Pages

What You Should Know About Ebola Protection

By Christa Jarvis


Ebola is spread through contact with body fluids of persons that have been infected. These include blood, vomit, saliva and even sweat. So far, no vaccine is available to confer Ebola protection in humans. To protect yourself from being infected, you need to avoid coming into contact with these fluids. This means that you keep away from persons that have been infected unless you have personal protective equipment.

Personal protective equipment is effective in keeping out the virus. It is important to mention that this can only be achieved with the correct use of the equipment. Ensure that you cover your entire body using a gown, medical gloves, a face mask, a shield and protective eye wear. Two pairs of gloves should be worn when handling needles.

Washing hands regularly helps to reduce the risk of transmission. Soap and water are often sufficient. If you have trouble getting water, you may use an alcohol based hand sanitizer as an alternative. Items that have been used by an infected person are likely to be contaminated and should not be reused, any rooms that have been used by infected persons should be hosed down before reuse.

Items that need to be reused can either be disinfected or sterilized. Sharps and other sharps can be effectively disinfected by soaking in chlorine bleach for about thirty minutes. The process is repeated about two or three times for maximal results. Chlorine bleach is also effective in cleaning up surfaces and large equipment. Heat resilient items may be boiled for about twenty minutes to achieve the same results.

People who die from Ebola remain infectious for a long period of time. The virus feeds on the tissues until the whole body has decomposed. This means that careful disposal of corpses is required. Any death that is suspected to be a result of Ebola should be reported to the local department of public health. There should be no direct contact whatsoever.

The virus has been shown to affect other animals other than human beings. Non-human primates and bats are some of the well known hosts of this virus. In fact, it is thought that the first infection in humans resulted from one of these animals. The body fluids and tissues of these animals should be avoided just as those from human beings.

If you have traveled to an endemic area recently, you need to conduct self monitoring as you look out for symptoms suggestive of the disease. A fever is almost always present in people that have been infected. It may or may not be associated with other symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, muscle pains or a headache. It is important that you go to the hospital as soon as possible if you experience these symptoms.

Controlling the Ebola outbreak requires a well coordinated disease surveillance system. Such a system helps in early disease detection and prompt intervention to interfere with the transmission. Patients with a confirmed diagnosis should be treated in isolation. Only persons that are properly trained should attend to the patients.




About the Author:



0 comments:

Post a Comment