We may all hear the news recently about the Ebola case in
Dallas, the news says, Thomas Eric Duncan, the first Ebola patient diagnosed in
the United States, is now in critical condition, at Texas Health Presbyterian
Hospital. Duncan landed in Dallas on September 20, and started feeling sick
days later. He made his initial visit to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital on
September 25. He was released with antibiotics but went back three days later
and was quickly isolated. A blood test Tuesday confirmed he had Ebola, the
first case of the deadly virus diagnosed on American soil.
CDC said that there are
50 people who contacted Duncan needs to be followed up daily. About 10 of them are
at "higher risk" of catching Ebola after coming into direct contact
with Duncan but have shown no symptoms till now. What we know about Ebola? Ebola
virus is a single stranded RNA virus cause a disease Called Ebola hemorrhagic
fever or Ebola, it has an incubation period of 2-3 weeks, symptoms starts with
fever , sore throat, headache and muscle pain then followed by vomiting , diarrhea,
and rash, when the liver and kidney function start to decrease the bleeding
external and internal start. Ebola transmitted by direct contact with blood or body
fluids that include; saliva, nasal fluid, tears, semen, vaginal secretions. It is
diagnosed by blood sample showing the antiviral Antibodies. The carrier believed
to be a Fruit bat but not confirmed till now.
The disease transmitted from infected
animals such as chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys, forest antelope and
porcupines found ill or dead or in the rainforest. Prevention includes avoiding
contact, animal carrier control, and wearing protective clothing. No specific
treatment, just control the symptom and system support. WHO says it is a sever
and fatal virus, case fatality rates is 50 %. The first Ebola occurred in central
Africa. Community engagement is key to successfully controlling outbreaks. Good
outbreak control relies on applying a package of interventions, namely case
management, surveillance and contact tracing, a good laboratory service, safe
burials and social mobilization.
Early supportive care with rehydration,
symptomatic treatment improves survival. There is as yet no licensed treatment
proven to neutralize the virus but a range of blood, immunological and drug
therapies are under development. There are currently no licensed Ebola vaccines
but 2 potential candidates are undergoing evaluation. The current outbreak in West
Africa, (first cases notified in March 2014), is the largest and most complex
Ebola outbreak since the Ebola virus was first discovered in 1976. On August 8,
the WHO Director-General declared this outbreak a Public Health Emergency of
International Concern.
I found the recent outbreak on American soil interesting and alarming at the same time. Your blog post brought several questions to mind after readings. Why did it take so long before Mr. Duncan was diagnosed? Didn’t the doctors take a medical history/travel history? I believe if they would have completed a full background of where Mr. Duncan had recently traveled from doctors would have been more likely to test him earlier for the presences of Ebola. When dealing with diseases like ebola early detection is the best method currently available to increase the chance of positive outcomes in the patient.
ReplyDeleteThe news of ebola on American soil also led to me feeling a little alarmed. How quickly can this disease spread? What are the chances of it reaching Indiana? With the only treatment being the managing of symptoms of the disease, I am concerned that this disease could have devastating affects.
I definitely agree with Hannah about the idea of having Ebola on American soil and the feelings that it brings. I know that thousands of other people in the United States are very scared and fearful of the idea of Ebola crossing countries. One of the biggest issues with Mr. Duncan and his illness is the fact that healthcare workers actually sent him home when he came to the hospital with symptoms. The scariest thing about this is the worry that several healthcare workers, who are supposed to be on the outlook for this illness, had the symptoms present right in front of them and didn't even realize what it was. This is probably what is the most alarming, and it definitely worries me to think if the U.S. is actually ready for a potential Ebola outbreak or not.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. Ola, how do you think, the global community is responding to Ebola? How could it be better?
ReplyDeleteThe current outbreak started in march, it did not get so much attention until it has been on American soil, I think it is the time now to think how to control it globally as well as locally before it will ran out of our control, Some of the propaganda around Ebola now is not real, but on the other hand there is a serious disease going not so far and need a good outbreak control system to be there, also travel protective precautions and airports check up should start to work, fund for the researcher should be available, Non governmental organizations and relief should also find a place in their programs for controlling Ebola, we should consider the time factor before it is too late, consider the appropriate intervention and fund distribution before it cost us a fortune without progress, one of a good thing to apply here is an operational research to reach our goals in an effective economic way.
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