Marcelo Codogno Jr
20th of January
HS20
Ebola Virus Disease
(EVD)
Overview
Ebola is a disease of humans and other primates caused by ebolaviruses. Signs and
symptoms typically start between two days and three weeks after contracting the virus
with a fever, sore throat, muscle pain, and headaches.
Then, vomiting, diarrhea and rash usually follow, along with decreased function of
the liver and kidneys. At this time some people begin to bleed both internally and
externally. The disease has a high risk of death, killing between 25 and 90 percent of
those infected with an average of about 50 percent. This is often due to low blood
pressure from fluid loss, and typically follows six to sixteen days after symptoms
appear.
The virus spreads by direct contact with body fluids, such as blood, of infected human
or other animals. This may also occur through contact with a recently contaminated item
or surface. Spread of the disease through the air between primates, including humans,
has not been documented in either laboratory or natural conditions. Semen or breast
milk of a person after recovery from EVD may still carry the virus for several weeks to
months.
Symptoms usually begin with a sudden influenza-like stage characterized by feeling
tired, fever, weakness, decreased appetite, muscle pain, joint pain, headache, and sore
throat. The fever is usually higher than 38.3 C (100.9 F). This is often followed by
vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain. Next, shortness of breath and chest pain may
occur, along with swelling, headaches and confusion. In about half of the cases, the skin
may develop a maculopapular rash (a flat red area covered with small bumps), which
may be seen 5 to 7 days after symptoms begin.
In some cases, internal and external bleeding may occur. This typically begins five to
seven days after the first symptoms. All infected people show some decreased blood
clotting. Bleeding from mucous membranes or from sites of needle punctures has been
reported in 4050 percent of cases. This may result in the vomiting of blood, coughing
up of blood, or the presence of blood in stool. Bleeding into the skin may
create petechiae, purpura, ecchymoses or hematomas (especially around needle
injection sites). Bleeding into the whites of the eyes may also occur. Heavy bleeding is
uncommon, and if it occurs, it is usually located within the gastrointestinal tract.
-Picture of symptoms of Ebola
http://whatis-ebola.net/what-is-the-ebola-virus/
Diagnosis
Diagnosing Ebola in a person who has been infected for only a few days is difficult
because the early symptoms, such as fever, are nonspecific to Ebola infection and often
are seen in patients with more common diseases, such as malaria and typhoid fever.
However, if a person has the early symptoms of Ebola and has had contact with the
blood or body fluids of a person sick with Ebola; contact with objects that have been
contaminated with the blood or body fluids of a person sick with Ebola; or contact with
infected animals, they should be isolated and public health professionals notified.
Samples from the patient can then be collected and tested to confirm infection.
Ebola virus is detected in blood only after onset of symptoms, most notably fever,
which accompany the rise in circulating virus within the patient's body. It may take up
to three days after symptoms start for the virus to reach detectable levels. Laboratory
tests used in diagnosis include:
Timeline of Infection
Within a few days of infection
Diagnostics Tests
Antigen-capture enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay (ELISA)
testing
IgM ELISA (Vaccines tested on
animals and humans)
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
Virus isolation
IgM and IgG antibodies
Immunohistochemistry testing
PCR
Virus isolation
Later in disease course or after recovery
Retrospectively in deceased patients
Ebola are difficult to diagnose because early signs and symptoms resemble those of
other diseases, such as typhoid and malaria. If doctors suspect you have Ebola, they use
blood tests to quickly identify the virus, including:
Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)
Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention monitors the United States for
conditions such as Ebola infection, and its labs can test for the Ebola virus. Mayo Clinic
does not test for the Ebola.
-Doctors Without Borders
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/our-work/medical-issues/ebola
Pretty much any kind of doctor can treat patients diagnosed with Ebola; Doctors
Without Borders/Mdecins Sans Frontires (MSF) has treated hundreds of people with
the disease and helped to contain numerous life-threatening epidemics.
Different Options of Treatment
Traditional: Dr. Peace Bello is one of the traditional healers in Logan town and runs a
center for alternative therapy. As his billboard demonstrates (see picture above), he
treats at least twenty complaints ranging from sexually transmitted diseases to bad
dreams.
"The traditional medicine I use to heal people is extracted from roots. I heal patients
with illnesses like fever, malaria, weak ejaculation or high blood pressure," Bello told
DW. "I am able to treat these sicknesses and put them under control by the grace of
God."
He added that he has not, so far, treated suspected Ebola cases. "Nobody has come to
me to treat Ebola. I don't have any Ebola patient, and I don't have anything to cure an
Ebola patient," he said.- Excerpt taken from ( http://www.dw.de/traditional-healershelp-or-hindrance-in-the-fight-against-ebola/a-17834465) about Traditional Based
Medicine.
Complementary: There isnt any complimentary medicine out right now to fight
Ebola, as you can tell by the finite amount of vaccines and medicines to combat Ebola
at this time.
Conclusion
I remain deeply concerned about the ongoing spread of the Ebola virus in West Africa
and the increasing number of people being infected and dying from it. The number of
deaths in the region has exceeded 4500 and the epidemic continues to grow
exponentially in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. In addition, the first cases among
health workers being infected outside Africa were recently confirmed. In conclusion,
one has seen the facts as horrible and gory as they are, but it is the truth and I believe it
is our job as humans to protect our family and all those around the world as well as
ourselves, so start educating now.
References
1. http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/ebolavirus/basics/testdiagnosis/con-20031241
2. http://jid.oxfordjournals.org/content/179/Supplement_1/S192.full
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_virus_disease
4. http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/index.html
5. http://www.dw.de/traditional-healers-help-or-hindrance-in-the-fightagainst-ebola/a-17834465
