So proud of my sister Ami Waters and the Georgetown Independent School District...Amis response to GISD deciding to continue school... I want to commend Superintendent Brent for his decision not to close GISD schools in response to the possible exposure of a family member of a student. He consulted an infectious disease specialist appropriately for advice and acted accordingly. In addition, he was transparent in his decision and promptly informed the community. I am especially concerned at the misinformation that has been propagated and the subsequent fear it has caused. While I do not want to minimize the severity of the virus and its high mortality rate, it is important to emphasize that the only confirmed cases transmitted in the United States thus far have been health care workers who have had frequent and close exposure with known infectious cases who were symptomatic at the time, of which Ms. Vinson was not. I hope that we remain vigilant in our identification of possible cases while also arming ourselves with accurate information to make decisions as a community based on science and compassion rather than fear. As a physician who departs for Liberia later this week, I am hopeful that as a part of the larger global community we can use these same principles to approach the Ebola outbreak here and abroad while striving for health equity. In the words of Dr. Paul Farmer “The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all thats wrong with the world. Ami Waters, MD, Internal Medicine and Pediatrics Global Health Fellow at University of California San Francisco, on leave in Liberia working with Last Mile Health
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 11:37:47 +0000
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