Protecting Health Care Workers From Ebola: Personal Protective Equipment Is Critical but Is Not Enough

Infections among health care workers have played a majorrole in outbreaks of Ebola virus disease since the virus was discovered in 1976. Available data from past outbreaks show that the deaths of health care workers were the canary in the coal mine signaling that an outbreak of a viral hem-orrhagic fever had begun. The current Ebola outbreak that is devastating West Africa is unfortunately no different. In addition to an unprecedented number of total infections and deaths (2473 and 1350, respectively, at the time of this writing), this outbreak has surpassed all previous ones with respect to the number of health care workers infected (1). As of 11 August 2014, more than 170 health care workers have been infected and more than 80 have died (2). In general, exposure and infection among health care workers typically occur before recognition of Ebola as the cause of a patient’s illness. The nonspecific and nonpatho