Health Ministry embarks on Ebola sensitising campaign

THE Ministry of Health has upped the ante and is currently working with haste to implement information and communication strategies aimed at sensitising the general public on the dreaded Ebola virus. 

The strategy, which involves designing and circulating messages via print, electronic and social media, was addressed at a meeting the Director of Epidemiology hurriedly called with staff of the

Chief Medical Officer Dr. Shamdeo Persaud
Chief Medical Officer Dr. Shamdeo Persaud

Disease Control Department on Thursday.
The meeting came following confirmation of the first two deaths from the dreaded Ebola virus outside of West Africa, as well as the isolation of potential cases identified in Europe.
News of the deaths of the first case in Dallas, USA, on Wednesday and the United Kingdom’s first case on Thursday, sparked new zeal and prompted the meeting which was said to have been greeted with enthusiasm.
One week ago, Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, shared with the media, new measures/approaches being put in place to prepare Guyana for the detection of any possible cases with the virus.

Airport measures
Dr. Persaud said that stricter measures are being implemented at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) so as to protect Guyana against the deadly Ebola virus.
He said that the Ministry of Health is now encouraging pre-boarding screening at the CJIA, so that passengers who have suspected symptoms of the virus will not be able to board the aircraft. Conversely, screening of incoming passengers will be done at the airport.

Additionally, the Ministry is in the process of obtaining two facilities at the CJIA. One will be an examination room which will be used to examine persons who are suspected of being contaminated with the virus. The other is a special hangar that will house an aircraft that touches down at CJIA, and is deemed to have persons with the virus on board. The aircraft will be quarantined there until medical officials give the passengers proper screening so that they can be cleared.

Meanwhile, as the ministry moves closer to activating infection control protocols, a register has been set up at the Ogle International Airport and the CJIA to list persons who are coming with passports from Africa. This is so that they could keep track of those persons to ensure they are not developing any symptoms of the virus.
Fortunately for Guyana, the CMO observed, there are no direct flights from Africa to Guyana, so if someone should show symptoms of the virus, they will be dealt with before they reach Guyana.
In the meantime, it is still to be worked out what protection will be in place for those medical personnel interfacing with the persons being monitored or screened for the virus.

Misdiagnosis
It was earlier reported by Reuters that a British nurse infected with Ebola may have caught the deadly virus after playing with a one-year-old boy whose mother had died in a treatment centre, but who himself had initially tested negative for the disease, according to a medical colleague.
“The baby, Sellu Borbor was tested again after he developed a fever and tested positive for Ebola the second time around. He died on August 24-the same day that the nurse was diagnosed,” the report said.

Beware
The Ebola virus is spread through close contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. Symptoms of Ebola can include fever, aches and pains, vomiting and diarrhoea. But more recently, there have been reports of bleeding from the eyes and noses of infected persons. And in Spain, the nurse who was infected by accidentally touching her face with her glove was said to have developed lung problems, among other things, as time progressed.
GPHC staff training
At the Georgetown Public Hospital, training of staff is being undertaken so that they would know how to handle persons who have been infected with the virus, as well as how to properly use the necessary protective gear.
Additionally, the Ministry of Health is exploring the possibility of introducing scanners to detect fevers, but according to Dr. Persaud, the complicated scanners are expensive, so they are hoping to acquire a handheld version so they can scan persons who appear to have any signs of the virus.
Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer of the Environmental Community Health Organisation (ECHO), Royston King, in a press statement recently called for an aggressive preparedness and public education programme on the deadly Ebola virus.

“We in Guyana and the Caribbean ought to be paying very careful attention at what we are doing here, and constantly evaluating our own preparedness in the event of the presentation of any signs or symptoms of Ebola by anyone. Indeed, it is a frightening situation, particularly in circumstances where we may not have the medical and other technologies and other critical resources to manage any such situation,” King urged.

He added: “Furthermore, ECHO wants to see airport and other allied staff trained on how to approach such cases, a shared data base among concerned ministries and agencies established, and the competencies and capabilities of environmental and public health bodies enhanced.”

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