Health workers trained on Ebola as peers lament lack of preparedness
Doctors and nurses, working at an isolation centre attending a brief at the Mubende referral hospital, Mubende, Uganda on October 27, 2022. Uganda has lost four healthcare workers to Ebola, among the 30 fatalities and 109 cases that the country has recorded.
What you need to know:
- Health workers have complained about a lack of preparedness in counties to respond to Ebola if the virus finds its way into Kenya.
- To prepare for any infections, the Ministry of Health has trained 75 workers so far in partnership with the World Health Organisation, with about 1,400 targeted.
- Uganda has lost four healthcare workers to Ebola, among the 30 fatalities and 109 cases that the country has recorded.
Joseph* is one of the public health officers screening and testing people for Ebola at the Busia border crossing.
He is worried because he doesn’t have the right equipment and the disease has killed dozens in neighbouring Uganda.
“We have to be more careful and if not, we are the same people who will bring in the virus to Kenya. All the governments and the counties need to do is to come up with a strategy of ensuring that we get proper gadgets,” he says.
This comes as health workers have complained about a lack of preparedness in counties to respond to Ebola if the virus finds its way into Kenya.
To prepare for any infections, the Ministry of Health has trained 75 workers so far in partnership with the World Health Organisation, with about 1,400 targeted.
County governments have been asked to sensitise healthcare workers on infection, prevention, control measures, case management and sample management and to mobilise relevant stakeholders to initiate prevention, preparedness and response.
Fatalities
Uganda has lost four healthcare workers to Ebola, among the 30 fatalities and 109 cases that the country has recorded.
Uganda registered its first case of the Ebola Sudan strain on September 20 in the Mubende district.
The disease has since spread to four other districts – Kassanda, Kyegegwa, Bunyangabu and Kagadi
Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) chairman Peterson Wachira lamented that there are not enough skilled health workers to handle the disease.
KUCO identified gaps such as lack of training, unavailability of personal protective equipment and isolation rooms, and sensitisation in the community.
The Ministry of Health has identified 21 counties that are at high risk of infections.
Mr Wachira said nearly all border counties, such as Migori, Busia and Bungoma, had failed to adopt measures against possible Ebola infections.
"Anybody coming from a hotspot should first be identified at the border point. Secondly, they would be followed up for at least 21 days," he said.
The Ministry of Health said in a statement that training kicked off this week and will focus on “essential information and techniques required to deal with the disease as well as training on preparedness and response”.
The Ebola outbreak in Uganda puts Kenya at risk and the government should ensure that it is prepared to protect healthcare workers and those at risk, said Dr Davji Bhimji, the secretary-general of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU).
Dr Davji urged the Ministry of Health to increase the capacity of the Ebola virus treatment centre that is nearing completion at Kenyatta National Hospital from its current 40 beds.
“Create regional temporary isolation facilities equipped with critical healthcare staff and relevant emergency equipment. The virus surveillance and rapid response functions can’t be efficient if not well equipped to manage all suspected Ebola cases immediately,” he said.
Compensation packages
Critical healthcare staff in public hospitals, he added, should be trained to identify and handle possible Ebola patients, adding that the ministry should consider fair comprehensive insurance covers and compensation packages for frontline workers.
“Over the years Kenya [has grappled] with a sustainably functional healthcare system as evident in various disease outbreaks like Covid-19 and various emergencies,” he said.
“The country urgently needs a robust and functional healthcare system including critical healthcare workers that form rapid response teams, surveillance and effective case management.”
Dr Davji said the version of Ebola now ravaging Uganda is the Sudan strain, which has no approved vaccine, unlike the more common Zaire strain.
“The frontline healthcare workers are at high risk if the government doesn’t put in place critical measures to reduce contamination and also manage cases efficiently,” he said.
“The Zaire strain was responsible for the largest ever outbreak of Ebola, in West Africa between 2013 and 2016 where over 11,000 people died.”
Medics urged the government to hire more critical healthcare staff and set up more isolation centres to address the constraint that may arise if Ebola hits Kenya.
“We need to start being prepared, we need to stock our facilities with necessary medical and equipment supplies, and provide adequate personal preventive equipment in case of suspected or reported Ebola virus cases in the country. Train health care workers to deal with suspected or confirmed Ebola cases,” Dr Davji said.
Symptoms
He urged Kenyans to be on the lookout for symptoms, including sudden fever, weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat that are common in the early stages of the disease. Other signs are vomiting, diarrhoea, and internal and external bleeding.
The fever has an incubation period of two to 21 days. This means someone can be infected with the virus and not know about it for up to 21 days when the symptoms begin to appear.
County governments have also been asked to be vigilant and enhance surveillance, especially at borders, and activate rapid response teams to support the identification of any suspected cases.
Ebola is a severe and often fatal illness in humans caused by the Ebola virus.
The virus is normally found in animals but can spread to humans. It occurs when there is an interaction between the infected animals and healthy humans.
Human-to-human transmission of Ebola occurs through contact with body fluids such as blood, sweat, urine, semen, vaginal fluids, diarrhoea and vomitus from an infected person directly or indirectly through contaminated surfaces and fomites.
