Abstract
BackgroundThe World Health Organization (WHO) declared the West Africa Ebola epidemic as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in August 2014. During the outbreak period, there were calls for the affected countries to construct Ebola treatment centres and reliable diagnostic laboratories closer to areas of transmission in order to improve the quality care of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) patients. Delay in seeking treatment has been reported to have led to poor treatment outcome of EVD patients. Sierra Leone recorded more than 8000 probable and confirmed cases and more than 4000 EVD -related deaths nation-wide.MethodsIn this retrospective study, we investigated the effects of treatment delay, length of symptomatic period, EVD patients’ sex, age, occupation, region of residence, and clinical characteristics on the treatment outcome of 205 laboratory-confirmed EVD patients who were admitted at the Kenema Government Hospital Ebola Treatment Center (KGHETC) from 13/09/2014–26/11/2014; i.e. during the peak of 2013–2016 EVD outbreak in Sierra Leone. Specifically also, we determined the factors that were associated with the length of stay for EVD treatment for patients who were discharged alive.ResultsMajority (66.3%, n = 205/309) of the 309 suspected EVD patients with medical records at the KGHETC triage during the period under review were tested positive for EVD using reverse-transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and had a definitive treatment outcome. Few (33.7%, n = 104/309) suspected EVD patients were not included in our analysis and were classified thus: 29.1% (n = 90/309) suspect EVD cases with negative RT-PCR results, 4.5% (n = 14/309) suspect cases with non-available RT-PCR result.Of the 205 patients, 99 (48.3%) had a fatal outcome. For EVD patients that survived, we recorded a significant association (− 0.06, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) = − 0.14 – - 0.02, p = 0.004) between the Length of Stay (LOS) and for each kilometer travelled to seek treatment at the KGHETC. However, the association between EVD patients that were low skilled workers (− 5.91, 95% CI = − 24.60 – 12.79, p = 0.73), EVD patients who were children and pupils in junior school (− 0.86, 95% CI = − 12.86 – 11.14, p = 0.73), health seeking delay for EVD patients who resided in Kenema District where the KGHETC was located (− 0.49, 95% CI = − 0.12 – 1.09, p = 0.24), sex (− 1.77, 95% CI = − 8.75 – 5.21, p = 0.50), age (0.21, 95% CI = − 0.36 – 0.77, p = 0.57), referral status (1.21, 95% CI = − 17.67 – 20.09, p = 0.89) and the LOS in surviving patients were not statistically significant.ConclusionThe high LOS for either treatment outcome for EVD patients that resided in the district in which the EVD treatment facility was located compared to those patients from other districts implies that health authorities should consider intensive health education with high priority given to seeking early EVD treatment, and the construction of strategic ETCs as important components in their response strategy.
Highlights
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the West Africa Ebola epidemic as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in August 2014
Kangbai et al Archives of Public Health (2021) 79:131 were low skilled workers (− 5.91, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) = − 24.60 – 12.79, p = 0.73), Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) patients who were children and pupils in junior school (− 0.86, 95% CI = − 12.86 – 11.14, p = 0.73), health seeking delay for EVD patients who resided in Kenema District where the Kenema Government Hospital Ebola Treatment Center (KGHETC) was located (− 0.49, 95% CI = − 0.12 – 1.09, p = 0.24), sex (− 1.77, 95% CI = − 8.75 – 5.21, p = 0.50), age (0.21, 95% CI = − 0.36 – 0.77, p = 0.57), referral status (1.21, 95% CI = − 17.67 – 20.09, p = 0.89) and the Length of Stay (LOS) in surviving patients were not statistically significant
We investigated the effect health seeking delay by EVD patients residing in Kenema District were the KGHETC was located, length of symptomatic period, EVD patients’ sex, age, occupation, region of residence, and clinical characteristics had on the treatment outcome of 205 laboratory-confirmed EVD patients at the KGHETC between the 2013–2016 EVD outbreak
Summary
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the West Africa Ebola epidemic as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in August 2014. Sierra Leone recorded more than 8000 probable and confirmed cases and more than 4000 EVD -related deaths nation-wide. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the West Africa Ebola epidemic as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in August 2014 and requested that countries with high Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) transmission to make available treatment centres and reliable diagnostic laboratories close to the areas of EVD transmission [1, 2]. Sierra Leone was one of the countries that was greatly affected by the 2013–2016 EVD outbreak; recording more than 8000 probable and confirmed cases and more than 4000 EVD-related deaths nation-wide [3].
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