Diagnosing Disease before Symptoms Strike
Original article from: Bostonia posted in Fall 2014 Issue
In October 2014, nurse Kaci Hickox returned to her home in Maine after treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone with the group Doctors Without Borders. State officials ordered her to stay in her house for 21 days—the longest possible incubation period for Ebola—even though she showed no symptoms of the disease. Hickox defied the quarantine, setting off a swirl of controversy among state officials, civil rights advocates, legal experts, health care workers, and scientists. Her 21-day monitoring period ended on November 10, without incident.
The Hickox case highlights a thorny problem with the Ebola virus and similar hemorrhagic fevers—a person can be infected long before they show symptoms, and before doctors can diagnose the disease. This can lead to delays in treatment, controversial quarantines, and unnecessary fear.