Ebola virus disease: societal challenges and new treatments

• Autores: A. Mirazimi
• Localización: Journal of Internal Medicine, ISSN-e 1365-2796, Vol. 278, Nº. 3, 2015, págs. 227-237
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Ebola virus disease (EVD) is a zoonotic disease that causes severe haemorrhagic fever, with high fatality rates of up to 90% in humans. Today, there is no effective treatment available. Person-to-person transmission occurs through exposure to blood or body fluids, which can threaten other household members and first-line healthcare workers. The first cases of EVD in Guinea were identified on 22 March 2014. It was initially believed that this like previous outbreaks would be self-limiting. However, lack of public health infrastructure, delays in virus detection and late implementation of control interventions contributed to widespread transmission of EVD in a region inexperienced in dealing with the disease. Socio-cultural and economic factors probably also played a key role in the spread of the disease, resulting in the current large-scale outbreak. Some promising candidate treatments for this disease are now being developed.