The Dhaka Times Desk When AIDS began to spread, many called it a curse. But a disease worse than AIDS is Ebola. This Ebola virus has spread in the form of an epidemic in West African countries.
While many feared the arrival of AIDS, the arrival of Ebola made people realize the horrors. Now this Ebola virus is a great fear not only to the West, but to the whole world. No one knows yet when people will be completely freed from this fear. If a vaccine against this Ebola virus has already been discovered. But this vaccine will take some time to reach the market. And this time the world is worried about how people will deal with it.
Why is this Ebola virus so dangerous than AIDS?
There is no problem with AIDS patients moving around in public. Because only blood exchange and sexual intercourse do not spread this disease. And so treating an AIDS patient and living in a family is not that dangerous. But the Ebola virus is so dangerous that those who are engaged in its treatment are getting more affected. According to the World Health Organization, about 30 percent of the first cases were doctors. Later, however, due to treatment by taking special measures, this level has decreased. Patients are treated wearing a special dress from head to toe. So think how deadly this Ebola virus is. It spreads easily from one person to another and is therefore considered dangerous. Then at least 55 to 60 percent of the affected people die. Even if the rest survive, a great crisis may arise over their future. Because in how many days, how many months or how many years they will be able to live with ten other people in the society is also a matter of concern.
Why are Ebola patients so neglected?
You can't imagine how far others are from a person infected with the Ebola virus. It is very easy to spread the disease from an infected person to another healthy person. And so others withdraw like Yama from the victims. An inhumane situation arises for the victims. It has also been heard that the Ebola patient has been left somewhere far away after being infected! Later he was treated under government management. This Ebola virus can create very inhuman conditions.
Let's go over some old facts about the Ebola virus:
What is the Ebola virus disease?
The disease is an acute viral disease formerly known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF). 3 of the 5 species of the Ebola virus family have the ability to infect humans and cause serious illness. But the remaining 2 are not so harmful to humans. The deadliest of these is the Ebola virus in Zaire (Zaire is the name of the place where a person was first infected with this virus).
The origin of Ebola
It is not known exactly where or how this disease originated, but it is believed that the virus of this disease propagates inside the body of bats. It is then transferred to the mammal when humans or mammals eat the infected bat. It is believed that the first man went to the jungle and hunted an infected animal and then the virus was introduced into the local area by eating it. Bats, pigs or dogs are considered carriers of this virus. The disease was first reported in humans in Sudan. There 254 people were affected by this disease. Out of which 151 people died. The death rate there was about 53%.
Symptoms of this disease
After being infected with the Ebola virus, it can take up to 21 days for symptoms to appear. The symptoms of this disease are similar to the common flu. Cold cough, headache, bumi bumi feeling, diarrhea and fever are the main symptoms of this disease. The problem is that even with the common flu, the same symptoms are observed. It gradually progresses to dehydration, kidney and liver problems and bleeding. In some patients, the immune system is completely destroyed and the fever level is very high. In these cases, the patient's condition gradually worsens. Since the symptoms of common flu and Ebola virus disease are the same, anyone experiencing any of the above symptoms should get a blood test as soon as possible! A blood test can confirm whether it is malaria, hepatitis, cholera. Or whether it is caused by any other disease germs.
Treatment of Ebola virus disease
As mentioned earlier, no cure for this disease has been discovered so far. So what needs to be done is to give maximum support to the patient to recover on his own. If dehydration occurs in the patient's body due to diarrhoea, the patient should be treated urgently to prevent dehydration. Measures should be taken to control fever. Care should be taken so that body temperature does not increase. Pain killers can be given to the patient to relieve the pain. The patient should be monitored continuously. Check whether the amount of oxygen in the body is correct. It should also be noted whether the blood pressure is low or high.
Are there healing possibilities?
Now the question is whether this disease is curable. It is not possible to give a correct answer to this question. Because according to the data, the death rate of this disease is 50%-90%. Whether the disease gets better or the patient recovers depends on many things. For example, how severe the viral infection is, what type of treatment is being provided, how quickly the disease is detected, these things largely depend on whether the patient will get better or not. The biggest problem is that the symptoms of this disease are similar to those of many other diseases. That is why it takes time to detect the disease. Again, identifying the correct disease and treating it accordingly is a big challenge. If the disease is diagnosed early and proper medical support is given, the patient has a chance of survival.
How is the Ebola virus spread?
Answering this question is very important. Since the antidote has not been discovered yet. So remediation is the best approach. If you know how the disease spreads, it is much easier to prevent it. A healthy person can actually contract the disease by coming in contact with the body fluids of an infected person. There is a risk of contracting this disease if it comes in contact with body fluids such as sweat, saliva, bumi, diarrhoea. There is a possibility of spreading this disease through semen. Again, even if the infected patient dies, its germs remain active in the body of the deceased, which is why maximum precautionary measures should be taken while performing the last rites of the deceased.
In what year did this disease appear?
The disease was first diagnosed in 1976 in the Jiara region of the Congo. 318 people were affected there. Of which 280 (88%) died. It later spread to Sudan, where 284 people were infected and 151 died (53%). But now an outbreak of this disease occurred in March this year in Guinea. This Ebola virus has spread very quickly to other West African countries such as Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Nigeria. This time all previous records have been broken. A total of 1323 people have been infected with the disease so far. Of which 729 died (55%). The worst part is that 60 health workers died of this disease, who were engaged in the care of patients suffering from this disease.
Instead of worrying, take preventive measures
As the disease spreads from remote areas of Africa. The medical system is very inadequate in these remote areas of Africa. So the number of deaths is very high. The developed world has already issued a special state of alert. Even if someone is infected with this disease, they are very careful not to spread the disease. The problem is that once this disease spreads in developing countries like Bangladesh, it becomes necessary to think about how to deal with it. Everyone, including the government and the health ministry, must take necessary measures against this disease now. However, precautionary measures have also been taken in Bangladesh.
how will you survive
Usually you have nothing to fear unless you go to the places where the disease has occurred. But if you have traveled to any of the affected countries in the last 2/3 weeks, you must take precautions.
# should always be hand washed with soap and warm water.
# Care should be taken to wash hands thoroughly before touching eyes, nose or mouth.
1 Take precautions by covering the body and wearing a mask when approaching a person with TP5T.
1 Be careful not to come into contact with body fluids of people with TP5T.
# If symptoms of this disease appear for any reason, self-isolation should be done immediately, so that no one else is infected with the disease, and medical advice should be sought immediately.
Everyone should be aware to ensure that there is no outbreak of this disease in Bangladesh. If you have fever, cold, cough, you should get tested as soon as possible on the advice of a doctor. Do not panic and take proper treatment and make everyone around aware.
Read more about Ebola:
“What you can do to avoid Ebola"
"Ebola Virus Outbreak: Everything You Need to Know"
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