Abstract
BackgroundAn unprecedented epidemic of Ebola virus disease (EVD) affected Guinea in 2014 and 2015. It weakened the already fragile Guinean health system. This study aimed to assess the effects of the outbreak on Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT) services in 2014.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional retrospective study. Data was collected from 60 public health centers (30 in the EVD affected areas and 30 in the unaffected areas). The comparison of PMTCT indicators between the period before Ebola (2013) and during Ebola (2014) was done using the t- test for the means and the Chi-square test for the proportions.ResultsThis study showed a substantial and significant reduction in the mean number of antenatal care visits (ANC) in the affected localities, 1617 ± 53 in 2013 versus 1065 ± 29 in 2014, p = 0.0004. This would represent 41% drop in health facilities’ performance. On the other hand, in the unaffected localities, the fall was not significant. The same observations were made about the number of HIV tests performed for pregnant women and the number of HIV positive pregnant women initiating ARVs. The study also noted an increase in the proportion of women tested HIV+ but who did not receive ARVs (12% in 2013 versus 44% in 2014) and HIV+ pregnant women who delivered at home (18% in 2014 versus 7% in 2013).ConclusionThis study showed that PMTCT services, which are one of the key services to improve maternal and child health, were affected in Guinea during this Ebola outbreak in 2014 compared to 2013.
Highlights
An unprecedented epidemic of Ebola virus disease (EVD) affected Guinea in 2014 and 2015
Why was this study conducted? This study aimed to assess the effects of the outbreak on Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT) services in Guinée, in 2014
What was found in this study? In 2014, the number of pregnant women attending antenatal care visits (ANC) visits fell by 41% in the EVD affected localities, compared to only 7% in the unaffected localities
Summary
An unprecedented epidemic of Ebola virus disease (EVD) affected Guinea in 2014 and 2015. It weakened the already fragile Guinean health system. Introduction An unprecedented epidemic of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) affected mainly three countries in West Africa, including Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia in 2014 and 2015. As of 17 January 2016, the cumulative number of cases in these three countries was 28,638, of which 11,316 died [1], representing a 39.51% lethality This epidemic remains the largest in the world in terms of the number of cases, deaths and geographical distribution since the causative virus was isolated in 1970 [2]. The highest number of humanto-human transmissions of the Ebola virus occurred in 2014 compared to 2015 [5]. 148 Ebola cases were confirmed among Health Care Workers as of 28 December 2014, with a fatality rate of 58.78% [5]
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