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COMMENTARY |
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Year : 2016 | Volume
: 9
| Issue : 1 | Page : 151-152 |
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Ebola virus: What is the future challenge?
Viroj Wiwanitkit
Joseph Ayo Babalola University, Nigeria; Hainan Medical University, China; Faculty of Medicine, University of Nis, Serbia; Dr. D. Y. Patil Medical University, Pune, Maharashtra, India; Surin Rajabhat University, Surin, Thailand
Date of Web Publication | 22-Dec-2015 |
Correspondence Address: Viroj Wiwanitkit Wiwanitkit House, Bangkhae, Bangkok 10160, Thailand
Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0975-2870.167995
How to cite this article: Wiwanitkit V. Ebola virus: What is the future challenge?
. Med J DY Patil Univ 2016;9:151-2 |
The letter "Challenge of Ebola in Current World" [1] is interesting. As mentioned in the letter, the challenges for Ebola virus infection includes:
- Diagnosis,
- Treatment, and
- Prevention. For diagnosis, the molecular diagnosis is usually needed. [2]
However, the present outbreak is in poor, underdeveloped countries where the availability the expensive diagnostic test is usually limited. In addition, the clinical diagnosis of the disease is sometimes difficult. There are many cases of asymptomatic or mild infections that can pose difficulty in diagnosis. [3] Importantly, these cases can further act as a source of infection for others. Regarding treatment, although there are some reports on a new drugs, the effective drug is still elusive. [4] As with the diagnosis, the cost of treatment can also be unaffordable in resource-limited areas. Regarding the prevention, the disease is highly contagious. Furthermore, the poor sanitation due to poverty in the outbreak area makes the control of disease difficult. [5] Furthermore, there is still no effective vaccine. At present, the prevention of Ebola poses several challenges.
In addition to the present difficulties, likely future scenarios need to be discussed. There are many future threats. First, being a viral disease, mutations can be expected. [6] This can lead to more serious situation due to more extensive outbreaks and possibly more virulent strains. In case of ongoing mutation, the continuous development of an antiviral drug to correspond to the new strain has to be done. At present, no effective drug is available. Preparing more effective drug to cope with future worst case scenario will be a formidable task. A similar situation posed by emerging mutated influenza virus infection provides valuable lessons. With accumulated information, the disease does not appear to be simple. There are many new observed clinical problems including a silent infection. [3] Re-emerging infection in the future can be expected as well. Finally, since the present outbreaks are confined in poor countries, there might be less attention by rich countries leading to limited research grants. As noted by Tomori, "prevention and control of future outbreaks depend on improving and upgrading disease surveillance into a responsive component of a reliable and efficient health care delivery system." [7]
References | | |
1. | Shahcheraghi SH, Ayatollahi J, Bafghi AF. The newest information about challenge of Ebola in current world. Med J DY Patil Univ 2015;8:5. |
2. | Martinez VP, Bellomo CM, Iglesias AA. Laboratory preparation for the diagnosis of Ebola virus disease in Argentina. Medicina (B Aires) 2014;74:506-7. |
3. | Joob B, Wiwanitkit V. Afebrile presentation of 2014 Western Africa Ebolavirus infection: The thing that should not be forgotten. Asian Pac J Trop Med 2015;8:242. |
4. | Yuan S. Possible FDA-approved drugs to treat Ebola virus infection. Infect Dis Poverty 2015;4:23. |
5. | Wiwanitkit V. Ebola virus infection: What should be known? N Am J Med Sci 2014;6:549-52. |
6. | Hoenen T, Safronetz D, Groseth A, Wollenberg KR, Koita OA, Diarra B, et al. Virology. Mutation rate and genotype variation of Ebola virus from Mali case sequences. Science 2015;348:117-9. |
7. | Tomori O. Will Africa's future epidemic ride on forgotten lessons from the Ebola epidemic? BMC Med 2015;13:116. |
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