What you need to know about Ebola Virus

  

News about Ebola virus infecting one person or the other has been on the increase now, so I decided to share with you facts about Ebola virus, it is so disheartening that this Ebola virus just came out of the blues and people have been dying as a result of contacting it.
How does a person contract Ebola?

"They usually acquire it from close contact with blood and body fluids, and that means someone coughs in your face, you handle a body or you look after someone and don't have ideal infection-control methods. You get the virus on your hands, you touch your nose, your mouth."

What symptoms do Ebola patients show?

"It looks like the flu: fever, headache, sore throat, muscle aches and pains. That's in the first few days. And then vomiting, diarrhea and the really serious part of the illness — that is the hemorrhage part — really doesn't occur until toward the end of the first week."

Once a patient is hemorrhaging, can he or she be saved?

"It all depends on the quality of medical care. Most Ebola outbreaks have occurred in villages, in mission hospitals where essentially they have a very poor level of health care and very poor infection control methods. The mortality rate in this outbreak ... is about 60 per cent. So you can survive. The better the care, more likely you are to survive but there's no antibiotic or anti-viral agent to treat this disease."

Why has this outbreak been so bad?

"First, there's a lot of cross-border travel. Whereas most other outbreaks have been isolated in the middle of virtually nowhere. Also, people in these countries don't trust the government. They don't believe in the infection. They hide their cases. If someone dies, they take [the body] home. And unfortunately the funeral procedures where you touch the body, and handle the body, markedly increases your risk. These cases are now more in central areas, cities rather than tiny villages. All of those reasons I think have compounded to make this a much greater outbreak."

Challenges of Ebola Prevention

Ebola prevention in Africa presents many challenges. Because the identity and location of the animal host of Ebola virus are unknown, there are few established primary Ebola prevention measures.

If cases of Ebola do appear, current social and economic conditions often favor the spread of an epidemic within healthcare facilities; therefore, healthcare providers must be able to recognize a case of Ebola should one appear. They must also have the capability to perform Ebola diagnostic tests and be ready to employ practical Ebola isolation precautions or barrier nursing techniques. These techniques include:

• The use of infection-control measures, including complete sterilization of equipment
• The isolation of patients with Ebola hemorrhagic fever from contact with unprotected people
• The wearing of protective clothing, such as masks, gloves, gowns, and goggles.