Survey: Stemming tide of Ebola in West Africa best way to prevent spread to U.S.

SAN DIEGO — As many as 62% of attendees at the Academy of Integrative Health & Medicine annual conference this week said that the most important factor in stopping Ebola in the United States is controlling the virus and caring for afflicted patients in West Africa.

 

In addition, if properly protected, 30% of respondents would go to West Africa to care for Ebola patients; 68% are willing to care for U.S. Ebola patients in United States; and 87% would care for U.S. patients, if required by their employer.

 

“Healthcare providers went into medicine to serve, and this poll shows that they stand ready to do so," stated Mimi Guarneri, AIHM president. "For properly trained and protected healthcare practitioners, caring for patients and averting a public health crisis outweighs the risk of personal exposure to a life-threatening disease. In the case of Ebola – where the risk of infection is relatively low but public fear is high – the healthcare profession must take the lead in acting responsibly to the potential threat while not overreacting.”

 

A total of 754 healthcare practitioners took the poll — 78% of whom are physicians — at the AIHM annual conference in San Diego on Oct. 27 and 28.