The details surrounding the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the United States is a sign that the country is not prepared to deal with this epidemic, says Dr. Elaina George.
"Just looking at what happened in Texas where the patient went to the emergency room and was actually sent home without [the hospital] actually taking a travel history or even an in-depth intake, which would have immediately had him admitted, when you know that he's coming from a country that Ebola is running rampant" is very discouraging, George told J.D. Hayworth and Olga Villaverde on "America's Forum" on
Newsmax TV Wednesday.
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The other aspect that puts Americans at risk for the deadly virus, she explained, is that "a lot of Americans don't have as robust an immune system as we should."
"We have a lot of habits that actually make our immune system less robust than they should be," she contends. "We eat processed foods, we don't sleep well, we don't take care of ourselves, and we're living under a great deal of stress, and by definition that will all affect the immune system."
She said that it's important that Americans don't "get lulled into the sense of complacency that we're immune, that this can't happen here," adding that Americans can actively protect themselves by starting to use "behaviors that are less inclined to get you into the path of the disease, of the illness — good hygiene, excellent sleeping habits are number one."
George said that while the conventional wisdom is that Ebola is contagious "when somebody is actively showing signs of illness, fever, rash, having diarrhea, any sorts of vomiting," she contends that "we can say with full authority that you can't pass this if the person is asymptomatic."
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