By: Radiant Fall – Zap Doctors system
The main points of the article
At least nine people have died in Equatorial Guinea from an outbreak of the Marburg virus, which causes hemorrhagic fever. The virus belongs to a family of viruses called “Filoviridea”, to which the Ebola virus also belongs. This is the first time that the virus has been detected in Equatorial Guinea, according to the statement of the World Health Organization of the United Nations (WHO). According to the statement, many medical teams have been deployed in different districts of the country to locate additional infected people and isolate them from a healthy population, as well as to provide primary medical care to people whose symptoms indicate the disease
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What is Marburg virus?
Marburg virus is a deadly virus, which causes Marburg hemorrhagic fever. The virus was first detected in the 60s of the last century, after the spread of a hemorrhagic disease in three European countries – Germany, Belgrade and Serbia. Although the virus first spread in Europe, its origin is generally in Uganda – and it was spread by monkeys brought to Europe from Africa for medical research. The monkeys who were later found to be infected with the virus – spread it. The first infected were the laboratory workers who worked with the monkeys as part of the experiment, they became infected because they were exposed to the monkeys’ body fluids. 31 of them were infected, and 7 died as a result of the virus. Over the years, an additional number of infections were found, mainly in Africa. The worst outbreak of the virus was at the beginning of the millennium in Angola, with over 200 deaths.
How do you get infected with the Marburg virus?
The virus is transmitted to humans from fruit bats and spreads between humans through direct contact with human body fluids (urine, saliva, blood and vomit), infected surfaces (bedding and clothing) and infected materials. The bats that carry the virus in their bodies usually do not develop symptoms, but they themselves are highly contagious. Evidence of this is that some of the documented spreads of the virus have been associated with an environment that combines humans and bats.
As far as humans are concerned, infection with the virus will always be accompanied by severe symptoms. The symptoms gradually worsen – the disease begins with flu-like symptoms, for example: chills, fever, sore throat, headache, muscle pain and fatigue. After a few days of flu-like symptoms, more severe symptoms begin, including vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. Over time the disease worsens and spreads to the limb areas. At the same time, eye infections and bleeding develop – from bloody damage to the skin to bloody stools, and bloody secretions from the nose, mouth, genitals and eyes. Along with the bleeding, the disease also causes severe neurological symptoms, including convulsions, changes in behavior, confusion and more. Also, many patients developed severe hemorrhagic symptoms within seven days. According to the World Health Organization, this is a very serious disease with a mortality rate of about 88%.
In most cases, death from the disease is caused by a large loss of fluids and systemic failure – the disease affects most organs in the body. Several autopsies performed on the bodies of people who contracted the disease revealed that there were many injuries to the tissues of the brain, kidneys, heart, liver, lymph nodes, ovaries, digestive and respiratory systems and more.
Treatment methods for Marburg patients
So far, no vaccines or specific drug treatment for the virus have been found. However, there is supportive care that can improve the chances of survival. Supportive treatment includes the administration of fluids, blood transfusions and clotting factors. In many cases, these treatments do not help save the patient, due to a late diagnosis of the disease that initially manifests as the flu. The late diagnosis obviously delays the treatment. In addition, because of the difficulty in locating the disease, the patient does not immediately go into isolation, thus increasing the risk of infecting other people. The bad news does not end here. There is much evidence that people who did manage to recover from the virus, nevertheless developed chronic diseases, including arthritis, psychosis and conjunctivitis.
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How is Guinea handling the spread of the virus?
“Marburg is very contagious”, said Dr Mashtashidiso Moati, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “Thanks to the swift and decisive action of the Equatorial Guinean authorities in locating the disease, our emergency response can save lives and stop the virus as soon as possible.”
Bottom line, this is a deadly virus that can cause death at a very high rate. All we have left is to hope that the virus does not spread to other countries, after Guinea closed its doors.