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Clinical Management of Ebola Virus Disease Patients in Low-Resource Settings

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Marburg- and Ebolaviruses

Part of the book series: Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology ((CT MICROBIOLOGY,volume 411))

Abstract

The low-resource environment deprives healthcare providers caring for patients with Ebola virus disease (EVD) of many of the means employed for the critically ill that are available in better resourced settings, such as advanced therapeutic interventions and abundant staff. In addition to these limitations may be added those imposed by the remote tropical locations, where EVD outbreaks occur. In this setting, a safe environment is created where healthcare workers may care for their patients over the evolving course of their acute illness into their convalescent period. Clinical management of EVD combines supportive and symptomatic care while also addressing the patient’s emotional and mental health needs. A variety of specific therapies directly targeting the virus has become available, but none of these has, as of yet, conclusively demonstrated an impact. Healthcare workers caring for EVD patients must be constantly aware that they are part of a larger epidemic control operation, and their actions have consequences that go beyond their patients to their families and the community affected by the outbreak.

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The findings and conclusions in this chapter are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Médecins Sans Frontières, Rue Arbre Benit 46, 1050, Brussels, Belgium

    Armand Sprecher & Michel Van Herp

  2. Viral Special Pathogens Branch, Division of High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, National Center for Emerging Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA, 30333, USA

    Pierre E. Rollin

Authors
  1. Armand Sprecher
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  2. Michel Van Herp
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  3. Pierre E. Rollin
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Correspondence to Armand Sprecher .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Boston University School of Medicine , Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Elke Mühlberger

  2. NIAID, National Institutes of Health NIAID, Frederick, Maryland, USA

    Lisa L. Hensley

  3. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Jonathan S. Towner

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Sprecher, A., Van Herp, M., Rollin, P.E. (2017). Clinical Management of Ebola Virus Disease Patients in Low-Resource Settings. In: Mühlberger, E., Hensley, L., Towner, J. (eds) Marburg- and Ebolaviruses. Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology, vol 411. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/82_2017_18

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