Ebola Aftermath
The Ebola Aftermath
One aspect of disaster epidemiology is the assessment of both short and long-term adverse health effects post-disaster. In order to more accurately prepare for future events, any lingering effects must be studied. While we were easily made aware of the recent Ebola outbreak, long-term effects for survivors appear to be less mentioned in the media.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is calling this “an emergency within an emergency”, (As cited by Petesch, 2015, para. 2). Of the approximate 13,000 Ebola survivors, many have vision and hearing problems, with some reporting loss of vision at times. Some suffer from debilitating joint pain, while several experience physical and emotional pains, fatigue, and various other problems,
leaving many unable to continue to provide for their families.
In efforts to gain more information about the after-effects of Ebola, Partnership for Research on Ebola Vaccines in Liberia, or PREVAIL, has launched a study for nearly 1,500 Ebola survivors and 6,000 of their more immediate contacts. Those enrolled will be monitored for five years.
As one of our objectives for the week is the understanding of the history of the epidemiology of disasters, I feel this article is relative in that it references the effects of the most recent Ebola outbreak. While the capacity to follow every survivor is not yet established, information will be collected from this sample to allow for better preparation in future Ebola outbreaks on a global scale. Though this particular article does not go in depth in regards to the virulence of Ebola, Ebola is one of the diseases capable of becoming a pandemic event.
One aspect of disaster epidemiology is the assessment of both short and long-term adverse health effects post-disaster. In order to more accurately prepare for future events, any lingering effects must be studied. While we were easily made aware of the recent Ebola outbreak, long-term effects for survivors appear to be less mentioned in the media.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is calling this “an emergency within an emergency”, (As cited by Petesch, 2015, para. 2). Of the approximate 13,000 Ebola survivors, many have vision and hearing problems, with some reporting loss of vision at times. Some suffer from debilitating joint pain, while several experience physical and emotional pains, fatigue, and various other problems,
leaving many unable to continue to provide for their families.
In efforts to gain more information about the after-effects of Ebola, Partnership for Research on Ebola Vaccines in Liberia, or PREVAIL, has launched a study for nearly 1,500 Ebola survivors and 6,000 of their more immediate contacts. Those enrolled will be monitored for five years.
As one of our objectives for the week is the understanding of the history of the epidemiology of disasters, I feel this article is relative in that it references the effects of the most recent Ebola outbreak. While the capacity to follow every survivor is not yet established, information will be collected from this sample to allow for better preparation in future Ebola outbreaks on a global scale. Though this particular article does not go in depth in regards to the virulence of Ebola, Ebola is one of the diseases capable of becoming a pandemic event.