Ebola outbreak highlighted need of patient safety

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This is according to Colonel Theo Ligthelm, Senior Staff Officer Military Health Operations, South African Military Health Service and speaker at the Public Health Conference set to be held as part of the Africa Health Exhibition & Congress 2015. He says that the Ebola outbreak in Western Africa serves as a good case study for healthcare workers around the world on how to ensure patient safety when dealing with highly infectious diseases.

The recent epidemic in West Africa infected approximately 24,000 people and killed around 10,000 of those infected with the virus. Among the victims of this deadly disease were several healthcare workers who were deployed to the disease stricken countries in order to assist with efforts to contain the virus.

"Healthcare workers treating patients with infectious diseases need extensive training, preparedness and structured capabilities to care for these very ill patients without infecting themselves. The healthcare worker has to ensure safety and recovery of the patient while simultaneously ensuring their own protection against the virus."

He explains that comprehensive training is vital in the successful execution of healthcare worker safety. "However, all parties involved in the process should be educated on how to mitigate the risk of contracting or spreading the virus. Strict protocols were implemented for health care workers dealing with patients under investigation or patients diagnosed with the Ebola virus. This included following steps of initiating, identifying, isolating and informing others when dealing with these patients."

By following strict procedures, the healthcare workers ensured that the patients with the virus were placed in isolation in order to avoid further infections and safeguard themselves and their colleagues against contracting the virus, points. "These procedures were critical to ensure that safety of the thousands of aid workers that were deployed across West Africa in effort to combat the disease."

Measles could now strike

He says the situation in West African could worsen, following an announcement made by the World Health Organisation warning that outbreaks of measles could hit these Ebola-stricken areas and should be countered with rapid mass vaccinations. "The Ebola epidemic disrupted the normal routines of healthcare systems in these countries and many children did not receive their vaccines against polio, measles, meningitis and other diseases. This results in an increased likelihood of vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks."

He explains that measles is one of the most transmissible diseases; therefore, extensive systems need to be put in place to ensure that the Ebola-areas do not experience another viral outbreak. "Should healthcare workers adhere to strict infection control measures, like in the case of the Ebola epidemic, infectious diseases such as measles can equally be controlled and isolated in order to avoid national, or even global, outbreaks."