices used today. Quarantine and Isolation are the most common public health strategies used to protect the general public by reducing and preventing the exposure, and spread of deadly, or infectious agents. Medical quarantine and isolation safeguards and prevention practices of today have evolved into strategic operations that are well planned, well designed, with a defined organizational structure that strives to meet the needs of public infection control. The federal, state and local governments each have their own authority...
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...Public Health Law Seminar 2nd Draft Case Study: Emergency Legal Preparedness Part I In accordance to the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act (the Act), the Governor may declare a state of public health emergency upon the occurrence of a public health emergency as defined in Section 1-103(m) of the Act. A “public health emergency” is an occurrence or imminent threat of an illness or health condition that is believed to be caused by the appearance of a novel or previously controlled or eradicated infectious agent or biological toxin and poses a high probability of: (i) a large number of the deaths in the affected population; (ii) a large number of serious or long-term disabilities in the affected population; or (iii) widespread exposure to an infectious or toxic agent that poses a significant risk of substantial future harm to a large number of people in the affected population. The Act grants specific emergency powers to state governors and public health authorities because “each state is responsible for safeguarding the health, security, and the well being if its people, [therefore] state and local governments will be able to respond, rapidly and effectively, to possible health emergencies.” For that reason, under the Act the possible spread of Webola in the state will give the Governor probable cause to declare a state of public health emergency. There were three hundred individuals in attendance of international convention where Dr. Daper attended as well. It...
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...New York revises controversial policy on Ebola quarantines amid pressure New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) on Sunday revised a controversial policy to quarantine returning health-care workers from Ebola-stricken nations, under pressure from the Obama administration and medical experts over the aggressive measures. Elaborating on the procedures, Cuomo said health-care workers who have been in contact with Ebola patients but do not show symptoms of the deadly virus can return to their homes but will be forced to remain there while being monitored by state health officials for symptoms. He said those being monitored can interact with family and friends. “It’s not like this is the toughest duty,” Cuomo said in a news conference late Sunday with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D). The change separates the state’s quarantine process from that of New Jersey, which has come under scrutiny after the weekend retention of a nurse who showed no symptoms of Ebola. Kaci Hickox, who returned from Sierra Leone after working with Doctors Without Borders, has been held in isolation at a site attached to a New Jersey hospital. On Sunday, Hickox told CNN’s Candy Crowley on “State of the Union”: “This is an extreme that is really unacceptable, and I feel like my basic human rights have been violated.” Cuomo said New York’s new policy is more in line with those of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He said people who are quarantined in their homes will be able to interact with...
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...feasible, information can be delayed. However, it must be disclosed as soon as the patient is able to make an informed choice about whether he or she wants to receive this information. n Physicians should establish a preferred method of disclosure with their patients before information becomes available and follow the patient’s preference regarding what should be disclosed and to whom—the patient, a designated caregiver or family member. Physicians should disclose medical information in a sensitive and respectful manner, and should assess the amount of information the patient is able to receive at a given time. n Due to an increase in tuberculosis cases in a heavily populated Latino community, many patients have been placed in isolation or quarantined. Local Latino community leaders...
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...Progression in community and public health nursing Kristine Porritt NUR/405 April 5, 2014 Karen Wilson Progression in community and public health nursing There has been much advancement in the nursing profession over the centuries but three key points in time stand out; The Marine Hospital Service Act of 1798, The Port Quarantine Act of 1878 and the National Health Department establishment in 1879. These three separate acts improved our medical and nursing system to what it is today; the introduction of pre-paid medical plans, isolation/quarantine for those that are infected and the beginning of medical research. These have been an influential part of how the community and public health nurse can provide the best care for the public. Event or Influence: Quasi War 1798; Marine Hospital Service Act 1798 | Key health issues | Navy seamen fighting in the Quasi War against the French were coming back with injuries, diseases and disabilities. How would these men be treated? What should the procedure or protocol be? There needed to be a way for Naval personnel to be treated medically for wounds, sickness, disease and other ailments. | Perspective/goals | The goal of this act was to provide medical treatment to seamen that had been injured, sick or become disabled. | Role/functions | Hospital services were provided to marine personnel. This hospital became a component of the Treasury Department. The service provided to the seamen had a price tag, 20 cents was deducted...
