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.

A person who displays symptoms such as high fever, body aches, diarrhea and joint pains should seek a medical evaluation. Another distinct sign is hemorrhaging. Health facilities and doctors isolate suspected and confirmed patients to ensure professional treatment. Early intervention boosts survival chances.

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.

Workers in the health care industry must use adequate protective gear when handling patients and contaminated materials. They also must follow strict recommended measures by health institutions for prevention and control purposes. These measures include covering every part of the body with appropriate gear and following treatment procedures stipulated.

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.

Diseases that display similar symptoms include malaria, cholera, rickettsipsis and typhoid fever. Relapsing hepatitis, viral hemorrhagic fever and shingellosis may be confused with this disease. This calls for qualified medical assistance and attention whenever a person is suspected to have contracted this disease. The facility used must be well equipped and manned by qualified and specialized staff.

Home based care givers or personnel in ill equipped health facilities are at a higher risk of exposure. This includes traditional healers, family members and midwives in villages since they come into direct contact with victims. Other dangerous avenues include rites and rituals that demand mourners to touch bodily fluids of the dead.

The exposure for business travelers is low despite that fact that they enter infected areas. They are advised against coming into direct contact with secretions and body fluids of victims. Animals that died out of the infection may also transmit the disease.

Workers in ports, airlines and those coming into contact with travelers should be cautious when dealing with returning passengers. The danger lies in exposure from a person who displays full blown signs. This contact may happen on the ground or in the air. Every traveler is required to report to the agency in case he or she experiences conditions similar to Ebola.

Knowledge is vital in preventing and controlling this viral disease at any work place. All persons involved must understand its nature include transmission and spread. Rapid medical attention must be sort immediately signs of infection are displayed. Visitors returning from countries where this disease has been reported should monitor their condition for 21 days after arrival.




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