DREADED EBOLA

SENSITIZATION ON EBOLA VIRAL DISEASE (EVD)

SIGNS AND SYMTOMS

·        21 days of exposure.

·        Muscle ache

·        Joint ache

·        Severe body pain

·        Fear, anxiety, loneliness from isolation

·        Sore throat and cough

·        Fever (biphatic) 3-6 days “Gl stops)

·        Rashes and tongue changes

·        Diarrhoea and vomiting (hourly)

·        Dehydration, shock,, organ failure; bleeding. Death

·        Or Recovery (12-16 days)

MODES OF EVD TRANSMISSION

·        Zoonaotic transmission from animal to human beings (Rural)

·        Funeral practices, households (community)

·        Persons to persons transmission (Urban)

·        Direct contact with sick persons or their body fluids

·        Nosocomial transmission (in resource poor clinic & hospitals where there is little or no PPE, and absent of IPC practices

CARRIER OF THE VIRUS

The prime carrier of the EVD is the food bat

FACTS ABOUT EBOLA

·        AIR

·        WATER

·        FOOD

EVD INVESTIGATIONS

·        Contact NCDC (Nigerian Center for Disease Control)  to lead in active cases search in clinics and communities

·        Get cases into isolation ward asap for care to prevent transmission and protect health care workers

·        Real time virus diagnostics (field lab or regional PCR lab) N:B Transport SP and logistics

·        Trace contacts and follow for 21 days (in the case of Nigeria)

·        If contact becomes febrile- Quarantine, test; isolate if positive.

·        Risk/panic reduction messages to community and health center (mis-information in the case of salt water)

·        Respect for the dignity and rights of the patients/family

·        Establishment of an isolation area and implementation of barrier nursing precautions

·        Organization of safe transport of the patient from their home to the ward requires special training and fully functional ambulance.

·        Performance of safe burials;  cremation preferred. Burial by special trained health professionals; disinfecting all the time. (in the case of tradition a complete hypocorism of the body before burying or where there is a body bag body should be buried at least 10  ft below)

·        Appropriate psychosocial support for health-care workers, patients, their families, and their communities

·        Adopt for strengthen infection control precautions in the affected areas and beyond.   

·        Surveillance

·        social