The Ministry of Health and Population announced, in a new statement issued by it, the launch of the guideline regarding the steps that must be taken by any person, when dealing with another person infected with the Marburg virus, following its widespread spread in a number of countries.
Travel postponed due to the Marburg virus
After the spread of the Marburg virus in Tanzania and Equatorial Guinea, several Arab countries, namely the “UAE, Kuwait, Oman, and Saudi Arabia,” recommended postponing travel to all of their citizens during the current period, especially with the two countries announcing the monitoring of outbreaks in several regions of the disease described by the media within them. as a “killer”.
The Ministry reiterated what it had previously said regarding the worldwide epidemiological situation of the Marburg virus. In Tanzania, the World Health Organization announced that 8 cases of infection had reached, while deaths had reached 5 others as a result of infection with the virus, and it is expected, according to studies, that the death rate would rise to 88.24 percent of the cases.
Dealing with cases of Marburg virus infection
When the case is dealt with in the early stage of the disease, this reduces the risk of death. According to the evidence, cases are dealt with by diagnosing the case through laboratory tests, and then supportive care begins due to the lack of approved treatments. To treat the symptoms of the disease, and there are many forms of medication between oral or intravenous fluids, and increase the probability of individual survival.
Case isolation
According to the guide, a group of potential treatments is being evaluated through the use of immunotherapy, blood derivatives, and pharmacological treatments, in addition to placing the patient in a single room in strict immediate isolation, inside a hospital far from crowded places, in addition to securing rooms with negative pressure for the injured, and providing respiratory protection.
The guide drew attention to preventing visits by non-essential persons, while taking all precautions for bodily fluids. To take care of him in a strict manner, because through hospitals there can be a possibility of an acquired infection, and for a period of approximately 3 months, male patients must abstain from marital practices, and limit themselves to what is necessary only until it is proven that the semen is free of the virus.
Modes of transmission of Marburg virus infection
While taking care of the patient, this would reduce the risk of exposure to infection, and according to the nature of the samples, the workers must pay attention to what they deal with, amid isolation procedures, and as for the corpses, they must be kept in bags that do not allow leakage of fluids, and buried immediately, as the methods of transmission came The virus is as follows:
- It is transmitted through contact with the patient’s blood.
- It is transmitted through contact with other body fluids of the patient such as feces, urine, vomit, saliva and respiratory secretions.
- It can also be transmitted through the semen of an infected person.
The most affected categories
Even following recovery, infected people were found in the semen following 7 weeks of recovery, and the incubation period for the virus for all age groups ranges between 2 days to 21 days, and that infection in adults and infections in children is low compared to the elderly.
