Central MA Doctor Successfully Treated for Ebola Hospitalized
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Sunday, October 05, 2014
GoLocalWorcester News Team
Dr. Sacra
Central Massachusetts doctor Richard Sacra – who was successfully treated for Ebola in Nebraska – is back in the hospital with what appears to be a respiratory infection.
Sacra was admitted to UMass Memorial Medical Center on Saturday for observations and is in stable condition. Doctors are not suspecting a recurrence of the virus.
"We are isolating Dr. Sacra to be cautious pending final confirmation of his illness," said Dr. Robert Finberg, who is heading Sacra's medical team. "We think it is highly unlikely that he has Ebola. We suspect he has an upper respiratory tract infection."
Sacra will reamin in isolation until it can be confirmed that he is not infected with Ebola. Doctors expect to know by Monday whether or not Sacra the virus.
Sacra – who lives in Holden – returned to Massachusetts on September 25th after being treated at a Omaha, Nebraska hospital for the past few weeks. Sacra was working with a missionary group in Liberia, which is where he contracted the virus.
Related Slideshow: The History of Disease Outbreaks in New England
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Smallpox has been eradicated from the United States for over 60 years.
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The Smallpox outbreak in Boston incited great debate about the use of inoculation in the United States, a practice that is obviously observed today.
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Tuberculosis 1800-1922
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According to research by the Harvard Medical Library, nearly 40% of deaths of working-class people in urban American cities were cause by Tuberculosis.
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Influenza 1918
A worldwide pandemic that struck during World War 1, the "Spanish Flu" caused mass destruction in the United States and abroad.
20 million people across the globe are estimated to have died from the flu pandemic, with 675,000 Americans among the death toll.
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Polio 1952
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The disease affects the nervous system, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt is probably the most notable person to live with the disease.
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Asian Flu 1957
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Holy Cross Football Hepatitis 1969
After being trounced on the second Saturday of the 1969 college football season by Dartmouth, the Holy Cross football team had each member get blood work done to determine if there was a medical reason for their poor performance.
90 out of 97 players on the team had elevated levels of a liver enzyme, and 30 of those 90 players showed symptoms of Hepatitis-A.
Dr. Leonard Morse, who went on to become the Commissioner of Public Health in Worcester, helped determine the cause of the sickness- a contaminated drinking water supply that only the football players had accessed.
The remainder of the season was canceled (an NCAA first) and the 30 players showing symptoms were quarantined in a single dormitory.
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AIDS Epidemic 1980s
While not documented until 1981, the HIV virus and AIDS continues to be one of the most debilitating diseases alive today in the United States.
Progress has been made over the years, as education about the virus and how to prevent it have brought the world from "AIDS is Preventable" to "AIDS is Treatable."
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New Hampshire Hepatitis 2012
30 people were diagnosed with Hepatitis-C in 2012 after a former hospital worker stole syringes and intentionally contaminated them with the disease, of which he was afflicted.
After pleading guilty to charges in New Hampshire, the perpetrator was sentenced to 39 months in jail.
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Vermont Whooping Cough 2012
Vermont declared a whooping cough epidemic in 2012 after over 500 cases of the disease were reported. 90% of the afflicted were children who had received the not-so-foolproof vaccine.
Whooping cough- also known as Pertussis- is difficult to diagnose initially because it starts with cold-like symptoms and progresses into a life threatening illness.
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