बुधवार, 13 अगस्त 2014

Ebola outbreak: What every Indian should know

Ebola outbreak: What every Indian should know


Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Monday said "there is no Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in India", adding the country has mechanism for prompt treatment and subsequent monitoring.


"There is no EVD in India," he said in a statement. "There is no reason for getting worried over the odd case of a visitor to the country arriving in an indisposed condition. We have all the mechanisms in place for prompt treatment and subsequent monitoring."



To prevent Ebola virus entry and spread of EVD in India, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued directives to all airlines operating on international routes. The airlines have been asked to take following precautionary measures with immediate effect: In flight announcement should be made for self-reporting by travellers who have any signs or symptoms of EVD. The copy of the announcement has been provided to the airlines .

Instructions have been issued for self-reporting by travellers who suffer any signs or symptoms of EVD to APHO/medical unit for travelers; and travellers on flights are to be given the health-form for submitting information regarding visit to any affected country during last 21 days and having symptoms of EVD during travel or on arrival.

How worrying is Ebola?

But what is Ebola and how scary is it? Or for that matter, is there any genuine reason to worry?

There is no cure for Ebola hemorrhagic fever. More than half of people infected in this outbreak have died. Death rates in some past outbreaks reached 90 percent.

It's a cruel end that comes within days. Patients grow feverish and weak, suffering through body aches, vomiting, diarrhea and internal bleeding, sometimes bleeding from the nose and ears. The damage can spiral far beyond the patients themselves.

Because it's spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids of sick patients, Ebola takes an especially harsh toll on doctors and nurses. Outbreaks spark fear and panic.

The outbreak began in Guinea in March before spreading to neighboring Sierra Leone and Liberia. A traveler recently carried it farther, to Nigeria, leading to a few cases in the giant city of Lagos.

Ebola is devastating for those it affects. But most people don't need to fear it. Why?

Ebola doesn't spread easily, the way a cold virus or the flu does. It is only spread by direct contact with bodily fluids such as blood, saliva, sweat and urine. Family members have contracted it by caring for their relatives or handling an infected body as part of burial practices. People aren't contagious until they show symptoms which may not appear until 21 days after exposure. 


















Ebola's toll is minuscule compared with other diseases that killing millions of people. The common diseases have far lower mortality rates. They kill so many people because such huge numbers are infected. In comparison, Ebola is manageable.

Indians in Africa not panicking 

Probably that's why there is no panic movement out of West Africa by Indian nationals living in the region.

"There have been a few calls from people who were anxious about the disease, whilst others have expressed the desire to leave Nigeria, but there has not been any urgent need to move out," Sharad Srivastava, first secretary in the Indian high commission in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, said. The mission in Abuja is also accredited to Benin, Cameroun and Chad.

"Nobody is packing out and we do not have any information from other countries - that we are accredited to - showing that there is any panic among the Indian community," T.J. Suresh, information counsellor of the Indian high commission in Accra, the Ghanaian capital, said.

A few Indians on the streets of Accra said they were keenly following the news about the situation.

"I have heard of Ebola but fortunately there is no such case in Ghana so it is not as scary," businessman Mukesh Rao said.

Another businessman, A. Jain, said that "life is normal and from the information that is being passed around, Ebola, though scary, is not spread when you are careful not to get into a situation where you touch those who are infected with the virus".

In Nigeria, the Indian high commission has issued an advisory on its website to guide Indian nationals.




















Among other things, it says: "Nigeria has declared Ebola outbreak a national emergency and is taking steps to contain its spread."

It also cautioned "all Indian residents in Nigeria and those planning to undertake unavoidable travel to Nigeria to adhere to the dos and donts circulated by the ministry of health and family welfare, government of India".

"As the disease is not airborne and is transmitted only through contact with body fluids of the affected, personal hygiene is a critical preventive measure," the advisory said and asked nationals to contact the high commission for any further assistance.

कुंवर कुसुमेशजी ,आपने इबोला विषाणु जन्य बीमारी का मूल स्रोत खोलके बड़ा उपकार किया है। ब्लॉगर बंधुओं के हितार्थ मैं इसे हिंदी में रख रहा हूँ यहीं से :

इबोला मनुष्यों ,के अलावा बंदरों चिम्पांजियों को होने वाला एक विषाणुजन्य रोग है जिसका फिलवक्त कोई इलाज़ नहीं है अलबत्ता इसके लक्षणों का शमन मुमकिन है।कोंगों देश में इबोला नाम की एक नदी बहती है इसी के नाम पर इसे इबोला कहा जाता है। इस रोग का पता सबसे पहले १९७६ में यहीं चला था।

