A single line often inverts meaning once you see what it
answers, so neighbouring messages are always shown.
-
Sept. 23, 2014 - Still working with Tom Frieden in trying to get agreement on whether to conduct an RCT of the vaccine. Tom remains concerned about a true control (placebo) arm and wants to do a Stepped-Wedge trial of sequentially vaccinated different cohorts without the simultaneous double blind control group. This evening went to the Annual Friends of cancer Research Awards Ceremony on the roof of the Hay-Adams Hotel. Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts and Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana received awards. Had good conversation with Gov. Patrick.
-
Sept. 24, 2014 - On the last Secretary's call, Burwell tasked me to get the HHS team together and fashion out a consensus about the way forward following ending of phase 1 vaccine trial at NIH. I had long conversation with Tom Frieden this AM and he is starting to come around. Seems he will be OK with an RCT simultaneously done with a Stepped-Wedge Trial. I arranged a conference call at 5:30 PM with me, Tom, Nicki Lurie, Peggy Hamburg, Lu Borio, and Anne Schuchat. We came to agreement that we will do the two trials (RCT + Stepped Wedge) simultaneously. CDC (Anne and Tom) feel that the RCT may be so difficult to implement that the Stepped-Wedge approach might give us some information, while the RCT could fail. Cliff and I feel just the opposite. However, in order to get things moving, we came to a compromise. I will report this to the HHS Secretary's call tomorrow. Continue to have press interest: Bloomberg News TV; WTOP Radio; pre-show interview with CBS 60 Minutes for future show.
-
Sept. 25, 2014 - Did MSNBC this AM as a commentary immediately following the POTUS statement before the UN on Ebola. He gave his speech and then I was asked to comment. Of course, I supported what he said (since he said the right things - all nations must pitch in).
-
Sept. 26, 2014 - Learned at 4:00 PM this afternoon that the NIH Clinical Center will be accepting for observation in our special studies unit an American physician who had a moderate risk exposure to Ebola in Sierra Leone (clean needle puncture through a contaminated glove). We scrambled around over the evening preparing press statements and plans. Patient will arrive on Sunday, Sept. 28.
-
2014-09-27 00:00
Anthony S. Fauci
Sept. 27, 2014 - Did FOX News and CNN today (Saturday) on regular Ebola issues. Also, much press coming in since the press release went out today on the patient arriving from Sierra Leone. In this regard, I did CBS Radio News; NPR background; WUSA - Channel 9 TV; various print outlets. Likely much more tomorrow.
-
Sept. 28, 2014 - Patient arrived this afternoon (~3:00 PM) from Sierra Leone. State Department arranged his transportation. He was given the VSV vaccine as a postexposure prophylaxis, which neither Cliff nor I would necessarily have done since it induces a fever and can complicate matters. Indeed, he developed a fever 24 hours after receiving the VSV vaccine. The Patient, Dr. Lewis Rubinson, is admitted to the Special Studies Unit of the Clinical Center on the 5th Floor. Very little of the circus that we saw when Dr. Brantley and Nancy Rightbol were admitted to Emory, i.e. no helicopters or TV trucks. I did do a few interviews (some pre-scheduled even before the patient was known to come to NIH. Did interviews for: MSNBC, NBC Network, NPR Radio; Fox5 TV, CBS Radio
-
Sept. 29, 2014 - No evidence of infection in the patient. Much press today: CNN; Weather Channel TV; USA Today TV and ONLINE; 1 hour at the WTOP Studio with questions from staff Deborah Feinstein and Bruce Alan; CBS Radio; FOX5 TV; CBS TV; AP TV; Channel 8 News TV
-
Sept. 30, 2014 - Word from the WHO meeting in Geneva is that people are starting to come around to our (Cliff, me, Lu Borio) idea about the necessity of conducting an RCT rather than open access for the Ebola vaccine. A story about me with picture appeared in USA today with my saying that it is critical to greatly accelerate our efforts or else the Ebola epidemic will evolve into the "worst case scenario" of the CDC prediction of 1.4 million cases by early 2015.
-
Oct. 1, 2014 - Big news! A patient from Liberia got on a plane on Sept. 19, arrived in USA (Texas) on Sept. 20 without sxs. On Sept. 24 developed sxs; on Sept. 26 went to an ER in Dallas and was given Z-pack and sent home; on Sept. 28 taken to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital (Dallas) in critical condition. Ebola dx confirmed. This is first patient to come to USA with Ebola who did not know he/she had Ebola. Soemthing that I have been predicting all along. On conference call with Secretary Burwell, I indicated that after Tom Frieden's press conference at 5:30 PM yesterday (Sept. 30) there were many requests from the press. On the phone a CDC person said that this is Tom's responsibility. Burwell snapped at the person saying that we need Tony out there and this is no time to be arguing about "people's lanes". Finally, someone put an end to that bullshit. Thanks, Sylvia! Sylvia asked me on the phone to cancel my planned trip for today to San Francisco to partake in a Gala to celebrate UCSF's Global Health program. Also, I was going to see Ali. I, of course, obliged and Sylvia said that she wanted me to take the lead in "Calming the Country" that will certainly panic about this. She asked me to lead a teleconference last night at 9:00 PM with HHS to discuss the clinical aspects of what this means. And so there is much press today: Bloomberg News TV by phone; AP Radio; CNN New Day; FOX News TV; NPR Here and Now; multiple print media and blogs → AFP; New York Daily News; Washington Post., BuzzFeed; Wall Street Journal; Also, Doctor radio with Marc Siegel; Time Magazine; The Guardian; The Huffington Post; CNN International (I was cut off by satellite issue); Bloomberg TV; CNN "The Lead" with Jake Tapper; WBZ/CBS Radio Boston; MSNBC Hardball with Chris Matthews; NBC Nightly News; FOX with Lou Dobbs; CNN Anderson Cooper 360; WUSA Channel 9. As it turns out, and this was discussed at length on my TV interviews, on the Sept. 26 visit of to the ER, a nurse took a travel history and explicitly said that he told the nurse that he had just arrived from Liberia. The nurse wrote this down, but the clinical team either did not see it or ignored it. It is being played up on TV as a major mis-step on the part of the local health system. I continue to "calm the country" by stressing that contact tracing with appropriate isolation if a contact develops sxs will prevent an outbreak from occurring.