Saturday, 14 March 2015

Recommended Personal Ebola Protection Guidelines

By Lena Stephenson


Families and health workers in an Ebola infested environment should take precautions despite the fact that transmission risks are extremely low. The risk reduces because a person may only contract the disease through several elaborate ways including direct or indirect contact with feces, vomit, semen, blood and urine, among other body fluids. This makes Ebola protection measures necessary for such individuals. Dead victims have the potential of transmitting the disease as well.

A person who displays symptoms such as high fever, body aches, diarrhea and joint pains should seek a medical evaluation. Another distinct sign is hemorrhaging. Health facilities and doctors isolate suspected and confirmed patients to ensure professional treatment. Early intervention boosts survival chances.

Broken skin and mucus membranes have also been cited as some of the ways the disease is spread. Indirect contact through contaminated blood and body fluids also spread the disease. Contaminated equipment like gloves, goggles, masks and bed linen should be avoided. Male victims who have recovered should avoid sex since semen can transmit the disease up to seven weeks after treatment.

Workers in the health care industry must use adequate protective gear when handling patients and contaminated materials. They also must follow strict recommended measures by health institutions for prevention and control purposes. These measures include covering every part of the body with appropriate gear and following treatment procedures stipulated.

Health workers are warned to be wary of such risks as stigma, long strenuous working hours, psychological distress and violence when working in affected areas. There is a danger of excessive heat from the protective gear. Ergonomic challenges arise from lifting loads and bodies within the facility.

Diseases that display similar symptoms include malaria, cholera, rickettsipsis and typhoid fever. Relapsing hepatitis, viral hemorrhagic fever and shingellosis may be confused with this disease. This calls for qualified medical assistance and attention whenever a person is suspected to have contracted this disease. The facility used must be well equipped and manned by qualified and specialized staff.

Home based care givers or personnel in ill equipped health facilities are at a higher risk of exposure. This includes traditional healers, family members and midwives in villages since they come into direct contact with victims. Other dangerous avenues include rites and rituals that demand mourners to touch bodily fluids of the dead.

The exposure for business travelers is low despite that fact that they enter infected areas. They are advised against coming into direct contact with secretions and body fluids of victims. Animals that died out of the infection may also transmit the disease.

Crew, workers and travelers should take appropriate measures to avoid contact or transmission. This happens at airports, ports or even on the ground when dealing with infected individuals. Exposure to a person who has manifested full blow symptoms on commercial flight or on other modes of transport should be reported to the transport company immediately.

Knowledge is vital in preventing and controlling this viral disease at any work place. All persons involved must understand its nature include transmission and spread. Rapid medical attention must be sort immediately signs of infection are displayed. Visitors returning from countries where this disease has been reported should monitor their condition for 21 days after arrival.




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