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...The Bubonic Plague: A turning point in history The Bubonic Plague, which also goes by other names such as: the Black Death, the Black Plague, the Great Pestilence, is a disease that devastated the medieval world with a 9 out of 10 mortality rate (Vyas). It is so resilient that cases of infection are still being recorded in America today –although in a much milder manner. The plague then killed of almost one-third of Europe’s population, leaving lasting effects wherever it had touched (Bussema and Witowski). This fatal epidemic disease has since changed how we take on such diseases, and modified our tactics on handling epidemics and other contagious diseases. The Black Plague is an infection caused by the bacterium, Yersinia pestis (originally known as Pasteurella pestis) (Kohn). The name of the bacterium comes from the scientist that discovered it; French bacteriologist, Alexandre Yersin (Tyson). The pestilence has a typical incubation period of two to seven days before the symptoms begin to show. The plague has many symptoms, some of which include: chills, fever, nausea, and painful swelling of the lymph nodes (called buboes –from which the disease is named) that occur in the armpits and neck and groin. Other symptoms of the illness are: red spots on the skin that turned black, the rotting of flesh whilst still living, severe headache, weakness, and vomiting. Yet, most cases were fatal by the third day (Vyas). This disease was transferred from infected animals -most often...
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...Certainly, any time we are talking about infringing upon peoples Constitutional rights of Due Process there are going to be conflicting views. Although, when talking about quarantine and the health of other citizens, I believe it is important to be able to restrict people’s rights of freedom and liberty. Of course, none of this can be done without the “buy in” of the entire community as noted by (Hitchcock, 2007), “If the government operates in a clear and transparent manner, the general public is likely to be willing to accept great restrictions of their freedom if the situation so dictates”. While due process is arguably one of the quintessential rights to all people in our country, that does not mean your rights can infringe upon someone...
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...addition, employees have to show due care and skill in the execution of the emergency response activities to minimize hazards associated with poor response lawsuits. For the above reasons, organizations managing disaster have to evaluate course of action before it is executed. This involves evaluation of the legal impact each action will have. Furthermore, employee training is vital in mitigating hazards that may emerge from negligence on the course of responding to emergency. Disease Control Measures In this case, among effective counter measures is to create a barrier to prevent the transmission of communicable diseases. Towards this end, the federal government takes necessary measures to prevent infection of individuals by setting quarantines and isolating those infected from healthy persons (CDC, 2014). Evidently, this move reduces the possibility of transferring such infections to other persons in the state especially in situations where the disease is highly contagious. Eventually, such measures together with proper medication and handling of the infected persons help to eradicate the disease in a short period and ensure the disease does not become a national disaster. In conclusion, to keep individuals in a state safe from infection, the...
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...poverty. The hardest-hit countries, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, are among the poorest in the world. They have only recently emerged from years of conflict and civil war that have left their health systems largely destroyed or severely disabled and, in some areas, left a generation of children without education. In these countries, only one or two doctors are available for every 100,000 people, and these doctors are heavily concentrated in urban areas. Isolation wards and even hospital capacity for infection control are virtually nonexistent. Contacts of infected persons are being traced but not consistently isolated for monitoring. Large numbers of people in these countries do not have steady, salaried employment. Their quest to find work contributes to fluid population movements across borders. The area where the borders of the three countries intersect is now the designated hot zone, where transmission is intense and people in the three countries continue to reinfection each other. Recent decisions to quarantine this area have brought extreme hardship to more than a million people — but are essential for containment. These are only some of the many challenges to be overcome in the worst Ebola outbreak in the nearly four-decade history of this disease. The needs are enormous; the prospects for rapid containment are slim. The outbreak, in all its unprecedented dimensions, is an emergency of international concern and a medical and public health crisis, but it is also a...
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...March 22: CDC issues interim laboratory biosafety guidelines for handling and processing specimens associated with SARS. March 24: CDC laboratory analysis suggests a new coronavirus may be the cause of SARS. In the United States, 39 suspect cases (to date) had been identified. Of those cases, 32 of 39 had traveled to countries were SARS was reported. March 27: CDC issues interim domestic guidelines for management of exposures to SARS for healthcare and other institutional settings. March 28: The SARs outbreak is more widespread. CDC begins utilizing pandemic planning for SARS. March 29: CDC extended its travel advisory for SARS to include all of mainland China and added Singapore. CDC quarantine staff began meeting planes, cargo ships and cruise ships coming either directly or indirectly to the United States from China, Singapore and Vietnam and also begins distributing health alert cards to travelers. April 4: The number of suspected U.S. SARS cases was 115; reported from 29 states. There were no deaths among these suspect cases of SARS in the United...
