Ebola fever refers to acute viral infections. The disease differs from others in high contagiousness, is accompanied by hemorrhagic syndrome, is severe, and very often ends in the death of the patient.
The causative agent of the disease was first discovered in the area of the Zaire River (Ebola). The infection can spread by rodents that live near a person’s home. People infected with the virus also pose a danger to others, as a sick person begins to spread the virus within three weeks after infection. In medicine, cases are described when secondary and tertiary infection occurred. Most of these phenomena were observed among hospital medical workers. Ebola disease can also be transmitted through medical instruments that have been poorly sterilized.
Symptoms
Infection occurs through damaged integuments of the skin or mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract. In places where the virus enters, there are no visible changes. In the infected body, infection spreads very quickly, which causes thrombohemorrhagic syndrome and intoxication. A survey of the population that lives in endemic areas revealed about seven percent of people whose blood contains antibodies to the causative agent of infection. Thus, we can conclude about possible asymptomatic cases of the course of the disease, transferred in a mild form and not detected in a timely manner.
Ebola fever has an incubation period that lasts from a month to six weeks. The disease itself has much in common with Marburg fever. Studies show that pathology has varying degrees of severity and the likelihood of death in different regions. This is due to the antigenic and biological characteristics of pathogens.
At the first stages, Ebola is acute and is accompanied by severe muscle and headache, diarrhea and pain in the abdomen.
Gradually, a dry cough, pain in the chest area, having a stitching character, joins the initial symptoms. In addition, signs associated with dehydration are noted. After a week of illness, a maculopapular rash appears on the skin, after the disappearance of which a peeling remains.
Hemorrhagic syndrome with pathology is expressed by nosebleeds, in addition, blood is found in vomit. Women experience uterine bleeding, and pregnancy ends in a miscarriage. Laboratory blood test results show anemia, thrombocytopenia, and neutrophilic leukocytosis. Death occurs most often in the second week of fever due to shock and bleeding.
Ebola fever: treatment and diagnosis
During the treatment of pathology, patients should be provided with intensive care. Patients should be in specialized infectious diseases departments in separate boxes. To alleviate the condition, oral administration of electrolytes and intravenous solutions is prescribed. Plasma of recovering patients is also used. Antitussive, antipyretic, antiemetic drugs are used. To date, despite all the efforts of scientists, no vaccine for infection has been found, and effective methods of treatment do not exist.
Like other types of fevers, an infectious disease specialist should diagnose Ebola disease. To identify the ailment, laboratory research methods are used: immunofluorescence and enzyme immunoassay, a general blood test. During a fever, complications such as hemorrhagic, hypovolemic, or infectious toxic shock are possible .