Mystery Illness- Could it be Coronavirus?

I just got out of the hospital yesterday evening after an overnight stay. I was roomed in the wing of the hospital that they put people in when they are trying to diagnose what's going on until they figure it out. Fortunately they finally got to the root of my problem, but this really isn't about me.

The room catacornered across the hall was under quarantine. The door was kept closed, there was a sign by the door and there was a contraption with pockets hanging on the outside of the door containing gloves, masks, sanitizers, etc. There were dedicated nurses for that room only. Everyone who went in and out of the room were completely suited up (paper suits with booties and head coverings, masks, gloves, etc.

As I was going over instructions with the charge doctor to be released there was a bunch of commotion in the hallway, and as the doctor left the room I saw they took the pocketed bag down off the door and the sign was gone. The cleaning lady was fully suited up and entering that room for the first time since I had been there. As my hubs and I exited the room to leave the hallway was full of decontamination machinery. One of the machines used UV rays as per the sticker on it I saw briefly. It all looked pretty scary!

Now I understand there are a number of things that can cause a quarantine situation and it could have been something else but when I had asked a nurse and later an aide the night previous they claimed to have no idea of what was going on in that room and I believe it as I only ever saw the same two nurses and one doctor go in and out of the room and I never saw any of them go to any other rooms.

While it could be any number of things it made me nervous because there was a quarantine due to suspected coronavirus last week in the next state and while quarantines usually make the news here I've seen nothing pop up about it.

I think I'm just going to stay at home as much as possible for a while just in case! Better safe than sorry!

a reply to: GeauxHomeYoureDrunk

My father was treated in such a room when he had pneumonia. They didn't know what caused it and if it was contagious, so they placed him in quarantine until they did know. He recovered fine and was released in about a week.

Probably not a lot to worry about...

When my Ex-wife was getting ready for a C-Section for our daughter, she was sick with some nasty viral infection and they wanted to keep her under watch while keeping her away from everyone else. Same set up too, pockets on the door, people entering in suits, hazmat gear, biohazard warnings, etc.

Oddly enough, they didn't care about me being in there with her.

Just their protocol for sick and contagious people.

a reply to: BomSquad

I completely understand that quarantine situations happen for all sorts of reasons, but what makes me nervous is the secrecy around it. We had a hepatitis outbreak a few years ago and it was all over the news as soon as the first case was discovered but in this case there has been nothing and it seemed that even the other medical personnel were left out of the loop in this case- and trust me, despite HIPAA laws medical personnel are a gossipy bunch.

a reply to: GeauxHomeYoureDrunk

Hospitals in America would be a crappy place to have a coverup. A hospital is like a small town. Everyone knows most everyone.... and EVERYONE gossips. Let’s just say if a hospital was a ship. It would sink .

a reply to: GeauxHomeYoureDrunk

I work in the medical field (I am not a clinician, I'm a back office type) and believe me, HIPAA is treated differently depending on the organization. Here it is treated very seriously with little talk that isn't expressly for patient care. It all depends on the way it is enforced at the facility.

a reply to: BillyJoeeOzark

That is what concerns me. The other hospital personnel didn't seem to know what was going on with the patient in that room, and they are a gossipy bunch there for sure.

a reply to: BomSquad

I've stayed in this particular hospital before and the gossip levels could be compared to hen house cackling very easily.

a reply to: GeauxHomeYoureDrunk

They are not going to tell you what was going on in that room, that is a HIPPA violation. Everything you described is standard for contact/droplet precautions, including the decontamination. I see absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. Over 10 years of working in healthcare.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

could it also be a clean room for immune compromised patients and needs to be decontaminated after each use?

That actually sounds like a really good hospital that is following proper precautions. It most likely was MRSA but could've been lots of things - TB, etc. The takeaway should be that it's a good place that is following proper procedures.

a reply to: oriondc

TB would be a negative pressure room. CDIF, flu, almost anything.

a reply to: smkymcnugget420

It is possible but strange to put a contagion risk next door to a stroke patient and across from someone (me) with spine damage. It is a large hospital so I would think they'd have a dedicated area for such- but I could be wrong. Without more information it is pure speculation. It only concerns me because there has been at least one suspected case of coronavirus in one state bordering ours and at least one confirmed case in the next state bordering this one- and we get a lot of international travellers here. I think it is just better to err on the side of caution and keep to home as much as possible until this whole coronavirus thing plays itself out.

originally posted by: smkymcnugget420
a reply to: OccamsRazor04

could it also be a clean room for immune compromised patients and needs to be decontaminated after each use?

Immune compromised is protective precautions, it doesn't sound like it. There are no rooms just for immune compromised. the decontamination is standard after a patient on precautions is discharged, what he described is nothing special.

a reply to: GeauxHomeYoureDrunk

If what you say is true and they are a gossiping chatty bunch EVERY one of them would know if that room had coronoa virus. The only reason they wouldn't know is that it's nothing special so nothing to chat about. MRSA, flu, CDIF .. these are all so common no one would bother gossiping about it.

Corona, norovirus, something more unusual would be gossiped about.

a reply to: oriondc

It's a great hospital for sure, my third time there. MRSA is a nasty thing as we had an immediate outbreak of that when pieces of the space shuttle landed in my neighborhood several years back when I lived in Texas- 2/3 of the neighborhood got it. Makes me wonder just what the heck was all on that shuttle- but that is another story.

a reply to: GeauxHomeYoureDrunk

Fair

Reading this it doesn't seem like the hospital staff were the ones that are "gossipy"

a reply to: Gothmog

Oh they definitely were, just quiet about the one room/patient. I am usually just a listener, though today I am bored and can't move around a lot- and unsupervised- which gives me time to speculate... and gossip.

originally posted by: GeauxHomeYoureDrunk
a reply to: Gothmog

Oh they definitely were, just quiet about the one room/patient. I am usually just a listener, though today I am bored and can't move around a lot- and unsupervised- which gives me time to speculate... and gossip.

Everyone on that unit has access to that patient's chart. Nothing is being hidden from them. If there is no gossip, it's because there is nothing to gossip about.