Ebola hemorrhagic fever, Kikwit, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1995: risk factors for patients without a reported exposure.
J Infect Dis
; 179 Suppl 1: S92-7, 1999 Feb.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-9988170
ABSTRACT
In 1995, 316 people became ill with Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF) in Kikwit, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The exposure source was not reported for 55 patients (17%) at the start of this investigation, and it remained unknown for 12 patients after extensive epidemiologic evaluation. Both admission to a hospital and visiting a person with fever and bleeding were risk factors associated with infection. Nineteen patients appeared to have been exposed while visiting someone with suspected EHF, although they did not provide care. Fourteen of the 19 reported touching the patient with suspected EHF; 5 reported that they had no physical contact. Although close contact while caring for an infected person was probably the major route of transmission in this and previous EHF outbreaks, the virus may have been transmitted by touch, droplet, airborne particle, or fomite; thus, expansion of the use of barrier techniques to include casual contacts might prevent or mitigate future epidemics.
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Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Brotes de Enfermedades
/
Fiebre Hemorrágica Ebola
Tipo de estudio:
Etiology_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
País/Región como asunto:
Africa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Infect Dis
Año:
1999
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Estados Unidos