Letter-to-Editor II

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 0-0
Author(s):  
Ayush Agarwal ◽  
Omkar Singh ◽  
VK Rastogi
Keyword(s):  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
Specific Treatment ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Case Fatality ◽  
Hemorrhagic Fever ◽  
Physical Contact ◽  
Ebola Virus Disease ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever

ABSTRACT • Ebola virus disease (EVD), also known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness of human beings having a case fatality rate of up to 90%. • Ebola virus disease outbreaks occur primarily in remote Central and West Africa, near the tropical rainforests. • The virus is transmitted to humans from wild animals and spreads in the human beings through physical contact. • It does not transmit through vectors or air-borne droplets. • Severely ill patients require intensive supportive care. No specific treatment or vaccine is available for use.

scholarly journals Ocular Manifestations of Ebola Virus Disease: An Ophthalmologist’s Guide to Prevent Infection and Panic

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enzo Maria Vingolo ◽  
Giuseppe Alessio Messano ◽  
Serena Fragiotta ◽  
Leopoldo Spadea ◽  
Stefano Petti
Keyword(s):  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
Clinical Signs ◽  
Case Fatality ◽  
Hemorrhagic Fever ◽  
Ebola Virus Disease ◽  
Ocular Manifestations ◽  
Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Moment

Ebola virus disease (EVD—formerly known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever) is a severe hemorrhagic fever caused by lipid-enveloped, nonsegmented, negative-stranded RNA viruses belonging to the genusEbolavirus. Case fatality rates may reach up to 76% of infected individuals, making this infection a deadly health problem in the sub-Saharan population. At the moment, there are still no indications on ophthalmological clinical signs and security suggestions for healthcare professionals (doctors and nurses or cooperative persons). This paper provides a short but complete guide to reduce infection risks.

scholarly journals Emergence of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD): Key Facts

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-37
Author(s):  
Md Mahfuzar Rahman ◽  
Farnaz Mehrin ◽  
Fahim Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
Virus Transmission ◽  
Specific Treatment ◽  
Case Fatality ◽  
Signs And Symptoms ◽  
Hemorrhagic Fever ◽  
Ebola Virus Disease ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Global Threat

The modern emerging infection Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is of global threat originates from Africa region. This is zoonotic and identified as human diseases or previously called Ebola hemorrhagic fever which is a highly fatal human illness where case fatality rate is found up to 90%. The virus transmission begins from wild animals to human and then spreads within population through human to human. Fruit bats are found as natural host of Ebola virus. There is no specific treatment or vaccine available in the market so far, intensive supportive care is needed for severely ill patients. This paper highlights background information, problem statement, viral characteristics, mode of transmission, signs and symptoms, prevention & vaccination. It also indicates possible actions towards prevention of transmission & personal protection.Anwer Khan Modern Medical College Journal Vol. 6, No. 1: January 2015, Pages 35-37

The Epidemiological Presentation Pattern of Ebola Virus Disease Outbreaks: Changes from 1976 to 2019

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 247-253
Author(s):  
Pedro Arcos González ◽  
Ángel Fernández Camporro ◽  
Anneli Eriksson ◽  
Carmen Alonso Llada
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Case Fatality ◽  
Ebola Virus Disease ◽  
World Health ◽  
Study Objective ◽  
Population At Risk ◽  
Case Fatality Ratio

AbstractIntroduction:Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is the international health emergency paradigm due to its epidemiological presentation pattern, impact on public health, resources necessary for its control, and need for a national and international response.Study Objective:The objective of this work is to study the evolution and progression of the epidemiological presentation profile of Ebola disease outbreaks since its discovery in 1976 to the present, and to explore the possible reasons for this evolution from different perspectives.Methods:Retrospective observational study of 38 outbreaks of Ebola disease occurred from 1976 through 2019, excluding laboratory accidents. United Nations agencies and programs; Ministries of Health; the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); ReliefWeb; emergency nongovernmental organizations; and publications indexed in PubMed, EmBase, and Clinical Key have been used as sources of data. Information on the year of the outbreak, date of beginning and end, duration of the outbreak in days, number of cases, number of deaths, population at risk, geographic extension affected in Km2, and time of notification of the first cases to the World Health Organization (WHO) have been searched and analyzed.Results:Populations at risk have increased (P = .024) and the geographical extent of Ebola outbreaks has grown (P = .004). Reporting time of the first cases of Ebola to WHO has been reduced (P = .017) and case fatality (P = .028) has gone from 88% to 62% in the period studied. There have been differences (P = .04) between the outbreaks produced by the Sudan and Zaire strains of the virus, both in terms of duration and case fatality ratio (Sudan strain 74.5 days on average and 62.7% of case fatality ratio versus Zaire strain with 150 days on average and 55.4% case fatality ratio).Conclusion:There has been a change in the epidemiological profile of the Ebola outbreaks from 1976 through 2019 with an increase in the geographical extent of the outbreaks and the population at risk, as well as a significant decrease in the outbreaks case fatality rate. There have been advances in the detection and management capacity of outbreaks, and the notification time to the WHO has been reduced. However, there are social, economic, cultural, and political obstacles that continue to greatly hinder a more efficient epidemiological approach to Ebola disease, mainly in Central Africa.

