Ebola coordination office in Germany

Ebola: coordination office in Germany

31/10/2014

Almost 14,000 Ebola infections and about 5,000 deaths have been recorded in West Africa. Some of the patients were treated in western countries. Also here in Germany, where the cases have each caused anxiety in the population. An expert is now calling for a transnational coordination center in Germany to prepare for possible cases.

Doctors can only treat the symptoms
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 14,000 Ebola cases have already been registered in West Africa. Around 5,000 people have died. Some of the patients were flown to Western countries for treatment. Since there is no cure or safe approved drug against the deadly infectious disease, physicians usually have to confine themselves to alleviating the patients' typical Ebola symptoms, including fever, diarrhea, and internal and external bleeding. An expert now demands better preparation for possible cases in Germany.

State networking would be „very desirable“
Even though many experts consider the risk for Germany to be low, the spokesman for the Standing Committee of Competence and Treatment Centers, August Stich, has now spoken in favor of a central Ebola coordination office. According to experts, this would sustainably improve the care of affected patients in this country. „Infections do not stop at the borders of the federal states“, so stab against the „Berlin newspaper“. Even if the protection of infection was actually a matter for the state, it would be better to have a superior state network „very desirable“.

More staff required
As it is called in a message of the news agency dts, demanded the Würzburg tropical medicine and Ebola expert also more staff for the complex care of the infected. „We will get in trouble when hundreds of German helpers return from the Ebola area“, so stitch. In the future, there will be many suspected cases. This is not because all the helpers in West Africa were infected, but simply because everyone with elevated temperature or other symptoms must be checked for safety's sake.

Seven German locations with special insulation stations
There are currently not enough doctors, nurses and nurses at the seven German locations with special isolation stations (Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Leipzig and Hamburg) who are trained to work at the highest security level. However, Stich does not see that the virus threatens a disease. „That Ebola is endemic in Germany as in West Africa is extremely unlikely“, explained the doctor. „The spread of the virus can be easily prevented here.“ In an interview with the paper, the expert criticized the excessive reaction to Ebola in Germany and said that the best protection against the spread of the disease in Europe was to focus attention on the affected West African countries. In the past there had been failed to build a functioning health system, the devastating consequences were now.

Global fight against Ebola
Experts around the world are currently working to contain and protect against the disease. For example, according to a dpa report, health experts and government officials from 34 majority American countries in Cuba have agreed common strategies for combating Ebola. Like the Cuban News Agency „Prensa Latina“ The participants of the meeting presented a guideline for their future work, including the establishment of interdisciplinary intervention groups and uniform safety standards. From China it is reported that the financial aid to the equivalent of 97 million euros and the number of medical helpers to 700 were increased. In Liberia, a treatment center is to be set up within one month. Liberia, along with Guinea and Sierra Leone, are the most affected by the epidemic. (Ad)