A woman who recently returned to Guyana from West Africa and had some health concerns was confirmed yesterday to not have the deadly Ebola virus.
The Ebola Response Team yesterday sprang into action for the first time after hospital officials received information from a private physician that a patient, who had recently returned from an unnamed West African country not presently affected by Ebola, had sought medical attention for joint pains.
In a release from the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC), the woman was reported as being in voluntary isolation after multiple tests at the public hospital determined that she did not have haemorrhagic Ebola which has claimed nearly 5,000 lives in West Africa and fuelled global anxiety.
According to the GPHC, the woman had reported mild joint pains and had expressed concern about the mosquito-borne Chikungunya infection which is prevalent here. She had recently returned from a leisure trip to a West African nation and this information prompted her physician to refer her to GPHC where she was immediately placed in isolation.
“She reported returning to Guyana, via Suriname, from a West African country where Ebola is not currently present. She has not had contact with anyone with sickness of any kind in the last 21 days,” GPHC said.
GPHC further said that the woman had exhibited no fever at any point. However, it was noted that she had taken non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications for her joint pains on Thursday which could mask a fever of any origin.
GPHC explained that, out of precaution, the woman was monitored by Senior Infectious Disease Specialists until enough time had passed for the medication to wear off. She fortunately remained free of any fever and other symptoms.
“As such, she was discharged from isolation with any suspicion of Ebola Viral Disease discounted. She will be followed on a daily basis to ensure that fever or other symptoms do not develop,” the hospital assured. “There is no threat to her family or the community,” the hospital added. A monitoring team has been assigned with tracking the woman daily.
Yesterday President Donald Ramotar held a high-level meeting with at least 15 stakeholders to gain a national consensus on the virus. The meeting came hours after A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) blasted the government for failing to aggressively respond to the disease.
APNU Members of parliament Dr. George Norton and Dr. Karen Cummings, during the coalition’s weekly press conference, called for a national plan of action while assuring that it will support any move in the Parliament to approve monies in this regard. They said that as of now the focus should be primarily on taking steps to ensure the disease does not enter Guyana. They pointed out that the health care system lacks the required protective care and they expressed concerns on the poor efforts being made to educate the population on the disease as well as lack of information as to what is being done at the country’s borders with Brazil, Suriname and Venezuela.
President Ramotar had recently announced plans to meet with opposition leaders and civil society to join forces in a national response to “prepare and protect” the country from the Ebola virus.
However, no meetings with the opposition have materialised thus far.
Last week, the Ministry of Health had placed stringent restrictions on entry to Guyana by persons who may pose a health threat by the importation of Ebola. These restrictions were targeted at citizens and visitors to affected West African countries.
In March 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported a major Ebola outbreak in the West African nation of Guinea. As of yesterday, the total recorded deaths were 4,877, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The outbreak is the largest ever documented outbreak of the virus.
