Ebola in W. Africa infects more medical personnel than previous outbreaks

An unprecedented number of health care workers have been infected with Ebola virus while trying to contain the current outbreak in West Africa, according to WHO.

More than 240 medical staff have been infected, including doctors, nurses and other health care professionals operating in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. It is the largest outbreak ever recorded, with more than 3,000 cases and over 1,500 deaths.

According to WHO, several factors have contributed to the unusually high burden of illness among medical personnel. Shortages of personal protective equipment or improper use of the equipment, as well as too few staff to handle such a large outbreak, are among some of the reasons. Additionally, compassionate medical staff are working in isolation wards longer than what is considered safe. WHO also has cited cases in which doctors, not wearing the proper protective gear, rush to the aid of infected patients.

Past outbreaks have been confined to remote areas where doctors were more familiar with the disease. However, the current outbreak has spread to major cities, increasing the opportunity for the disease to spread to medical staff through undiagnosed cases. WHO officials said Ebola is often confused with other infectious diseases such as typhoid fever and malaria, and health care workers may not feel the need to take the same level of precaution as they would with Ebola. Furthermore, this is the first outbreak to occur in West Africa, and many doctors are unfamiliar with the disease, increasing the risk of transmission.

“Intense fear rules entire villages and cities,” WHO officials said in a statement.

The loss of so many health care workers is taking a toll on the international response to the West African outbreak, according to WHO. In the three hardest-hit countries — Guinea, Nigeria and Sierra Leone — one to two doctors are available to treat every 100,000 people, and most of these doctors are concentrated in cities.

To address the problem, the African Union has launched an initiative to enlist more health care workers to fight the outbreak.

Meanwhile, WHO has removed medical personnel from Kailahun in Sierra Leone’s Eastern Province after one of its health workers became infected with Ebola.

“This is the responsible thing to do,” Daniel Kertesz, MD, FRCPC, WHO representative in Sierra Leone, said in a press release. “They are exhausted from many weeks of heroic work, helping patients infected with Ebola. When you add a stressor like this, the risk of accidents increases.”

WHO said it will investigate the incident to discover how the person became infected and to identify risk factors for health care workers.

“We recognize that this will interrupt the work in the field for the short term, but it ensures we protect health workers and help the community over the longer term,” Kertesz said. “We are working rapidly to ensure we can return to the field as quickly as possible.”