Nutritional Care for Patients with Ebola Virus Disease.

Mija Ververs,Magi Gabra

doi:10.3201/eid2601.191024

Abstract

During the Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak of 2014–2016 in West Africa, practitioners faced challenges providing nutritional care for patients in Ebola treatment units (ETUs). The current EVD outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo demonstrates the need to understand lessons learned from previous outbreaks and to update nutritional guidelines. We conducted a literature review to identify articles that included nutrition as an integral part of supportive care. We found little information on the specific nutritional care or practical challenges within an ETU. This review showed that nutritional care for EVD patients is poorly described, and therefore the optimal composition and implementation of nutritional care remain unknown. We recommend that researchers and practitioners share specific and practical details of their experiences in providing nutritional support within ETUs to expand the knowledge base and ultimately improve the nutritional care for an increasingly prevalent patient population.

Highlights

During the Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak of 2014– 2016 in West Africa, practitioners faced challenges providing nutritional care for patients in Ebola treatment units (ETUs)
In the context of the current Ebola virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), we summarize existing practices and research findings on nutritional care for EVD patients in ETUs and compare them, when relevant, with
A wealth of literature exists on the clinical management and supportive care, but our review found only a limited number of publications on specific nutritional care, and they often lacked detailed descriptions of the actual nutritional care provided

Summary

Introduction

During the Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak of 2014– 2016 in West Africa, practitioners faced challenges providing nutritional care for patients in Ebola treatment units (ETUs). In 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the World Food Programme (WFP) produced interim guidelines with recommendations for providing nutritional support to patients in Ebola treatment units (ETUs) [1]. These guidelines were based on existing WHO evidence-based guidance adapted to the Ebola crisis, in addition to a rapid literature review on Ebola virus disease (EVD) and nutritional management of hemorrhagic fevers. In the context of the current Ebola virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), we summarize existing practices and research findings on nutritional care for EVD patients in ETUs and compare them, when relevant, with. We aim to identify gaps to guide future practices and research, leading to improved nutritional guidelines

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion