The Dangers Of Ebola – One Of The Deadliest Viruses In The World
There have been multiple outbreaks across Africa due to Ebola. Ebola is a virus that causes intense bleeding, both internally and externally, to the person infected with it. Afterwards multiple organs become liquefied and result in death after only a couple of days. It is worth noting that extreme caution should be given to such deadly virus.
Upon being infected with the Ebola virus, a period of 2-21 days would be given to a person before the effects start taking place. Depending on whether the infected person had direct contact with the virus via a needle or a syringe, or a rather less direct infection as in close contact with another infected person. Regardless, if the person is tested positive for Ebola, symptoms will present after the given period. Medical care will be necessary to prevent further worsening of the persons health and to stop a persisting death. First symptoms include fever, diarrhoea, and might persist to internal and external haemorrhage. The virus continues spreading throughout the body and damaging multiple organs, attacking the immune system, and leading to death as a result of uncontrollable bleeding. Ebola kills 90% of people who are infected. Researchers are working on a cure for Ebola. Even though the virus has no cure, experimental serums that destroy infected cells can be beneficial. Doctors generally manage the symptoms using blood pressure medication and treatment for other infections.
Diagnosing Ebola is very hard for non-wealthy countries; primarily due to the lack of laboratory equipment in some poor countries in Africa. To tackle Ebola, International Nongovernmental Organizations (INGOs) started emerging in countries that are facing an Ebola outbreak to try and prevent the virus from spreading any further. INGOs are working outside of their comfort zones: undertaking safe burials, running Ebola treatment centers, and conducting community sensitization in remote villages – some of which were violently resistant.
The first Ebola virus disease (EVD) case was confirmed in the forested rural region of south eastern Guinea on March 23 of the year 2014, and, even though it initially seemed possible to effectively respond to the outbreak in the first two months, by the end of December 2014 the number of confirmed cases and deaths had soared, reaching 11,751 confirmed cases and 3691 deaths. The initial case was reported in December 2013. An 18-month-old boy living in Guinea was infected by a bat. After five other cases of fatal diarrhoea, an official medical alert was issued on January 24, 2014, to the district health officials. Ebola then made its way to the capital of Guinea, and on march 13, 2014, the Ministry of Health in Guinea issued an alert for an unidentified illness. Shortly after, the Pasteur Institute in France confirmed that the cause of the illness was the Ebola virus. In response to the outbreak in Sierra Leone, Multiple INGOs have acted against the pandemic and epidemic disasters in many developing countries.
INGOs who participate in health service-delivery operations also provide medical supplies to affected communities. Along with an increase in facility-based surge capacity, providing medical supplies should follow supporting health facilities’ proper operations to increase the mitigation effectiveness of crisis situations. The response of a developing country to an epidemic situation substantially depends on international donations due to a lack of domestic medical stocks. Ebola treatment centers need to be well equipped with medical resources, such as medicines, extra beds, and safety kits for patients and health workers, to treat patients while protecting health workers. INGOs deliver medical supplies from foreign donors into affected communities. The immediate delivery of medical supplies may facilitate timely patient admissions into the Ebola treatment facilities. The WHO points out importance of prompt delivery of medical supplies; a rapid provision of hospital beds decreased the number of newly affected people during the Ebola crisis. Therefore, INGOs’ active participation in delivering medical supplies to affected communities may quicken the time to treat and isolate individual EVD-affected cases from communities, and hence decrease the total number of the Ebola affected cases.
In conclusion, Ebola has showed that it was capable of eradicating entire societies and can be set in the category of the deadliest viruses in the world, alongside HIV/Aids. As it grabs the attention of the biggest global health organizations, we are determined to finally find a cure for this horrifying disease that’s killing more and more people every day.
