Virus de Marburgo
O combate à epidemia de Marburgo tem sido assegurado pela OMS, Centro de Controlo de Doenças de Atlanta e Médicos sem Fronteiras. O número de casos conhecidos atingiu os 275, todos com origem na província do Uíge.
Já se sabia que as condições de funcionamento dos Hospitais Angolanos não eram as melhores: Hospital Errors Jeopardize Angola Virus Battle
Dangerous mistakes at a hospital in Angola in recent days could undo the work of medical teams who have been battling an epidemic of the deadly Marburg virus, the World Health Organization reported on Friday.
Twice in the past week, doctors at the provincial hospital in the northern city of Uíge were exposed to blood from infected patients, and so are now at risk of developing the disease themselves. The virus causes a hemorrhagic fever that can be fatal within a week.
The outbreak in Angola, the largest on record, has killed 255 of the 275 people known to be infected. The epidemic was identified on March 21, but is believed to have started weeks or months earlier.
The recent incidents at the hospital in Uíge occurred even though virus experts from around the world, working there for a month, had personally scrubbed down the hospital wards with bleach and developed new systems meant to prevent lapses in infection control.
The Marburg virus is spread by contact with bodily fluids like blood, vomit and urine, so preventing exposure to those fluids is an essential part of stopping an epidemic.
"These high-risk exposures should not have occurred," the health organization said.
Two other mishaps threatened patients. In one, the report said, "the body of a deceased patient was left, uncleaned and uncollected, on an open ward for more than eight hours, placing hospital staff and other patients at risk."
In another case, staff members put a baby into the cot of a child who had just died of Marburg virus, without first disinfecting the cot.
All the mistakes were direct violations of the new procedures that the expert teams had set up to protect patients and health workers.
Health experts were beginning to say that the number of new cases seemed to be declining and that an end to the outbreak might be in sight. Sloppy practices at a hospital can quickly infect many people and add weeks to the time it takes to contain an epidemic, the W.H.O. said, warning that "infection control procedures at the hospital have been seriously compromised."
The agency acknowledged that some experts had urged that the hospital be closed. But, it said, closing the hospital could make matters worse, by depriving people of care and driving them to a private clinic where practices were even riskier than those at the hospital.
Dangerous mistakes at a hospital in Angola in recent days could undo the work of medical teams who have been battling an epidemic of the deadly Marburg virus, the World Health Organization reported on Friday.
Twice in the past week, doctors at the provincial hospital in the northern city of Uíge were exposed to blood from infected patients, and so are now at risk of developing the disease themselves. The virus causes a hemorrhagic fever that can be fatal within a week.
The outbreak in Angola, the largest on record, has killed 255 of the 275 people known to be infected. The epidemic was identified on March 21, but is believed to have started weeks or months earlier.
The recent incidents at the hospital in Uíge occurred even though virus experts from around the world, working there for a month, had personally scrubbed down the hospital wards with bleach and developed new systems meant to prevent lapses in infection control.
The Marburg virus is spread by contact with bodily fluids like blood, vomit and urine, so preventing exposure to those fluids is an essential part of stopping an epidemic.
"These high-risk exposures should not have occurred," the health organization said.
Two other mishaps threatened patients. In one, the report said, "the body of a deceased patient was left, uncleaned and uncollected, on an open ward for more than eight hours, placing hospital staff and other patients at risk."
In another case, staff members put a baby into the cot of a child who had just died of Marburg virus, without first disinfecting the cot.
All the mistakes were direct violations of the new procedures that the expert teams had set up to protect patients and health workers.
Health experts were beginning to say that the number of new cases seemed to be declining and that an end to the outbreak might be in sight. Sloppy practices at a hospital can quickly infect many people and add weeks to the time it takes to contain an epidemic, the W.H.O. said, warning that "infection control procedures at the hospital have been seriously compromised."
The agency acknowledged that some experts had urged that the hospital be closed. But, it said, closing the hospital could make matters worse, by depriving people of care and driving them to a private clinic where practices were even riskier than those at the hospital.
NYTimes 01.05.05
4 Comments:
Se a epidemia ocorresse em Portugal já seria dificil.
Faço ideia as dificuldades de um hospital do interior de Angola.
Caro Xavier ainda não descobri a legislação que revogou o odiado/odioso 60/2003 de 1 de Abril.
Não se consegue entrar no site do ministério da saúde, o que é no mínimo preocupante para um governo que tem como prioridade as novas tecnologias, pelo menos desde ontem.
Isto é África com luz, às vezes, quando não há apagão...
Caro Toupeira,
Ainda não tive tempo para estudar o assunto. Logo que consiga os diplomas tentareiver o que se passa.
Um abraço
Xavier
Caro Xavier:
O Diário da República Digital, não fala em decreto-lei a revogar o dito. Só pode ser por D.L. ou por Lei.
Estou preocupado, porque assim temos 2, e não é a anedota do autocarro.
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