Zimpapers Logo

Health workers must wear the correct sizes of Ebola suits as ill-fitting suits can result in fatigue and exhaustion which could expose them to the virus

PaidamoyoChipunza Senior Health Reporter
“Protective clothing is paramount in the prevention and management of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). You should know the size of your shoe, the size of your gloves and even the size of your overcoat because if you wear something too tight, you are in danger.

“Forget about this habit of scratching yourself while dealing with an Ebola patient,” were the words of Dr Francis Adatu, assistant commissioner for epidemiology and surveillance with Uganda’s Ministry of Health.

Sharing Uganda’s experiences from its previous 10 episodes of Ebola outbreaks with other health experts from East, Central and Southern Africa attending a director’s meeting recently, Dr Adatu said in preparation for an outbreak countries should train their workforce, practise management of the disease, have competent health workers and have the capacity to observe all those involved in Ebola management in correct donning and doffing of protective clothing.

He said the Ebola virus was transmitted to humans from animals and therefore once an outbreak is reported, all contact with infected animals should be stopped forthwith.

Adding that isolation of suspected patients was of paramount importance to avoid further spread of the virus to uninfected people.

He said community engagement was also important in case detection.

Dr Adatu attributed the fast spread of Ebola to lack of health seeking behaviour among the generality of Africans.

“In Africa, when you get sick you tell your family, friends or pastor but in Europe when they get sick they tell a physician that is why our families, friends and pastors are at high risk of Ebola,” he said.

In this regard, Dr Adatu said it is important for governments to engage communities in preparation for an Ebola outbreak which will then communicate any suspected cases, should there be any.

Citing an example of a Ugandan colleague who got infected with Ebola in Sierra Leone through sharing a laptop, Dr Adatu emphasised the need for protective clothing always.

He said failure to put on the correct sizes of Ebola suits could result in fatigue and exhaustion which could expose the health worker to the virus.

Dr Adatu said in an outbreak, it is important for health workers to do physical home follow-ups on patients discharged to monitor their condition.

“Go there physically, don’t phone your patients otherwise they will tell you that they are fine when they are not,” he said.

Dr Adatu urged countries to establish and strengthen rapid response teams who directly work with communities in case detection and management, build capacity to investigate and confirm cases.

Ebola is a haemorrhagic virus that spreads from person to person through contact with organs and bodily fluids such as blood, saliva, urine and other secretions of infected people. Symptoms include weakness, fever, aches, diarrhoea, vomiting, and bleeding and stomach pain.

Uganda’s first encounter with Ebola was in 2000, 24 years after the virus was discovered in Zaire. The epidemic registered 425 cases killing almost half of them – 224 people – in a period of just four months. This, according to Dr Adatu was a shocker for the Ugandan government.

“Subsequent outbreaks have been crushed beyond recognition within no time. In 2007, an outbreak was declared in the south-western district of Bundibugyo district, killing a number of people. Three years later a single case was reported in the central district of Luweero and another in Kibaale in 2012,” he said.

Mashonaland West provincial medical director Dr Wencelous Nyamayaro, who was attending the same meeting with other local health experts, said Zimbabwe was slowly getting there in terms of preparedness.

He said the Ugandan experience provided a lot of lessons the country could tap into in strengthening its preparedness.

“We are getting there, though more still needs to be done judging by the Zambian experience,” said Dr Nyamayaro.

Government has put in place screening teams and training of health workers is underway to manage suspected cases at all ports of entry.

The screening teams were trained to detect, isolate and trace all suspected cases and travellers from affected countries.

To date, close to 1 000 people coming from West Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo were screened of Ebola.

Isolation centres to house infected people were set up in Harare, Bulawayo and Hwange, and efforts are ongoing to have more centres set up in all provinces.

With support from partners, Government has procured protective clothing for health workers, specialised ambulances to transport suspected cases, courier services to transport specimens for laboratory confirmation, and allowances for health screening teams at ports of entry.

Dr Nyamayaro said Government has also set up a national Ebola taskforce to monitor the spread of the deadly epidemic.

He said the goal of the inter-ministerial taskforce comprising the Ministries of Health and Child Care, Transport and Infrastructural Development, Home Affairs, and Tourism and Hospitality Industry was to support global efforts to contain the spread of the disease and provide a co-ordinated national and international response for the travel and tourism sector.

According to the World Health Organisation, the current Ebola outbreak is the worst and is mainly affecting West African countries Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Senegal.

Ebola was first discovered in 1976 in Democratic Republic of Congo.

In 2000, Uganda started experiencing repeated outbreaks of the same strain of the virus. Lately, an outbreak of a different strain of the disease was detected in Guinea before it spread to bordering countries of Sierra Leone, Senegal and Liberia.

Imported cases of the same strain were also reported in Nigeria and other European countries such as Spain but were quickly contained and managed before spreading.

Over 5 000 people have so far died from the virus, the majority of them were from Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Senegal.

Ebola is a haemorrhagic condition that kills an average of 61 percent of those infected, causing unstoppable bleeding and the collapse of internal organs in its final stages.

While there is no vaccine, patients can be helped through the early phases of infection, marked by severe headaches, muscle pains and dehydration because of vomiting and diarrhoea.

• Feedback: [email protected]