Den dødbringende ebola-virus breder sig i Guinea og har nu invaderet det vestafrikanske lands hovedstad, millionbyen Conakry. Det får nødhjælpsorganisationen Læger uden Grænser (MSF) til at slå alarm og tale om en “epidemi uden fortilfælde”.
Det fremgår af en pressemeddelelse fra MSF International mandag. Samtidig har en dansk overlæge sagt, at sygdommen kun er et fly med en smittebærende passager væk fra Europa – se telegrammet http://www.u-landsnyt.dk/nyhed/31-03-14/l-ger-uden-gr-nser-melder-hus-forbi-om-ebola-smitt
“Vi står over for en epidemi, hvis størrelse aldrig er set før, når man tænker på, hvor mange steder, den har været i landet”, siger Mariano Lugli, som er organisationens koordinator i Guinea.
Der er indtil videre rapporteret om 122 tilfælde, heraf otte i hovedstaden. Foreløbig er 78 døde.
Også i nabolandene Sierra Leone og Liberia meldes om enkelte angreb af den aggressive og ekstremt smitsomme virus med tilnavnet “dødens fortrop” (vanguard of death).
MSF International skriver udbyggende:
MSF continues to strengthen its teams in Guinea. By the end of the week, there will be around sixty international field workers who have experience in working on haemorrhagic fever divided between Conakry and south-east of the country.
Among the field workers are doctors, nurses, epidemiologists, water and sanitation experts as well as anthropologists. In addition, more than 40 tons of equipment have been flown into the country to try to curb the spread of the disease.
“MSF has intervened in almost all reported Ebola outbreaks in recent years, but they were much more geographically contained and involved more remote locations. This geographical spread is worrisome because it will greatly complicate the tasks of the organisations working to control the epidemic,” said Lugli.
“Vi står med den farligste virustråd af alle”
“Here in Guinea, it is the Zaire strain of Ebola virus. This is the most aggressive and deadly. It kills more than 9 out of 10 patients,” said Michel Van Herp, an MSF epidemiologist currently in Guekedou.
“To stop the outbreak, it is important to trace the chain of transmission. All contacts of patients likely to have been contaminated should be monitored and isolated at the first sign of infection”, noted he.
“It is important that the Guinean authorities and the WHO help medical facilities put in place all necessary hygiene measures,” said Van Herp.
Total isolering eneste udvej
In Conakry, MSF has strengthened the support for the isolation of patients located at the referral hospital of Donka, in collaboration with the Guinean health authorities and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Patients in other health structures are still hospitalised in non-optimal conditions and isolation must be reinforced in the coming days.
The teams are looking for a suitable place to set up a new structure to further support local health authorities. At the same time, MSF has begun to identify people who may have been in contact with existing patients.
Ingen vaccine findes og ingen behandling er mulig
The search for potential new patients, and if necessary, their isolation is the only way to break the chain of transmission of the virus. There is currently no vaccine against or treatment for Ebola.
In the last two weeks in the southeast of the country, in the towns of Guekedou and Macenta, MSF deployed teams and established two structures for the isolation of patients.
Raising awareness and identifying new cases is ongoing with the help of the community. In this region, the isolation of patients who have been identified will help control the spread of the virus.
MSF has worked in Guinea since 2001 on projects supporting the treatment of HIV / AIDS and malaria.
Hvad er ebola eller blødningsfeber?
Se http://www.netdoktor.dk/sygdomme/fakta/ebola.htm
