I have to post about this, with the caveat that this pregnancy has caused me to be much more hostile than I am in normal life. I'll also acknowledge that my information is coming from the news and we all know that they aren't always as accurate as they should be.
Here is goes:
Really- you didn't know that your TB was contagious or really "that serious", although it is an INFECTIOUS DISEASE and health care workers (as well as those that work in high risk populations- like HIV) have to get tested EVERY 6 months to make sure they don't have TB. By the by, the TB the health care workers are exposed to aren't resistant to the FIRST and SECOND line of treatment (which according to the news is what you were told you had prior to leaving the country).
Really- you didn't know it was that serious when your soon to be father-in-law is a CDC Microbiologist with experience in the transmission and spread of TB and you could have asked him.
Really- you didn't know it was that serious when you were contacted in Rome and told NOT TO FLY ON ANY COMMERICAL CARRIERS back to the US.
Really-when they told you that maybe you should postpone your marriage and honeymoon you didn't take that as a ... hmmm maybe I really shouldn't fly at this time.
When they handed you the masks to wear in order to reduce your exposure to other people, you didn't take that as a sign that maybe this was a little more serious than you thought? Really.
You are quoted as saying " "I'm a very well-educated, successful, intelligent person," yet you traveled against health officials and fled from Italy because you thought you would die without treatment in the US. Really you actually believed that little nugget?
Really- you are sorry and you have apologized to the other passengers that you could have potentially infected but are quoted as saying: "This is insane to me that I have an armed guard outside my door when I've cooperated with everything other than the whole solitary-confinement-in-Italy thing" Exactly what DID you cooperate with?
Really- you feel bad, yet you knowingly exposed passengers to a highly contagious and dangerous disease when you flew back from Prague to Montreal (Sure we can't really be that upset if you didn't know the extent of your condition on the outbound portion, but you did when you flew home, or did you forget that part?)
Really- you expect anyone to believe you regarding what you were and were not told by your doctor when you have been anything but the picture of honesty?
Yes it is true that the likelihood someone was infected with TB is fairly slim, but does that absolve this individual of potentially exposing others to his disease when it is OBVIOUS he did no research and actually knows nothing about TB. The man didn't want his name released because of the stigmatism that is associated with the disease and my question is: which disease is he referring to? His TB or the fact that he is lacking any kind of reasonable judgment or potentially a brain? (sorry- remember I have some pregnancy anger)
Sorry- I know I am being harsh, but I have a background in public health. I worked in an HIV clinic where I had to get tested every 6 months because of potential exposure to TB. I should also point out that one of my medications makes me more susceptible to infections with the number one concern TB. I'm not the only one in this situation. What if the jerk had been sitting next to me? Shouldn't he have some level of accountability to his fellow passengers? I know they are reporting his levels aren't that high, but if the CDC is willing to take precautions and quarantine him (the first one since 1963 and many are questioning the constitutionality of it), shouldn't he be taking the same level of precautions. Obviously they are concerned enough with the exposure to other individuals to place an armed guard in front of his door (although maybe part of that is because of his previous behavior).
And don't get me started on the man that let him back into the US because he thought that the "individual looked healthy and the FLAGGED PASSPORT left the matter up to his discretion"
Seriously, where did they find either of these people.
I think his passport should be revoked.
What is your opinion about the case? How much do you know about TB?
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10 comments:
I agree with you-- what was he thinking???
My freshman year at BYU I lived at Heritage Halls, and a girl in the apartment next door got TB (she was Canadian). We were with her the night she started coughing up blood, and her roommates took her to the emergency room. Everyone in our building had to be tested. Fortunately no one had it. She was very rude about cooperating with BYU administration and telling them who her friends were, or if she had a boyfriend. She thought it was an invasion of privacy. I thought it was irresponsible and terrible that she was more scared of being ostracized than she was about making other people sick.
It was very irresponsible and very wrong.
I'm with you sister. In my opinion, there is something fishy and strange about the whole thing. What an IDIOT! And, I rather like the hostile, pregnant Lara :) OH--thanks for the chocolate!!!
I agree with you and am totally freaked out that something like this can happen. People are morons.
I agree and was outraged that someone could go against orders so much that they were hunted down. Doesn't he understand how dangerous it is? Like Jill said, some people are morons and I never understand what they are thinking sometimes...I guess only about themselves.
I thought the guy's story was pretty believable. I think you're being too harsh. I don't think I'd want to be in Italy with a life-threatening disease either.
-Brent
Oh Brent- I know you are just saying this to get me angry again.
I would also be a little hesitant about staying in another country to receive medical treatment, but maybe he should have thought about that before he flew there in the first place.
Why are you blaming the pregnancy. It seems there are other relatives that are as verbal as you...which is why you should consider becoming a lawyer.
My understanding is that he flew because the CDC (or whoever) told him only that they'd prefer he didn't fly, not that he couldn't fly. I don't know if I'd put off an expensive wedding just because a large and ineffecient institution "suggested" that I didn't fly.
Also, as I understand it, it wasn't until he flew to Italy that he was told definitively not to travel anymore, which effectively trapped him in a near-third-world country with a serious medical condition. I think he was probably irresponsible with the health of others at that point, but I don't know if I was in Italy with a virulent strain of TB that I wouldn't make similar choices.
I guess I don't see this as black and white as you do. But I'm not as moral a person as I ought to be, so you should take the above comment with a grain of salt.
-Brent
Eek! I haven't heard about this story! So scary. Really? Is Italy considered a near-third-world country? Who'd have guessed? And, for the record, I quite enjoy the hostile you...
Ditto everything you said! The population I work with has HIV/AIDS so I of course was horrified to hear of this situation.
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