संक्रमित प्राणियों के रक्त के अलावा शरीर से होने वाले अन्य रिसावों के संपर्क में आने से यह बीमारी स्वस्थ प्राणियों को हस्तांतरित हो जाती है। रोगी को लगाईं जा चुकी सिरिंजों से सम्पर्कित होने और संक्रमित पशु का मांस खाने से भी यह बीमारी हो जाती है।

फिलवक्त इस रोग का कोई मानक इलाज़ नहीं है सिवाय इसके की संक्रमित व्यक्ति को अलग थलग दूर रखा जाए शेष जनों से। तरल पदार्थ लगातार दिए जाए ताकि इलेक्ट्रोलाइट बेलेंस न गड़बड़ाए रोगी शरीर का। रक्तसार्व शरीर के अंदरूनी या बाहरी अंगों से होने पर फ़ौरन रक्तापूर्ति भी की जाए।

कमज़ोरी से शुरुआत होती है इसके लक्षणों की। हैमरेजिक फीवर के अलावा पेशीय पीड़ा (मसल पेन ),सिर दर्द और गले में दर्द (दुखन )इसके दीगर लक्षण हैं। अतिसार के साथ मतली भी रोगी को आती है आ सकती है। अंदरूनी अंगों में रक्तसार्व के अलावा चमड़ी पे चकत्ते भी देखे जा सकते हैं।

बचाव ने ही बचाव। घबराने की कोई वजह नहीं है। एक प्रतिक्रिया ब्लॉग पोस्ट :

unwarkusumesh.blogspot.com/2014/08/blog-post_10.html

नई बिमारी आ गई,मचा हुआ कुहराम।

दिया डॉकटरों ने इसे,नया"इबोला"नाम।।

नया"इबोला"नाम,चली ये अफ्रीका से।

बारह दिन में सिर्फ,उठा दे यह दुनिया से।

रहिये बड़े सतर्क,छोड़ कर दुनियादारी।

अब तक नहीं इलाज,ये ऐसी नई बिमारी।।
पसंद
भले इबोला वायरस का कोई इलाज़ नहीं है लेकिन इससे घबराने की भी कोई वजह नहीं है। ये संक्राम्य बीमारी ज़रूर है लेकिन ऐसी भी नहीं जिससे बचा न जा सके।

यह संक्रमण  इबोला से असरग्रस्त व्यक्ति के बॉडी ओर्गेंस ,शरीर के विभिन्न अंगों ,रिसने वाले स्रावों ,फ्लुइड्स मसलन लार ,कफ ,रक्त ,वीर्य आदि के संपर्क में आने से फैलता है। एयर बोर्न संक्रमण नहीं है तबेदिक की तरह।

इसके लक्षणों में हेमोरेजिक  फीवर  भी  है जो शरीर के अनेक प्रमुख अंगों ,मल्टिपिल ऑर्गेन सिस्टमों(Multiple organ systems ) को एक साथ असरग्रस्त कर सकता है।

लक्षणों  की शुरुआत बेहद की कमज़ोरी से हो  सकती है। पेशियों में दर्द (पेशीय पीड़ा ,मसल पेन )हो सकता है। सर दर्द और गले में दुखन (सोर थ्रोट,sore throat ) ) भी हो सकती है।

गुर्दों और यकृत(impaired kidney and lever functions ) के प्रकार्य , काम करने में बाधा पेश आ सकती है।शरीर के अंदरूनी अंगों से और बाहर भी रक्त स्राव हो सकता है।

भले इसका कोई इलाज़ न सही इसके लक्षणों का  सुचारू रूप शमन किया जा सकता है। मसलन शरीर में रक्त एवं जल की कमी को मुल्तवी रखा जा सकता है।

बस शरीर के प्रमुख अंग ठीक से काम करते रहें ऐसी व्यवस्था को सुनिश्चित किया जाए।

LONDON: West Africa's Ebola epidemic is an "extraordinary event" and now constitutes an international health risk, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

The Geneva-based UN health agency said the possible consequences of a further international spread of the outbreak, which has killed almost 1,000 people in four west African countries, were "particularly serious" in view of the virulence of the virus.

"A coordinated international response is deemed essential to stop and reverse the international spread of Ebola," the WHO said in a statement after a two-day meeting of its emergency committee on Ebola.

The declaration of an international emergency will have the effect of raising the level of vigilance on the virus.

"The outbreak is moving faster than we can control it," the WHO's director-general Margaret Chan told reporters on a telephone briefing from the WHO's Geneva headquarters.

"The declaration ... will galvanize the attention of leaders of all countries at the top level. It cannot be done by the ministries of health alone."


