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ByDavidSharp TheAssociatedPress PORTLAND,MAINE AMaine nurse who battled politi- cians over her quarantine after she returned from treating Ebola patients in West Africa said she will continue speaking out on behalf of public health workers. Monday marks the 21st day since Kaci Hickox's last exposure to an Ebola pa- tient, a 10-year-old girl who suffered seizures before dy- ing alone without family. On Tuesday, Hickox will no longer require daily monitoring for Ebola symp- toms, and said she looks forward to stepping out her front door "like normal people." But the Texas native said she won't back away from the debate over treatment of health care workers. "In the past, a quaran- tine was something that was considered very ex- treme. I'm concerned about how lightly we're taking this concept today," said Hickox, who defied state- ordered quarantine at- tempts in New Jersey and Maine. "I'm concerned that the wrong people are lead- ing the debate and making the decisions." She said the U.S. needs a public education campaign to better explain the virus that has killed nearly 5,000 in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. However, Hickox said she wouldn't let her ex- perience prevent her from returning to West Africa. "Something like quaran- tine is not going to scare me from doing the work that I love," she told The Associ- ated Press from her home in Fort Kent in northern Maine. "I would return to Sierra Leone in a heart- beat." Hickox said she plans to have dinner with her boy- friend to mark the end of the deadly disease's incu- bation period, but she's not sure what kind of recep- tion she'll get. She has been hailed by some and vilified by others for refusing to be quarantined. Most people have been supportive, she said, but others have been hateful. She received a letter from one person who said he hoped she would catch Eb- ola and die. "We're still thankful we've had a lot of great sup- port in this community but I'd be lying if I said that it didn't make me a little bit nervous thinking about people from the other side of the debate and how they might react to me," Hickox said. A volunteer with Doctors Without Borders, she spent a month at a hospital where there were never enough beds for all of the Ebola pa- tients who needed help. It was so hot that volunteers could only spend about an hour at a time treating pa- tients in their protective suits. They were drenched in sweat when they finished their shifts, she said. On the morning she left Sierra Leone, the weary nurse learned that the girl she'd treated hours earlier had died. She was debriefed by Doctors Without Borders in Brussels before flying to the U.S. It was after three hours of questioning at the New- ark Liberty International Airport that she resolved that she'd have to make a stand on behalf of all re- turning health care work- ers. "I said I'm going to have to do something about this because I can't possibly let my colleagues go through this. This is completely un- acceptable," she said. Hickox was sequestered in a medical tent for days because New Jersey an- nounced new Ebola regu- lations the day she arrived. She eventually was al- lowed to travel to Maine, where the state sought to impose a "voluntary quar- antine" before trying and failing to create a buffer between her and others. A state judge rejected at- tempts to restrict her move- ments, saying she posed no threat as long as she wasn't demonstrating any symp- toms of Ebola. Hickox said health care professionals like those at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — not politicians like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Maine Gov. Paul LeP- age — should be in charge of making decisions that are grounded in science, not fear. Hickox said she's con- sidering her options as she looks for work. Her boy- friend, Ted Wilbur, con- tends he was told to stay away from the University of Maine at Fort Kent while she was in the news. He for- mally withdrew from the school Friday. The couple said they'd be leaving town soon. They plan to stay in southern Maine while they sort out what's next, Hickox told the AP. Hickox, who holds a nurs- ing degree from the Uni- versity of Texas at Arling- ton and master's degrees in nursing and public health from Johns Hopkins Uni- versity, said she may opt to go back to school. "I have been over the last couple of days been toying with the idea of maybe get- ting a doctorate degree and focusing on quarantine law," she said. VIRUS Eb ol a nu rs e to b e ad vo ca te f or h ea lt h wo rk er s THEASSOCIATEDPRESS In an Oct. 31photo, Kaci Hickox comes out of her house to speak to reporters, in Fort Kent, Maine. By Lindsey Tanner The Associated Press CHICAGO Accidental poi- sonings from squishy laun- dry detergent packets some- times mistaken for toys or candy landed more than 700 U.S. children in the hos- pital in just two years, re- searchers report. Coma and seizures were among the most serious complications. The cases stem from the more than 17,000 poi- son center calls about the products received in the past two years. The calls involved children younger than 6 and most weren't seriously harmed. But one child died last year and the potential risks highlight a need for even safer packag- ing, the researchers said. Some manufacturers al- ready have revised packag- ing and labels in efforts to make the detergent pack- ets or "pods" safer for chil- dren. The study found calls dipped slightly after some of those changes were made. The products contain concentrated liquid laundry soap and became widely available in the U.S. two years ago. Some are multi- colored and may look entic- ing to young children. Poi- soning or injuries includ- ing mouth, throat and eye burns can occur when kids burst the capsules or put them in their mouths. In the study, 144 had eye injuries, 30 went into comas and 12 had seizures. Exposure to house- hold cleaning products is among the top reasons for calls to poison centers in- volving young children. In 2012, detergent packet calls accounted for a frac- tion — about 6 percent — of the 111,000 calls involv- ing young children and cleaning products, accord- ing to the American Asso- ciation of Poison Control Centers. Many calls involve reg- ular laundry detergent, which can cause mild stom- ach upsets, but poison cen- ter experts say the new con- centrated laundry packets seem to cause more severe problems. Jessica Morin of Hous- ton says her 9-month-old daughter, Marlow, was sick- ened earlier this year when Jessica's grandmother mis- took a detergent pod for a teething toy and put it in the baby's mouth. "I called poison control and they said to take her to the ER immediately," Mo- rin said. Marlow was re- peatedly vomiting and un- derwent tests, but doctors at Texas Children's Hospi- tal found no serious dam- age and she didn't need to stay overnight. "We were very lucky," Morin said. "We don't have those pods in our house anymore." The researchers exam- ined 2012-13 data from the poison control centers group. Their study was pub- lished online Monday in Pe- diatrics. Overall, there were 17,230 poison center calls about young kids getting into the packets, including 769 chil- dren who were hospitalized. Dr. Gary Smith, the study's lead author, said his hospi- tal had two recent cases — kids who developed breath- ing problems and required treatment in the intensive care unit. He's director of the Center for Injury Re- search and Policy at Nation- wide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. The American Clean- ing Institute, which repre- sents makers of cleaning products, issued voluntary guidance in March encour- aging manufacturers to use labels that prominently list safe handling information. The cleaning institute said it is also working with man- ufacturers to educate par- ents. But a survey the group released last week suggests many consumers still don't know about the risks. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says children should not be al- lowed to handle the pack- ets and advises parents to store them out of children's sight and reach. POISONINGS Study: Hundreds of kids harmed by detergent 'pods' THE ASSOCIATED PRESS In this photo taken Friday, laundry detergent packets are held for a photo in Chicago. Accidental poisonings from squishy laundry detergent packets sometimes mistaken for toys or candy landed more than 700U.S. children in the hospital in just two years, researchers report. "I called poison control and they said to take her to the ER immediately. We were very lucky. We don't have those pods in our house anymore." — Jessica Morin of Houston, mother of 9-month-old daughter PLEASE RECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER. 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