UPDATE: Arlington Resident Checked for Ebola Thursday Discharged from Hospital

UPDATE Thursday 5:30 p.m.:

The Arlington resident who was taken to Virginia Hospital Center with Ebola-like symptoms Thursday morning has been discharged from the hospital, the county announced in a news release late Thursday afternoon.

An evaluation determined that the person did not have the clinical findings associated with Ebola disease, the county said.

Arlington County Public Health “will continue to monitor this person, as well as other travelers in the monitoring program, through their entire possible incubation period (21 days),” the county said in the news release.

People in the travel monitoring program will continue to be instructed to call 9-1-1 if they are medically unstable or if they do not have private transport, the county noted. The travel monitoring program starts at the airport where people arriving from countries with Ebola outbreaks are monitored for fever and other symptoms.

If EMS staff respond, they will wear appropriate personal protective equipment before transporting the person with symptoms, the county said.

Arlington County Public Health and Virginia Hospital Center are working together — in collaboration with the Virginia Department of Health — and followed the recommended course of action for such cases, the county said. “There is no cause for public concern,” the county noted in the news release.

Hospital staff and first responders are trained to take appropriate precautions for all high-risk patients, routinely drilling and preparing for just such situations, the county said.

The health and well-being of the community are a primary concern for both the County and VHC, and we want to reassure everyone that the hospital environment is safe for all patients.

To learn more about the Ebola virus, visit the County website, where you can also get answers tofrequently asked questions about Ebola. You can also call the Virginia Department of Health’s Ebola Call Center at 877-ASK-VDH3 (877-275-8343).

____________

An Arlington resident who is sick with Ebola-like symptoms was taken Thursday morning to Virginia Hospital Center, according to a spokeswoman for the Arlington County Fire Department.

The patient lives at 1128 N. Irving Street in Clarendon, she said. The address is home to The Beacon Clarendon, a luxury apartment building.

“We responded to a patient who traveled recently to an Ebola-affected country,” said Lt. Sarah Marchegiani, a spokeswoman for the Arlington County Fire Department. That person has not been diagnosed with Ebola “but we’re taking every precaution necessary,” she noted.

Due to patient confidentiality, Marchegiani said she could not disclose the country the patient had recently visited.

Sierra Leone, in West Africa, has seen a recent spike in Ebola cases, according to the World Health Organization.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, symptoms of Ebola include:

• Fever
• Severe headache
• Muscle pain
• Weakness
• Fatigue
• Diarrhea
• Vomiting
• Abdominal (stomach) pain
• Unexplained hemorrhage (bleeding or bruising)

Symptoms may appear anywhere from two to 21 days after exposure to Ebola, but the average is eight to 10 days, according to the CDC.

Recovery from Ebola depends on good supportive clinical care and the patient’s immune response, the CDC notes.

In a potential Ebola case, Arlington County handles the call differently than a regular emergency, Marchegiani said.

“We limit the number of personnel who come in contact [with the patient], dress in protective gear, isolate the area, isolate the back of the medic unit,” Marchegiani said.

The county workers who come in contact with the patient were decontaminated Thursday morning at Virginia Hospital Center, Marchegiani said. That includes taking off their clothes in an ordered manner and being sprayed down with a bleach solution.

Last year, a woman who said she thought she had ebola caused a scare at the Pentagon. Officials later determined she did not have Ebola.

That patient was turned away from Virginia Hospital Center and taken instead to Inova Fairfax. At the time, the hospital was not fully prepared to handle an Ebola case, the Washington Post reported.

Patch has a call in to the hospital as well as to the Arlington County Department of Human Services and will update with any new information if it becomes available.