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Nyaho medical centre’s rapid response to suspected haemorrhagic fever

If the deadly Ebola virus were to appear in Ghana today, how ready are we to contain it?

Many have asked the question several times, especially in the last couple of weeks following the scare of a suspected case of Ghana’s first Ebola virus.  Thankfully, after repeated tests at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, samples taken from a patient admitted to the Nyaho Medical Centre proved negative.

Two weeks later, all is quiet; no one is talking about Ebola.  I, therefore, took the opportunity last week to visit  the Nyaho Medical Centre, the private medical facility which was said to have admitted the suspected case of haemorrhagic fever.  Apart from verifying the story which made the rounds, I also wanted to understand how the emergency was dealt with and lesson thereof.

 

Nyaho Medical centre admits expatriate

Recounting the story to me, the Medical Director of the centre, Dr Victoria Fummey, said the American expatriate at the centre of it all was on a private business mission and was lodging at one of the hotels in Accra.  He fell ill after visiting Guinea and at 4 a.m. on July 6 was brought to their medical facility by the West African Rescue Association (WARA), an emergency medical evacuation outfit, for care.

The patient was apparently brought in as a simple case of upper intestinal bleeding.  He was said to have vomited bright red blood, symptoms suggestive of haemorrhagic fever.  The doctor and nurse  on duty started working on him.  In the process, the patient vomited more blood.

 

Expatriate briefs medical centre

Fully conscious, the patient was able to give the doctor some detailed history, his symptoms and the self-prescribed medicine he was taking.  He also told the doctor he had been to Guinea, arriving in Ghana on June 10.  For the nature of the symptoms given, the Nyaho Medical Centre suspected a case of Ebola fever and so got him on high alert.

 

Medical centre takes action

They immediately called WARA, and also informed the National Public Health, the National Diseases Surveillance and the Regional Public Health Units.  Luckily, the centre had a vacant newly renovated wing and therefore received the patient there and quarantined the doctors and nurses who were dedicated to the patient.  They were not allowed to go home. 

According to the Medical Director, the Ghana Health Service brought protective clothing and other protective materials that were needed for the care of the patient.  The responses were prompt and in the course of monitoring and treatment, blood samples were taken from the patient and sent to the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research.  The initial results were inconclusive.  Further tests continued but unfortunately, the patient passed away 36 hours after admission. The final results, which were negative, came out 14 hours later.

So, now that we know the American expatriate died not from haemorrhagic fever, what steps has the centre taken to reassure the general public?

To see things for myself, Dr Fummey took me round, ensuring a stop at the unit quarantined for the stay of the patient.

She told me the Accra Metro Health Division collected all the linen, mattresses, pillows and  materials used at the isolated unit and had them incinerated.  This was followed  with a thorough fumigation of the unit as well as the OPD. 

 

Quarantined medical professionals released 

It was during this time that the quarantined doctors and nurses  were allowed to go home.  Even then, they were put on voluntary social distance and not allowed to come into contact with members of their household while at home until all other tests on possible causes of haemorrhagic fever from Noguchi also proved negative.

 

Centre working in earnest

On my visit to the centre last week, I witnessed the full resumption of duties at the facility within that shortest possible time.  With the help and full complement of the Ministry of Health, the Ghana Health Service, the National and Regional Public Health Units, the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research and the dedicated doctors and nurses who were assigned to the patient, the Nyaho Medical Centre was able to deal with the case promptly without any danger to other users of the facility.  There was no sign of an emergency of that magnitude just one week after.

 

Any preparation for Ebola?

The effort for just one suspected case was well co-ordinated.  However, if there should be a real Ebola pandemic, described as the worst outbreak the world has ever seen, is Ghana ready?  There is said to be no cure or vaccine for Ebola, which spreads through contact with an infected person’s bodily fluid. 

Already, we know that there has been an outbreak of the disease in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.  The virus is reported to have killed over 600 people in the three countries to date.  The disease is said to kill up to 90 per cent of those infected but if patients receive treatment early, they have a better chance of survival.  

Ebola is real and deadly, yet there is not much public health education on it.  What are the symptoms and where should one go for early treatment should the virus hit us?  Are visitors and nationals arriving from the high- risk countries being screened at the ports of entry?  We need some education.  Ghana Health Service, which way now? 

 

Writer's email: [email protected]

 

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