Health

Ebola-Negative, Malaria-Positive MGH Patient Discharged

This is not your typical story. This is about a close-knit group of nurses who have been friends for a long time, and of how they helped a fellow nurse, my late wife, Joanne. In 2007, Joanne was diagnosed with brain cancer and was no longer able to work or drive. This group made sure that their friend would not be alone in this battle. After each surgery, the nurses came to the house to care for their friend and kept in contact to make sure that she was getting the best treatment. Life went well until last summer, when Joanne suddenly took a turn for the worse and was given six months to live. The nurses learned that their friend was gravely ill and that hospice was coming in to provide patient care. In a whirlwind, the nurses came to the house, asking what they could do. They told me to cancel hospice bedside care because they were “taking over,’’ setting up a daily schedule where at least one of them would be there to provide direct care to their friend. Keep in mind, these nurses were either coming from work each day or giving up their lives to be there for their friend. The cancer spread and their friend lost consciousness. I saw the compassion that existed in the nurses; not only did they continue with their loving care, but each one of them engaged their friend in conversation, not knowing if she could hear them. They hugged her, cried for her, and stayed hour after hour with her. This was nursing at its finest.—Nominated by Daniel Minton Steven Senne

By Brian Burns

December 5, 2014

1 minute to read

The patient admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital on Tuesday, initially suspected of having Ebola, was discharged this morning, according to a memo sent to the internal MGH community.

“We want to let you know that the patient who was admitted to the MGH earlier this week with the possibility of Ebola virus disease has been cleared medically and was discharged from the hospital this morning. As we noted previously, this patient has been definitively diagnosed with malaria and is responding well to anti-malaria treatment. The patient has had no fever or other symptoms for the past 24 hours. The patient presents no risks to family, friends, colleagues or the public.’’

The unidentified patient had been in Liberia in “an administrative role’’ but never directly contacted any Ebola patients in West Africa, according to Dr. David Hooper, chief of the MGH Infection Control Unit. Upon his return to the U.S., he was checked by public health officials and, at the time, was asymptomatic for Ebola. Monitored by the Boston Public Health Commission, he was admitted to MGH on Tuesday after meeting the CDC definition of a “person under investigation’’ for the infection.

Though the patient tested negative for Ebola, groups like the Massachusetts Nurses Association urge the importance of having a concrete preparation plan to deal with Ebola in Bay State hospitals.

In an interview with Boston.com, Dr. Anita Barry, the director of the infectious disease bureau at the Boston Public Health Commission, assured that city and state officials have worked hard at developing a thorough healthcare preparedness group that would incorporate officials, facilities, hospitals and EMS.