Sequelae and Other Conditions in Ebola Virus Disease Survivors, Sierra Leone, 2015

Abstract

We rapidly assessed the health of Ebola virus disease (EVD) survivors in Kenema, Sierra Leone, by reviewing medical charts of all patients attending the Survivor Clinic of Kenema Government Hospital. Data were abstracted on signs and symptoms at every attendance. As of November 2015, a total of 621 attendances by 115 survivors with laboratory-confirmed EVD were made to the Survivor Clinic. Most (60.9%) survivors were women. Survivors’ median age was 28 years (range 0.25–70 years). Survivors attended the clinic a median of 5 times (range 1–21 times) each, and the median time from EVD discharge to attendance was 261 days (range 4–504 days). The most commonly reported signs and symptoms among the 621 attendances were headache (63.1%), fever (61.7%), and myalgia (43.3%). Because health needs of EVD survivors are complex, rapid chart reviews at survivor clinics should be repeated regularly to assess the extent of illness and prioritize service delivery.

Prevalence of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder among Ebola survivors in northern Sierra Leone: a cross-sectional study

“…Our study indicates that close to a quarter (24.9%) of survivors exhibited a possible case of anxiety which is slightly higher than those reported by Nanyonga et al [ 31 ] and Mohamed et al [ 44 ] in Kenema, Eastern Sierra Leone. Although studies from East Africa [ 45 – 47 ] and in Guinea [ 28 ], Nigeria [ 48 ] Liberia [ 49 ] and within Sierra Leone [ 30 , 50 – 52 ] using quantitative and qualitative research designs have reported that psychological harm is common among Ebola survivors, it has failed to assess anxiety among Ebola survivors specifically, and this makes comparison among studies to be difficult.…”

Care of Ebola Survivors and Factors Associated With Clinical Sequelae—Monrovia, Liberia

“…This may explain why a greater proportion of EVD survivors seen at ELWA experienced symptoms than the proportion reported in the Uganda study [3]. Other studies conducted during the 2014–2016 outbreak have similarly described high rates of musculoskeletal pain and headache [6–8, 26], suggesting that selection bias alone may not explain the high rates in our study.…”

Reflections on the ebola public health emergency of international concern, Part 1: Post-Ebola syndrome: The silent outbreak

“…It is now known at that approximately two-thirds of EVD survivors develop neurological complications and more than half experience ocular and musculoskeletal problems. [4] Similar investigations are being conducted in Sierra Leone[56] and in Guinea (funded by the French Ebola Task Force and the Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement). [7] With new discoveries, it its becoming increasingly evident that additional clinical, basic science, and epidemiological work will be required to ensure an in-depth understanding of EVD's pathophysiological sequelae.…”