JOINT ESTIMATION OF THE TRANSMISSIBILITY AND SEVERITY OF EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE IN REAL TIME

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (04) ◽  
pp. 587-603 ◽  
Author(s):  
YUSUKE ASAI ◽  
HIROSHI NISHIURA
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Estimation Method ◽  
Case Fatality ◽  
Ascertainment Bias ◽  
Joint Estimation ◽  
Ebola Virus Disease ◽  
Strong Impact

The effective reproduction number [Formula: see text], the average number of secondary cases that are generated by a single primary case at calendar time [Formula: see text], plays a critical role in interpreting the temporal transmission dynamics of an infectious disease epidemic, while the case fatality risk (CFR) is an indispensable measure of the severity of disease. In many instances, [Formula: see text] is estimated using the reported number of cases (i.e., the incidence data), but such report often does not arrive on time, and moreover, the rate of diagnosis could change as a function of time, especially if we handle diseases that involve substantial number of asymptomatic and mild infections and large outbreaks that go beyond the local capacity of reporting. In addition, CFR is well known to be prone to ascertainment bias, often erroneously overestimated. In this paper, we propose a joint estimation method of [Formula: see text] and CFR of Ebola virus disease (EVD), analyzing the early epidemic data of EVD from March to October 2014 and addressing the ascertainment bias in real time. To assess the reliability of the proposed method, coverage probabilities were computed. When ascertainment effort plays a role in interpreting the epidemiological dynamics, it is useful to analyze not only reported (confirmed or suspected) cases, but also the temporal distribution of deceased individuals to avoid any strong impact of time dependent changes in diagnosis and reporting.

scholarly journals Use of Viremia to Evaluate the Baseline Case Fatality Ratio of Ebola Virus Disease and Inform Treatment Studies: A Retrospective Cohort Study

PLoS Medicine ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. e1001908 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oumar Faye ◽  
Alessio Andronico ◽  
Ousmane Faye ◽  
Henrik Salje ◽  
Pierre-Yves Boëlle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cohort Study ◽  
Retrospective Cohort Study ◽  
Retrospective Cohort ◽  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
Case Fatality ◽  
Ebola Virus Disease ◽  
Case Fatality Ratio ◽  
Baseline Case

scholarly journals Effects of vaccines in protecting against Ebola virus disease: protocol for a systematic review

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. e029617 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindi Mathebula ◽  
Duduzile Edith Ndwandwe ◽  
Elizabeth Pienaar ◽  
Charles Shey Wiysonge
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
Data Extraction ◽  
Case Fatality ◽  
Fixed Effect Model ◽  
Ebola Virus Disease ◽  
Pool Data ◽  
Cochrane Central Register ◽  
Clinical Trial Registry

IntroductionEbola virus disease is one of the most devastating infectious diseases in the world with up to 90% case fatality observed. There are at least 13 candidate vaccines developed and being tested to prevent the occurrence of the Ebola virus disease. While none of these candidate vaccines has received regulatory approval for use, one candidate vaccine (rVSVΔG-ZEBOV-GP) has been granted access for emergency use. Two other candidate vaccines (GamEvac-Combi and Ad5-EBOV) have been licensed for emergency use in their countries of origin. The objective of this systematic review is to summarise the effects of the Ebola candidate vaccines in humans.Methods and analysisWe will search for potentially eligible studies, with no language or date restrictions, in the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed, Scopus, the WHO International Clinical Trial Registry Platform, and reference lists of relevant publications. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) and the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effect (DARE) will be searched for related reviews. Two review authors will independently screen search records, assess study eligibility, perform data extraction, and assess the risk of bias; and reconcile their findings. We will pool data from similar studies using Mantel-Haenszel’s fixed-effect model.Ethics and disseminationThis study is exempted from ethical consideration since the data collected are publicly available and at no point will confidential information from human participants be used. We will disseminate our results through publications in peer-reviewed journals and relevant conferences.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42018110505.

scholarly journals Contact tracing performance during the Ebola virus disease outbreak in Kenema district, Sierra Leone

