Dive Brief:
- Ebola infections in the United States have highlighted a problem in the nation's hospitals—that they are ill-prepared to dispose of large amounts of biohazardous waste. Few hospitals are equipped to deal with these materials.
- The Ebola patients cared for at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta were creating about 40 bags of waste each day, Emory professors told Reuters. Stericycle, Emory's disposal company, refused to handle the materials. Physicians at Emory used 32-gallon rubber containers to house the materials, then sterilize the waste. The disposal company then removed it from the premises.
- Not all hospitals have the resources to deal with the waste on-site like Emory, which would clearly create a problem if Ebola were to spread. Public health and transportation officials are said to be meeting to try and resolve the issue.
Dive Insight:
On September 5, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted information on its website saying that all US hospitals are prepared to safely treat patients infected with Ebola. The agency noted that as long as hospitals follow the CDC's infection control recommendations and can isolate a patient, they are capable of safely managing these patients.
"Diligent environmental cleaning and disinfection and safe handling of potentially contaminated materials is of paramount importance, as blood, sweat, vomit, feces, urine and other body secretions represent potentially infectious materials should be done following hospital protocols," according to the CDC post. Ebola may not continue to spread at a rate that will be problematic for US hospitals, but the outbreak has clearly shone light on a problem that has to be addressed.
