Epidemiology of Ebola, the Disease Triage and Transmission - Essay Example

The Epidemiology of Ebola al Affiliation) Introduction Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of a certain disease or health issue in a population with the aim of coming up with a solution (Hand, 58). The study of epidemiology can be used to study infectious diseases like Ebola. In my case, this paper discusses the epidemiology of Ebola, the disease triage and transmission. To begin with, Marburg and Ebola infections are among the most harmful pathogens in people. The Zaire types of Ebola infection is the causal agent of the epidemic that occurred between 2014 and 2015 in West Africa, where the casualty rate was as high as 70 percent compared to previous episodes of approximately ninety percent (Kangbai & Koroma, 75). The study of disease transmission will be discussed in this paper, including new information rising up out of the 2014/2015 pestilence of Ebola infection in Africa specifically West Africa. The clinical signs, conclusion, treatment, and avoidance of Ebola infection sickness are discussed in this paper. Classification Ebola is a single stranded virus with no segments. It belongs to the family Filoviridae, due to their filamentous structure. Before, Marburg and Ebola infections were categorized based on their clinical signs, which incorporate coagulation disorders, shock, or bleeding. Ebola virus is partitioned into five species: Sudan, Zaire, Bundibugyo Reston, and Sudan (Kangbai & Koroma, 83).The accompanying four species cause illness in people: The Zaire viral infection was initially perceived in the late 1970’s. It has led to numerous expansive outbreaks in Central Africa, with death rates, extending from fifty five to eighty eight percent. It is the causative agent of the West African epidemic (Kangbai & Koroma, 86). The Sudan viral infection has been connected with a casualty rate of nearly fifty percent in more than one pandemic: mostly in Uganda in 2000, Sudan in the 1970s and 2004(Kangbai & Koroma, 88). The Ivory Coast viral infection has been distinguished as the reason for sickness in one individual. The good news is that this individual was able to survive.The introduction of the virus happened when an ethologist conducted a necropsy on a primate that was discovered dead. The Bundibugyo infection developed in Uganda in the year 2007, bringing about an epidemic of Ebola infection with a lower casualty rate. Sequencing has demonstrated that this causative agent is nearly associated with the Ivorian viral species (Kangbai & Koroma, 75). Epidemiology Filovirus was identified in the 1960s.This happened when the coincidental importation of infected monkeys from Uganda brought about an outbreak of extreme ailment among immunization plant specialists in Marburg.The causative agents, assigned Marburg infection, has had various outbreaks in Africa, one in Uganda that was perceived on October 2014. Alternatively, Ebola infection was also perceived when outbreaks happened in Sudan and Zaire in the year 1976 (Kangbai & Koroma, 142). Ebola outbreaks have been restricted to certain region is Africa for example the Sub-Saharan Africa. In 1995, a plague created by the Zaire species brought about hundreds of cases in Congo, Sudan, and Kikwit. The infection affected more than four hundred individuals in Uganda. This happened in the year 2000. Between the year 2014 and 2015 Ebola pestilence created by the Zaire virus that caused ebola between 2014 and 2015 is considered as one of the largest disease causing species in West Africa compared to the others (Kangbai & Koroma, 148). Ebola infection has additionally spread to wild primates that are non-human. This happens because wild primates encounter unidentified reservoir hosts. This has added to a stamped reduction of gorilla and chimpanzee populations in Africa specifically the central region of Africa. It has set off some human pandemics because of treatment of and utilization of dead animals as a source of nourishment by villagers. The 2014/2015 outbreak in West Africa The outbreak of ebola in West Africa began from Guinea in 2013. The World Health Organization affirmed this the following year. The outbreak came about when a kid of age two years presented with fever, black stools, and vomiting with no signs of bleeding from orifices.The outbreak therefore spread to Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Liberia, Mali and Senegal.Investigations done on Sierra Leone patients showed that the plague came about because of consistent individual to-individual transmission, without extra animal reservoirs(Kangbai & Koroma, 152). In March 2015, the total number of suspected, and research center affirmed cases endorsed to Ebola infection was approximately 24,214. A total of 10,470 deaths included.These cases incorporate more than 850 tainted health care specialists, of whom roughly sixty percent have not survived .The degree of this outbreak in Sierra Leone and Liberia has most likely been disparaged, due to a limited extent to people with Ebola infection being watched over outside the clinic setting. In some regions like Mali, Nigeria, and Senegal, where transmission was constrained, the disease seems to have been eradicated. In regions known to have a consistent spread of the infection, it appears new infection rate is diminishing is reducing (Kangbai & Koroma, 158). This is due to the presence of control measures of the disease in doctors facilities and funerals, and hospital set-ups or any suspected community. Instances of Ebola infections have also been existent in health care workers and inhabitants who have previously been exposed to the infection in West Africa, and were then treated in healthcare facilities in America and Europe .On September 2014, the first instance of Ebola associated with travelling was announced in the United States (Kangbai & Koroma, 105). It was discovered that an individual bearing no symptoms of ebola was making a trip from Liberia to Texas developed clinical results similar to Ebola infection approximately six days in the wake of landing in the U.S. Unfortunately the person died. The two nurses who participated in taking care of the person also developed an Ebola infection but they survived. 