review · Journal of Epidemiology
Ebolavirus disease poses an acute occupational risk to health care workers in Sub-Saharan Africa who care for infected patients. Evidence demonstrates that past outbreaks caused substantial casualties, with more than 30,500 human cases and 12,933 deaths recorded up to September 2015. Frontline medical personnel suffered heavily, including the deaths of all eight infected workers in the 2014 Democratic Republic of the Congo outbreak and more than 890 infections with a 57 percent fatality rate during the West African epidemic. Primary drivers of occupational transmission include exposure to blood and other body fluids, inadequate use of personal protective equipment, and needle-stick or sharp injuries. Mitigating these risks requires prioritising occupational infection prevention, delivering regular worker training, researching occupational exposure risks, and reinforcing general workplace safety across health systems.
Protecting frontline medical personnel during severe viral outbreaks is vital for maintaining functional health services. When health care workers fall ill, emergency response capacity collapses precisely when communities need it most. Pinpointing the major drivers of occupational infection enables public health authorities to upgrade workplace safety standards, deliver targeted infection control training, and safeguard the workforce during health crises.
The abstract does not indicate an application pathway, focusing instead on an epidemiological review and public health preparedness recommendations.
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Ebolavirus disease (EVD) is a severe contagious disease in humans, and health care workers (HCW) are at risk of infection when caring for EVD patients. This paper highlights the epidemiologic profile of EVD and its impact on the health care workforce in Africa. A documentary study was conducted which consisted of a review of available literature regarding the epidemiology of EVD, occupational EVD (OEVD), and work safety issues in Sub-Saharan Africa; the literature findings are enriched by field experiences from the authors. EVD outbreaks have already caused 30,500 cases in humans of whom 12,933 died (as of September 9, 2015), and the number of infected HCW has dramatically increased. All eight HCW infected during the 2014 outbreak in Democratic Republic of the Congo died, whereas during the recent West African EVD epidemic more than 890 HCW were infected, with a case fatality rate of 57%. Occupational exposure to blood and other body fluids due to inadequate use of personal protective equipment and needle stick or sharp injuries are among factors that contribute to the occurrence of OEVD. Prevention of OEVD should be one of the top priorities in EVD outbreak preparedness and management, and research should be conducted to elucidate occupational and other factors that expose HCW to EVD. In addition to regularly training HCW to be adequately prepared to care for patients with EVD, it is critical to strengthen the general health care system and improve occupational safety in medical settings of countries at risk.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.je.2016.09.010
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