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...poverty. The hardest-hit countries, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, are among the poorest in the world. They have only recently emerged from years of conflict and civil war that have left their health systems largely destroyed or severely disabled and, in some areas, left a generation of children without education. In these countries, only one or two doctors are available for every 100,000 people, and these doctors are heavily concentrated in urban areas. Isolation wards and even hospital capacity for infection control are virtually nonexistent. Contacts of infected persons are being traced but not consistently isolated for monitoring. Large numbers of people in these countries do not have steady, salaried employment. Their quest to find work contributes to fluid population movements across porous borders. The area where the borders of the three countries intersect is now the designated hot zone, where transmission is intense and people in the three countries continue to reinfect each other. Recent decisions to quarantine this area have brought extreme hardship to more than a million people — but are essential for containment. These are only some of the many challenges to be overcome in the worst Ebola outbreak in the nearly four-decade history of this disease. The needs are enormous; the prospects for rapid containment are slim. The outbreak, in all its unprecedented dimensions, is an emergency of international concern and a medical and public health crisis, but it is also...
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...poverty. The hardest-hit countries, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, are among the poorest in the world. They have only recently emerged from years of conflict and civil war that have left their health systems largely destroyed or severely disabled and, in some areas, left a generation of children without education. In these countries, only one or two doctors are available for every 100,000 people, and these doctors are heavily concentrated in urban areas. Isolation wards and even hospital capacity for infection control are virtually nonexistent. Contacts of infected persons are being traced but not consistently isolated for monitoring. Large numbers of people in these countries do not have steady, salaried employment. Their quest to find work contributes to fluid population movements across porous borders. The area where the borders of the three countries intersect is now the designated hot zone, where transmission is intense and people in the three countries continue to reinfect each other. Recent decisions to quarantine this area have brought extreme hardship to more than a million people — but are essential for containment. These are only some of the many challenges to be overcome in the worst Ebola outbreak in the nearly four-decade history of this disease. The needs are enormous; the prospects for rapid containment are slim. The outbreak, in all its unprecedented dimensions, is an emergency of international concern and a medical and public health crisis, but it is also...
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...Isolation and quarantine help protect the public by preventing exposure to people who have or may have a contagious disease” (University of Maryland School of Medicine, 2015). The Privacy Rule permits covered entities to disclose protected health information, without authorization, to public health authorities who are legally authorized to receive such reports for the purpose of preventing or controlling disease, injury, or disability. “The first and most important level of the hierarchy, administrative measures, impacts the largest number of people. It is intended primarily to reduce the risk of uninfected people who are exposed to people who have TB disease. The second level of the hierarchy is the use of environmental controls to reduce the amount of TB in the air. The first two control levels of the hierarchy also minimize the number of areas in the health care setting where exposure to TB may occur. The third level of the hierarchy is the use of respiratory protective equipment in situations that pose a high risk of exposure to TB. Use of respiratory protection equipment can further reduce the risk for exposure of health care workers. According to the CDC, “Law and policy can play a vital role in positive public health outcomes and reducing public health risks. Isolation separates sick people with a contagious disease from people who are not sick.” (Centers for Disease Control...
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...1A I do. New diseases and pandemics shock government and individuals, and are difficult to treat. This remained true in the past, whether it be the Black Death or the Influenza pandemic of 1918, and true today, as examined by governments and society trying to adjust to the new threats of Ebola and Zika. The 1918 influenza pandemic and the current response to Zika can be compared by examining how similar they are in terms of showing how government quarantines can be counter productive and how government actions taken during the flu hurt the Ebola response in the modern world. Pg5. Many governments took efforts to stop the spreading of the flu in 1918. Some tried to promote public health and boost morale by framing the flu as a “metaphor...
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...disseminated all classes and caused terror among all. The death of infected people occurred rapidly. The disease attacked the lymphatic or/and the lungs. It passed through human by simple contact (Rosen, pp. 24). The same principle of isolation than with leprosis was applied at the first outbreak (Rosen, pp. 25). The procedure was that the infected person had to be reported, and then examine. If the person...
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