mercredi 11 mars 2015

Recommended Personal Ebola Protection Measures

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.

Some of the symptoms that should raise alarm include body aches, high fever, vomiting, joint pains and diarrhea. Hemorrhaging is another conspicuous sign that should send you to a doctor. The earliest intervention measures taken at the health facility include isolation and professional clinical treatment. These measures are aimed at increasing your chances of survival.

Other conditions that increase the risk of infection are broken skin and contact with mucus membranes. Indirect contact with blood and fluids from infected victims leads to transmission. Some of the materials that are likely to lead to indirect transmission include gloves, masks, bed linen and goggles, among other victim handling accessories. Male victims can transmit the disease to their female sexual partners through semen up to seven weeks after recovery.

Health organizations and institutions have released standard protective gear for handling affected patients and materials. The recommendations must be followed by health workers in these facilities and those supporting their work. The gears seek to provide adequate cover to all body parts and ensure a standard and safe operation procedure.

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.

The symptoms of Ebola are likely to be confused with such other diseases as typhoid fever, malaria, rickettsipsis, and cholera. Shigellosis, viral hemorrhagic fevers and relapsing hepatitis also exhibit similar signs. This means that care should only be provided in a hospital or heath facility with qualified doctors and necessary equipment.

The risk is heightened for care givers at home as well as health workers working in ill equipped environments. In this category are family members, traditional healers as well as midwives. Rituals and burial rites that require direct contact with body fluids of the dead increase the risk of infection.

Business travelers are exposed to lower risk even if they could be traveling to infected areas. As long as they avoid bodily fluids and secretions, dead people and dead un-inspected animals, they are sure to remain safe.

Workers in the transport industry, travelers and flight crews must take necessary measures. This includes individuals working in ports, airports and on the ground. It is dangerous if you are exposed to a victim with full blow conditions. This may happen on air or on the ground. A person who suspects such contact should talk to his travel agency.

Knowledge on prevention, transmission and spread is an effective tool to stop this viral disease. It is upon people working in risky areas to take necessary precautions and understand the environment fully. Any suspect should be subjected to immediate health attention. Monitoring of patients returning from affected areas should extend for twenty one days.




About the Author:



Aucun commentaire:

Enregistrer un commentaire