2014 outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo An outbreak of Ebola infection was reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2014 the month of August. The subject was an expectant woman who prepared meat from an animal that had been slaughtered by her spouse. In November 2014, an aggregate of 66 instances of Ebola infection, including forty-nine deaths, were associated with the outbreak. A continuous analysis has demonstrated that there is no connection between the Zaire viral Ebola and with the current plague in West Africa. Viral Reservoirs The most important study of the filoviruses includes their reservoirs and the method of being transmitted .While Marburg infection has been separated from bats caught in Uganda, non-infectious Ebola virus sequences have been recognized in tests gathered from in Central African bats .However, research implies that bats are among the reservoir hosts of Ebola infections in Africa. The Epidemiologic Triangle of Ebola This scientific model shows the relationship between the agent, the host, and the environment of ebola virus. The agent This microorganism causes the disease. In this case, Ebola is a viral infection hence the causative agent is a virus known as the filovirus (Hand, 102). The virus is a very tiny microorganism that can only be seen under a magnifying lens. The virus’ genetic material is able to reproduce on its own giving it an advantage of surviving inside human cells. The Host The ebola virus must have a place to inhabit and this place is known as the host. The known host of ebola virus is the human cell or animal cell. The virus lodges inside the hosts’ cell triggers the hosts’ immune system and results in symptoms (Hand, 105). The known host for ebola virus includes human cell and the primate cell. The Environment Describes where the microorganism that causes Ebola thrives. It includes the favorable external conditions and sorroundings to the host that allow the disease to be transmitted. The Ebola virus survives in human blood because the environment is warm and allows it to replicate. Other favorable conditions include the warm climate in Africa, which favors multiplication of the virus. Mode of Infectious Disease Transmission The outbreak of Ebola starts when a person is contaminated by coming in contact with body fluids or meat of an animal that is infected. Immediately shows signs of sickness or dies, the virus moves to other people through any form of direct contact with the contaminated person’s skin, body fluids, and blood. Studies in research centers have observed that any Ebola infection can occur through droplet vaccination of infection in the eyes or mouth, recommending that human contamination can come about because of the unintentional exchange of infection to these sites from contaminated hands (Hand, 86). Person to-person transmission Person to person transmission involves an individual coming into direct contact with skin, blood, or body liquids of infected people, including the individuals who have passed on because of the disease (Evans, 133). For example; The practice of cleaning Ebola victimized people in burials has contributed largely to the spread of the deadly virus, especially in West Africa. Risk of transmission through diverse body liquids Transmission is can occur through being directly in contact with open mucous films with infection containing body liquids from an individual who has developed signs and indications of ailment .The most irresistible body liquids according to WHO are blood, defecation, and vomiters. Irresistible infection has likewise been recognized in semen, saliva, breast milk, and pee. Reverse-translation response test has additionally distinguished viral RNA in sweat and tears, recommending that irresistible infection may occur (Evans, 136). Irresistible infection tends to persevere in these liquids, even after it is not recognized in blood; then again, the danger of transmission from steady infection at these sites is not settled. An example of a case in 2014 and 2015 episodes in West Africa; infection was refined from a patient’s urine twenty six days after the onset of side effects, which was nine days after the plasma level got to be negative (Dworkin, 123). Ebola infection can spread through coming in contact with the skin of a patient; however, the danger of creating contamination from this sort of exposure is less than that of body fluids. A virus appearing on the surface of the skin may come about either from replication of the virus in the epidermis, dermal structures, and pollution with other body fluids. The danger of transmitting Ebola relies on the amount of infection in the liquid. Amid the early period of disease, the measure of infection rate in the blood can be low; however, levels then expand quickly and may surpass 108 RNA duplicates/mL of the serum in seriously sick patients (Kangbai & Koroma, 154). .A good example is an epidemiologic research that discovered that relatives were at most serious danger of contamination if they physically encounter debilitated relatives amid the later phases of sickness, or served to set up a cadaver for entombment. Risk of transmission through contact with contaminated surfaces Ebola infection may be transmitted through coming in contact with surfaces and items that are infected. