#MaternalMonday - Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) And Its Impact On Maternal, Newborn And Child Health (MNCH) In West Africa’s Current Epidemic. Introduction: Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a severe, often fatal disease in humans and other primates (such as monkeys, gorillas, and chimpanzees). The infecting organism that causes this devastating, highly infectious disease is a special type of virus of the family Filoviridae, genus Ebolavirus, of which there are at least five sub-species, namely Ebola virus (Zaire ebolavirus), Sudan virus (Sudan ebolavirus), Tai Forest Virus (Tai Forest ebolavirus), Bundibugyo virus (Bundibugyo ebolavirus), and Reston virus (Reston ebolavirus). All but the Reston virus have been known to cause disease in humans; however, it is important to note that the Reston virus has caused disease in other primates. This present EVD outbreak in the West African sub-region started in March 2014 in Guinea, close to the contiguous areas with Liberia and Sierra Leone. Currently, at least 2615 persons have been infected with EVD, making this the biggest Ebola outbreak in history, and killing over 1427 persons, including a few healthcare workers. While EVD is highly infectious (as only a little contact with the smallest amounts of the virus is enough to cause a full blown disease), it is not very contagious (one can only get infected by someone who is already showing signs and symptoms of the disease, and these are usually people who are too tired to be walking all over the place). Impact on Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH): Because EVD makes people seek healthcare, it is having a deleterious effect on other aspects of healthcare demand, accessibility, and management. In sub-Saharan Africa, where a significant fraction of the population comprises women and children, MNCH is hampered in many ways, especially fuelled by 2 main factors: • Poor awareness and fear about EVD, as well as the stigmatization of both patients of EVD and of healthcare workers that treat (or could be treating) EVD patients. • Insufficient protective clothing and work materials for healthcare workers, in many parts of Africa, including, unfortunately, EVD treatment and isolation centers Women and children are as afraid to go seek care in healthcare facilities (HCFs) as the healthcare workers (HCWs) are afraid to treat them, especially when such patients present with signs and symptoms similar to that of EVD, notably fever, diarrhoea, stomach pain, rash, chest pain, difficult breathing, difficult swallowing, generalized body weakness, cough, and bleeding. Aside from the fact that this fear causes a great delay in care seeking and access, leading to still births, premature deliveries, maternal death, and child death, EVD can very much complicate any pregnancy- or childhood-related illness, most often leading to death. Worse still, because a pregnant woman in labour usually needs more than one HCW attending to her, the risk of transmitting EVD to HCWs are a lot greater in the labour room, obstetrics ward, or maternity unit. MNCH Conditions that might be confused with EVD: While we wish to stress that the following conditions are not similar to EVD, in any strong manner, they can be confused with EVD at times like these, and in Africa, when the epidemic has not shown any sign of abating. Read more: wbfafrica.org/articles/328-ebola-virus-disease-evd-and-its-impact-on-maternal-newborn-and-child-health-mnch-in-west-africas-current-epidemic.html
Posted on: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 08:15:18 +0000
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