2017 ◽  
Vol 372 (1721) ◽  
pp. 20160300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikiko Senga ◽  
Alpha Koi ◽  
Lina Moses ◽  
Nadia Wauquier ◽  
Philippe Barboza ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Leone ◽  
Contact Line ◽  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
The Body ◽  
Physical Contact ◽  
Ebola Virus Disease ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Retrospective Data Analysis ◽  
Increased Risk

Contact tracing in an Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak is the process of identifying individuals who may have been exposed to infected persons with the virus, followed by monitoring for 21 days (the maximum incubation period) from the date of the most recent exposure. The goal is to achieve early detection and isolation of any new cases in order to prevent further transmission. We performed a retrospective data analysis of 261 probable and confirmed EVD cases in the national EVD database and 2525 contacts in the Contact Line Lists in Kenema district, Sierra Leone between 27 April and 4 September 2014 to assess the performance of contact tracing during the initial stage of the outbreak. The completion rate of the 21-day monitoring period was 89% among the 2525 contacts. However, only 44% of the EVD cases had contacts registered in the Contact Line List and 6% of probable or confirmed cases had previously been identified as contacts. Touching the body fluids of the case and having direct physical contact with the body of the case conferred a 9- and 20-fold increased risk of EVD status, respectively. Our findings indicate that incompleteness of contact tracing led to considerable unmonitored transmission in the early months of the epidemic. To improve the performance of early outbreak contact tracing in resource poor settings, our results suggest the need for prioritized contact tracing after careful risk assessment and better alignment of Contact Line Listing with case ascertainment and investigation. This article is part of the themed issue ‘The 2013–2016 West African Ebola epidemic: data, decision-making and disease control’.

scholarly journals IN VITRO DIAGNOSIS FOR EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE. A COMPARISON OF CURRENT TECHNIQUES AND DIAGNOSTIC ASSAYS

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 105-116
Author(s):  
A. O. Sementsova ◽  
V. G. Dedkov ◽  
V. A. Ternovoy ◽  
E. V. Chub ◽  
S. A. Pyankov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
Hemorrhagic Fever ◽  
Multiple Organ ◽  
Ebola Virus Disease ◽  
Diagnostic Assays ◽  
Natural Foci ◽  
Forested Areas

Ebola virus disease is dangerous viral infection, occurring in the form of hemorrhagic fever, characterized by acute clinical symptoms and high mortality rate due to multiple organ failure. Ebola virus natural foci are located in forested areas of the central and western parts of Africa. It was believed for many years, the incidence of Ebola virus disease has been sporadic and the burden of it is true only in endemic areas. However, the unprecedented Ebola epidemic caused by Zaire virus in 2013 — 2016, has significantly changed our understanding of this disease and the patterns of its distribution. We have also identified weaknesses in the organization of anti-epidemic measures, the effectiveness of which was not very effective at the onset of the epidemic, in particular due to weak development of in vitro diagnostics (IVD). However, during the elimination of the epidemic in West Africa, anti-epidemic system has been modified substantially, largely due to quickly developed IVD kits. This review is devoted to analysis of trends in IVD for Ebola virus disease based on the experience obtained in the course of the West-African epidemic in 2013 — 2016.

scholarly journals COVID-19 Outbreak in Africa: Lessons and Insights from the West African Ebola Virus Disease Epidemics

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 96-99
Author(s):  
Oluwafolajimi Adetoye Adesanya
Keyword(s):  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Ebola Virus Disease ◽  
African Continent ◽  
Outbreak Response ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Response Strategies ◽  
Past Experiences

Over the years, the African continent has had to battle several outbreaks of infectious diseases in different countries. Some of the most deadly were the Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreaks that occurred in West Africa between 2014 and 2016 affecting Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone and, more recently, from 2018 to 2020 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In the era of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important that as a continent, we draw lessons and insights from our past experiences to guide outbreak response strategies being deployed to curb the latest onslaught. The Ebola outbreaks have shown that disease outbreaks should not be seen only as medical emergencies, but as full blown humanitarian crises, because oftentimes, their socio-economic impacts are more devastating than the more obvious cost to life. In this mini-review, we explore the possible humanitarian costs of the COVID-19 pandemic on the African continent by looking through the lens of our past experiences with the EVD outbreaks, highlighting how the current pandemic could significantly affect the African economy, food security, and vulnerable demographics, like children and the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls. We then proffer recommendations that could be instrumental in preventing a double tragedy involving the devastating health consequences of the virus itself and the deadly fallout from its multi-sectoral knock-on effects in African countries. Keywords: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Ebola Virus Disease, Coronavirus.

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