TRAVEL WILL BE a key component in helping to determine a diagnosis of Ebola.
Dr Corey Forde, consultant, Infectious Diseases and Infection Control at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), said though many of the initial symptoms are similar to those of other infectious diseases such as chikungunya and dengue fever, the most important feature is that the incubation period for Ebola is totally different from those diseases.
“The other important aspect is the history of travel of the patient which would bring the diagnosis into play. In the absence of that travel the more common things that you get is what you should pay attention to,” he said.
He was responding to a question from the media at yesterday’s press conference to brief the country on the ministry’s preparations in the light of the global alert to the Ebola crisis in West Africa.
Acting chief medical officer Dr Elizabeth Ferdinand assured that plans were in place to deal with any possible infectious diseases that may come to Barbados.
Speaking specifically on Ebola, Ferdinand said disaster emergency management systems would kick in if there was any problem with that virus, and disclosed the ministry would meet later in the day to review their preparatory plans.
“We have plans for cholera . . . plans for chikungunia, we have plans for H1N1, these are things that we do normally, so Ebola is just another disease. Mind you, it is a very serious illness, but we have to plan; we can’t just throw our hands in the air,” she said.
As far as the involvement of the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) or World Health Organisation (WHO) in their planning, Ferdinand said they were very much involved and if Barbados needed technical assistance they would be asked.
She said apart from PAHO there is also the Centres for Disease Control (CDC)?in the United States and Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA).
Ferdinand added that the planning would also involve the ministry’s infectious disease expert, who would give guidance on how infected persons should be treated and the necessary mechanisms to be put in place.
Meanwhile, epidemiologist with the Ministry of Health, Dr Karen Springer, said a person infected with Ebola would typically develop a headache, muscle pain, sore throat, muscle weakness. These symptoms start suddenly two to 21 days after becoming infected, but usually after eight to 10 days.
Patients would subsequently experience diarrhea, vomiting, a rash, stomach pain and impaired kidney as well as liver function. And then the patient may bleed internally and then from the ears, the eyes, the nose or the mouth. (SP)
