Responses to spread of.Ebola virus disease epidemic in West Africa: A review.

BACKGROUND: The first Ebola virus disease (EVD) epidemic in West Africa is unprecedented in its spread, complexity and severity. Comparing responses to spread of the virus in the three most affected countries - Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia- with that in Nigeria, Senegal and Mali where the epidemic was quickly brought under control may guide future mitigation efforts. METHODS: Literature from Pubmed. Google,Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), World Health Organization's Updates and Ebola Response Reports: Results: The epidemic spread undiagnosed for three months from Meliandou in Guinea to its four rural prefectures and its. capital Conakry, two countires in Liberia and two districts in Sierra Leone. Control measures were hampered by traditional and faith healers offering -inappropriate treatments, as well as secret societies encouraging unsafe burial rituals. Whereas, in Nigeria, a case imported from Liberia on 20 July 2014 was diagnosed on the 3rd day; all primary, secondary and tertiary contacts were traced. Also, at a formal meeting, officials of Lagos state government discouraged treatment of EVD by faith healers. In Senegal, a single case imported from Guinea on 20 August 2014 was diagnosed on the 9th day, treated and further spread was prevented. In Mali, there were two waves of transmissions identified on 23 October and 12 November 2014 within 15 days of importation and the epidemic was controlled.There were no cases of EVD treated by any traditional healers or faith healers in Nigeria, Senegal and Mali. CONCLUSION: Education of traditional and faith healers on EVD will complement control measures for EVD epidemic.

Pre-hospital management of febrile seizures in children seen at the university college hospital, ibadan, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Febrile seizures are commonly encountered in emergency paediatric practice. Initial pre-hospital intervention given by caregivers has been shown to impact outcome. OBJECTIVES: To describe the spectrum of pre-hospital interventions given for the treatment of childhood febrile seizures in Ibadan, Nigeria. METHODS: All consecutive cases of febrile seizures seen at the emergency room of University College Hospital, Ibadan over a period of 13 months were the subjects of the study. Details of history of illness including the interventions given before presentation were recorded. All the children had lumbar puncture and examination of their cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). All were followed up till discharge and the outcome was recorded. RESULTS: A total of 147 children, 83 males and 64 females with febrile seizures were studied. Harmful traditional practices were found to be common in the cohort studied. Fifty-nine (40.1%) of the children received at least one form of intervention believed to be capable of aborting the seizure during the attack at home. Herbal preparation was the most common form of pre-hospital treatment, given in 15 (10.2%) of the cases. Other forms of pre-hospital interventions given were application of substances to the eyes (6.1%), incisions on the body (2%) and burns inflicted on the feet and buttocks (1.4%). None of the children received rectal diazepam or buccal midazolam as home remedy for seizures. There was a statistically significant relationship between harmful cultural practices and the socio-economic class of the caregivers (P=0.008). CONCLUSIONS: Pre-hospital treatment of childhood seizures in Ibadan comprises mainly harmful traditional practices. There is a need for appropriate health education to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with febrile seizures in the locality.