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention demonstrate that infection on surfaces can remain irresistible for a long time. There is no top-notch information to affirm transmission through exposure to contaminated surfaces; however, it is clear that legitimate ecological cleaning can dispose of the potential danger (Dworkin, 132). Risk of airborne transmission Instances of Ebola infection spreading from individual to individual by the respiratory course have not been reported .However; lab investigations have demonstrated that Ebola infection discharged as a little molecule vaporized is exceedingly irresistible for primates and rodents. Health care practitioners might accordingly be in danger of Ebola infection if they expose themselves to aerosols. Nosocomial transmission — infections can spread to health care practitioners when certain personal protective gears are not present or are not utilized appropriately, particularly when nurturing an extremely sick person who is not perceived as having Ebola infection. Transmission from animals Transmission through contact with infected animals — Ebola infection in humans can happen through coming in contact with animals that are not domestic. In Gabon, a group of villagers ate a dead chimpanzee that was found a dead in the forest. The result was an infection of Ebola virus to nineteen individuals, who got seriously sick in a short time. Since that instance in Gabon, a few comparative scenes have come about because of humans encountering tainted chimpanzees through hunting (Dworkin, 127). To help avert the disease, any food items ought to be appropriately cooked subsequent to the Ebola infection is can be made inactive through proper food handling like cooking meat. Moreover, fundamental cleanliness measures like washing hands properly, and changing garments after coming in contact with any animal. Exposure to bats — there is no real proof that Ebola can spread from bats to human beings. On the other hand, Ebola antibodies and RNA groupings have been distinguished in bats caught in Africa. They claim that some bats are a direct source of transmission to humans. Other routes of transmission Infections can occur due to accidents of specialists in any Biosafety office where filoviruses research is taking place in the event that a country decides to use the virus as a natural weapon during war. Schematic representation of the transmission dynamics of Ebola virus disease The major transmission routes include: a) Transmission to human cells by direct contact with the reservoir for example the fruit bat reservoir. b) In case of a hospital set up, transmission occurs from patients with Ebola virus to health care workers. c) If it is within the household, transmission occurs from infected health care workers to their family members d) Still, if it is within the household, transmission happens during burials that use unsafe methods. e) Transmission between one house and the other arising from poor burial methods Understand the role of immunity in infectious disease epidemiology Ebola virus is considered one of the most deadly viruses because of its ability to replicate in order to counter the human immune system. Researchers claim that certain genetic factors can play a role in chances of someone surviving Ebola (Evans, 53). This is why some people can survive Ebola while others not. The immune system responds immediately after the body detects the presence of Ebola virus in the human cell. This triggers the inflammation process, which results into heat, redness, pain and destruction of important human structures like the gastrointestinal structure, cell or tissue damage and coagulation defects, which results in presenting signs and symptoms like hemorrhage, fever pain and vomiting (Evans, 67). Course concepts and disease elimination strategies Ebola is viral infections, therefore control measures include, eating inspected meat, eating properly cooked meat, avoid eating meat from wild animals; performing burials of infected animals in a proper manner for example carcasses should be burned. Health care workers should be involved in educating the population on the disease progress of causes and management. Vaccines can also be used to immunize people as a protective measure against possible infections. Ebola is difficult to eliminate but a combination of natural immunity and anti viral can be useful in eliminating the disease within the human population (Mermel, 75). References Dworkin, M. (2011). Cases in field epidemiology. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Evans, D. The economic impact of the 2014 ebola epidemic. Hand, C. (2015). Epidemiology. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Essential Library, an Imprint of Abdo Publishing. Kangbai, J., & Koroma, M. (2015). Changing Epidemiology of West Africa Ebola Outbreaks 1994-2014. BJMMR, 6(6), 538-546. doi:10.9734/bjmmr/2015/14257 Legrand, J., Grais, R., Boelle, P., Valleron, A., & Flahault, A. (2006). Understanding the dynamics of Ebola epidemics. Epidemiol. Infect, 135(04), 610. Doi: 10.1017/s0950268806007217 Mermel, L. (2014). Infection Control and Prevention Programs in Integrated Healthcare Delivery Systems in the Time of Ebola and Enterovirus D68: The Challenge Before Us. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 36(02), 239. doi:10.1017/ice.2014.49 Read More