The agency said that, while all states with Ebola transmission — so far Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone — should declare a national emergency, there should be no general ban on international travel or trade.

"THIS CAN BE STOPPED"

Ebola has no proven cures and there is no vaccine to prevent infection, so treatment focuses on alleviating symptoms such as fever, vomiting and diarrhoea — all of which can contribute to severe dehydration.

Keiji Fukuda, the WHO's head of health security, stressed that, with the right measures to deal with infected people, the spread of Ebola - which is transmitted through direct contact with bodily fluids - could be stopped.

"This is not a mysterious disease. This is an infectious disease that can be contained," he told reporters. "It is not a virus that is spread through the air."


The lifeless body of a man lays unattended in the street as locals suspect him of dying from the deadly Ebola virus in Liberia. (AP Photo)

Fukuda said it was important that anyone known to have Ebola should be immediately isolated and treated and kept in isolation for 30 days. "Based on scientific studies, people who have infection can shed virus for up to 30 days," he said.

The current outbreak, in which at least 1,711 people have so far been infected, of whom 932 have died, is the most severe in the almost 40 years since Ebola was identified in humans.

The WHO said this was partly because of the weakness of the health systems in the countries currently affected, which lacked human, financial and material resources.

It also said inexperience in dealing with Ebola outbreaks and misperceptions of the disease, including how it is transmitted, "continue to be a major challenge in some communities".

"If we do not in global solidarity come together to help these countries, they will be set back for many years," Chan said. She noted the three hardest-hit nations had only begun to emerge and rebuild after "years of conflict and difficulties".

Although most cases of Ebola are in the remote area where Guinea borders Sierra Leone and Liberia, alarm over the spread of the disease increased last month when a US citizen died in Nigeria after travelling there by plane from Liberia.

After an experimental drug was administered to two US charity workers who were infected in Liberia, Ebola specialists urged the WHO to offer such drugs to Africans. The UN agency has asked medical ethics experts to explore this option next week.

David Heymann, a former WHO official and now director of the Chatham House Centre on Global Health Security, who this week urged the WHO to show greater leadership and to consider allowing the use of experimental drugs for Africans affected by Ebola, said governments should step up their response.

The major message, he said, was that the three known measures that stop Ebola outbreaks — hospital infection control, community understanding of risks of infection, and contact tracing — "appear not to have been robustly enough applied".

"Governments appear to not have been engaged as necessary," he said in an emailed response to the WHO's statement.



No need to panic about Ebola: Harsh Vardhan

Union health minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday assured that there is no need to panic about the Ebola virus.

Concerns over the spread of this disease escalated when reports of three Indians being detained in New Delhi came to light.

The trio had flown in from Ghana with an Ebola-infected person on board.

"It is a normal precautionary measure to track any person traveling to the country from the affected areas. There is no cause for worry, no need to panic," said Harsh Vardhan.

The health minister's statement comes at a time when the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the spread of Ebola an international health emergency.

Nearly 44, 000 Indians reside in the regions affected by the deadly disease. Though there has been no case of an Indian contracting the virus so far, the health minister maintained that they would do everything to prevent its spread in India.

The government swung into action and put precautionary measures in place in due consultations with the officials from the department of external affairs, home affairs, health and family welfare and civil aviation.

READ ALSO: Nearly 45,000 Indians in Ebola-hit countries, may bring virus home

Travelers to India from affected areas are required to self-report during immigration. In-flight announcements informing passengers to report symptoms have been installed. Facilities at airports to manage travelers showing symptoms have been put in place. In the event that any of these travelers develop symptoms, a surveillance system has been set up to track them.

WHO officials say that it is not difficult for India to mitigate the risk provided the precautionary measures are followed.

"There is no high risk of spread of this disease in India in principle. It is currently in African region mainly. It is assessed to be low risk in India and outside Africa. But nevertheless, people travel, things can happen. India is equipped in terms of having all systems in place. However, what matters is, systems are working without any failure," said Dr Nata Menabde, WHO representative to India.

(Inputs from ANI)

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/WHO-warns-of-the-Ebola-virus-spreading-globally-India-says-no-need-to-panic/articleshow/39889238.cms


The United States ordered relatives of its embassy employees to leave Liberia as the African nation struggles to contain the Ebola epidemic. FULL STORY | Initial response a 'failure' How outbreak can end  Video | Don't panic



2 टिप्‍पणियां:

Anita ने कहा…

इबोला से बचने के लिए सभी उपाय किये जाने चाहिए,उपयोगी जानकारी

Rahul... ने कहा…

इतनी अच्छी जानकारी के लिए आपका शुक्रिया शर्माजी....