While many workplaces have official illness policies, the media attention surrounding Ebola has employers thinking twice about their strategy for maintaining a healthy workforce. It is important, during an outbreak like this, to ensure that employee concerns are addressed with accurate information, and that illness policies are reviewed and include a strong recommendation for employees to receive an annual flu shot.
Symptoms
Perhaps the most important fact to know about Ebola is that it does not spread by air. It is mainly transmissible through contact with the blood or body fluids of the infected, or through contact with objects that have been soiled by the body fluids of an infected individual.
Many early Ebola symptoms are flu-like, but the crucial difference is in how the disease progresses. Ebola typically begins to present different symptoms starting around five days after infection, but they can take as long as 21 days to appear. These can include:
- Fever
- Cough
- Sore throat
- Headache
- Fatigue
- Muscle pain
- Diarrhea
- Vomiting
Symptoms that are generally not flu-like may include the following:
- Chest pain
- Rashes
- High fever
- Loss of appetite
- Red eyes
- Blood in stool
- Shortness of breath
- Confusion
- Seizures
- Internal bleeding
- Unexplained hemorrhage (bruising or bleeding)
Symptoms of Ebola continue after 9 days, while symptoms of the flu begin to fade.
A More Likely Reality
The news about Ebola is leaving many paralyzed by the knowledge that there is no proven cure for the disease. However, the flu is a far more contagious illness that kills thousands of people every year, and there is one important preventative measure almost everybody can take to avoid it: getting a flu shot.
Because of the overlap in the early signs of the two diseases, emergency rooms will soon be flooded with flu patients who fear they’ve contracted Ebola. Getting a flu shot greatly reduces your risk of becoming infected with the flu, giving you peace of mind, and enabling you to avoid the waiting rooms full of fearful people that chose not to get their flu shot this year.
Employer Strategies
Although fears of Ebola are growing, there is a fine line for employers to follow when it comes to employees’ health, and overreacting to news of the outbreak can end up doing more harm than good. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulates the extent to which employers can inquire about an employee’s medical condition. The ADA only allows employers to exclude individuals from employment if they pose a “direct threat” to others.
Employers risk liability under the ADA if, for example, they require an employee to take a medical exam just because he/she recently traveled to West Africa. Requiring employees to report illnesses, without identifying them, however, does not overstep the boundaries of the ADA.
As always, it is important to strongly recommend a flu shot as the preferred method of sickness prevention in the company illness policy. Having a vaccinated workforce is an effective way to prevent lost productivity, and to quell the contagious Ebola paranoia.
Healthcare Providers
For healthcare facilities, the outbreak has become an especially pertinent issue. Although the disease carries a relatively low risk of transmission, healthcare workers are at the greatest risk of infection.
The CDC makes urgent recommendations for healthcare providers in the wake of the Ebola outbreak. Click here for a PDF version of the Health Care Provider Preparedness Checklist for Ebola Virus Disease. The CDC also offers infection prevention recommendations for patients with known or suspected cases of Ebola, and an Ebola screening poster for healthcare facility emergency departments.
