Doctors attending to an Ebola patient
The Western Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Emmanuel Tinkorang, has appealed to his colleague health workers not to run away from patients suspected to have been infected with the deadly Ebola virus.
This followed reports that a doctor at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr Dodi Abdallah, admitted that he and his colleagues would run away if Ebola patients report at the infirmary.
According to him, the hospital at the moment is not ready for the management of the deadly virus, stressing, ‘We are not ready.’
Dr Tinkorang suggested that practical measures such as providing appropriate personal protective equipment and other logistics needed to stop the spread of the virus to health workers attending to parents should be taken.
He pointed out that health personnel were at risk when such disease broke out in the country, adding that health providers must have a high index of suspicion when dealing with patients with haemorrhagic fevers.
Dr Tinkorang was speaking at a special meeting on the Ebola disease and the Western Region’s preparedness to handle any possible outbreak at Sekondi recently.
It was attended by health professionals, departmental heads, personnel of the Regional Security Council and journalists.
‘The virus has a long incubation period of approximately eight to 21 days. Early symptoms include fever, muscle weakness, sore throat and headaches.
‘A patient is not contagious until the person starts showing signs of the disease,’ he added.
The medical doctor mentioned that as part of measures to deal with the suspected Ebola cases in the region, rapid response teams have been deployed at vantage points, particularly at the approved borders in the region to provide specialised care to suspected patients.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Sekondi
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