Five Questions With: Dr. Anne De Groot

"I think that Dr. Fine and the R.I. Department of Health team are doing a great job of getting people informed." / PBN FILE PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

Dr. Anne De Groot is CEO and chief science officer of the immunology company EpiVax in Providence’s Jewelry District as well as research professor and director of the Institute for Immunology and Informatics at the University of Rhode Island. She is internationally known for her research on the human immune system’s response to vaccines and therapeutics.

PBN: Do you anticipate cases of Ebola in the state of Rhode Island, and what is your thinking on that?
DE GROOT
: Given the presence of many immigrants in Rhode Island, I can imagine that the general population would be concerned. However, I also believe that procedures and protocols are in place to reduce the possibility for anyone who is an active Ebola case arrive in Rhode Island from outside the country, and the Department of Health and the Hospitals have really stepped up their readiness. So, I do not anticipate that we will see any Ebola cases in Rhode Island, and if we do, it would be a rare occurrence.

PBN: How high do you rank Ebola on the list of major health concerns, globally, in November 2014?
DE GROOT:
Extremely high. Right up there with pandemic influenza and avian influenza (H7N9). These are disruptive, and high mortality diseases that cause panic in world populations.

PBN: What steps, if any, should U.S. hospitals, including Rhode Island hospitals, be taking in preparation to treat Ebola? And, so far as you know, are they all being taken?
DE GROOT:
The hospitals are getting ready. The most important way to prepare for Ebola (what Ebola there will be) is to inform the public. The , Chief of Medicine at Memorial Hospital, is great. I hope people will read it.

PBN: The Associated Press recently ran a story featuring computer models estimating how many U.S. cases would develop by the end of the year, and those estimates varied from a couple to 130. Knowing what you know about the disease and about public health, does that seem like about the right range?
DE GROOT:
Yes.

PBN: What letter grades would you give the CDC and the World Health Organization on their handling of Ebola this year?
DE GROOT:
For both the CDC and the WHO on early response: D, currently improving to A. I think that Dr. Fine and the Rhode Island Department of Health team are doing a great job of getting people informed. The only concern I have is that many of the information sources available (mainly from the CDC) are not in Spanish. Information should be made available in Spanish because when people are not informed about a major health concern, they become fearful.
While I am at it, I would like to remind everyone that it’s now flu season. Flu is a terrible disease that kills more than 20,000 people in the U.S. every year. Rhode Islanders are more likely by at least a factor of a million to get seriously ill with influenza, than Ebola, so get your flu shot soon.
Same thing for WHO.

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