The Etiological Diagnosis of Ebola

Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever

Ebola hemorrhagic fever better known as Ebola is an illness that affects human being as well as other primates with its main cause being ebolavirus. The viruses causing the illness are alleged to be multi-celled which are capable of reproducing in a person or animal. The virus is typically rare although, in case of an outbreak, it turns out to be very deadly since it can only be noticed within a span of two days up to three weeks after the virus has been contracted in the host’s body thus giving a chance for the growth and multiplication. Sore throats, fever, muscular pain, together with mild headaches which is eventually followed by diarrhea, vomiting as well as rashes are some of the typical symptoms of Ebola(Laverack, 2018). In due course, the virus further extends to various parts of the body whereby it decreases the body functioning by affecting parts such as the kidney and the liver. During this period, the affected people start bleeding in both their external and their internal organs.

Anatomical Diagnosis

The disease tends to affect specific cells in the host’s body which include the upper respiratory system, the central nervous system, influenza or muscle soreness, immune system, RNA as well as the DNA. The illness also affects the red blood cells, body tissues, and the digestive system as together with the skin of the host. The main carriers of the virus are known to be wild animals, ticks, misquote, phlebotomine insects, sand flies as well as the tomatoes affected by the virus. It is transmitted through infected air, water, food, infected animals the most common being monkeys, fruit bats as well as chimps. In the environment, the illness is contracted through direct contacts with infected people in health facilities or even in the same location in addition to burying people that have been infected by the illness(King, 2017).

Differential Diagnosis

The illness cannot be visible with bare eyes since it exists in form of viruses which are small microbes that are not seen and as a result, they can only be spread in for of vomits, urine, semen, blood, sweat together with other fluids that come from the body. The spread of the virus is usually facilitated by an opening in the body which might be an injury which exposes the mucous membrane for instance through the nose, eye or mouth. However, there are recent allegations which states that Ebola keeps mutating and thus becoming an airborne illness thus making the situation to become much difficult.The virus is usually traced through taking samples from the semen, blood, sweat, saliva as well other fluids from the body. The virus is usually identified using electric microscopes whereby it appears to be both white and black unless there has been the manual addition for aesthetic purposes in order to have a clear view of the virus. In a microscopic view, the Ebola virus appears to a helical none sliced, with lone stranded polymorphic RNA that consists of many lengths. The virus is approximately 19KB in terms of length while the diameter ranges between 62 up to 80 nm(Wheaton, 2015). It assumes a spike shape due to the glycoproteins present in the outer membrane of the host.

Epidemiological Diagnosis

Ebola is usually difficult illness when it comes to making a diagnosis especially when the person has been infected since the early symptoms usually act like a fever. There are several tests which are conducted with an aim of detecting the virus in health facilities with the precise method being a test being conducted on the polymerase chain. The test is meant to identify genetic materials found in the virus although the test is not effective if it is taken during the first three days after the host has been infected. The other test is based on the antigen incarcerate enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay investigations with main challenge of using the method being negative results during the initial stages of the illness. In recent researches that have conducted, FDA has formulated two innovative methods that are meant for identifying the Ebola virus(Laverack, 2018). The tests are capable of detecting the virus in the host’s blood as well as the urine in a duration of one hour with the tests being conducted on the site the illness has been reported and not the health centers.

Etiological Diagnosis

The Ebola virus is believed to have been initially contracted through a young child who was playing with a fruit bat in Africa. After the death of the young boy, there were various studies that were conducted in an attempt to prove the speculation that Ebola was transmitted to human beings through animals. Apart from the fruit bats that are found in the Pteropedidae family who are considered to be the natural hosts of the Ebola virus. Moreover, there are other carrier animals including the monkeys, chimpanzees, gorillas, porcupines as well as the antelopes. Ebola is eventually spread into the human bodies through direct contacts with the carrier and later a contact with an infected person through broken parts in the body, blood, mucous membrane secretion, body organs together with fluids from an infected person(Hiam, 2015).

Final Diagnosis and Microscopic Strains

The virus is also transmitted through inappropriate burial procedures, tracking as well as identification with the main reason for the rapid spread in Africa being the traditional burial procedures. The processes involved the direct handling of the corpses infected with the Ebola virus since they had little awareness about the risks posed by direct exposure. As a means of intervention, the people in areas that have been infected are supposed to be isolated in order to reduce the rate of spread with the corpses being burnt in order to avoid further infections. People handling the infected people are supposed to wear protective attires which in turn reduce the chances of spreading through direct contacts. While handling infected patients, one is supposed to properly disinfect various body parts using appropriate sterilization equipment(King, 2017). In an attempted to control the spread of the virus, people alleged to be having the virus, as well as the infected individuals, should be totally isolated from other people for proper treatment and care. While working in areas that are affected by the virus, one is advised to stay away from animals which could be the possible hosts of the virus as well as avoiding means prepared using possible Ebola hosts.

Potential Treatments

The treatment for the Ebola virus has not yet been identified although there are various experiments which are being conducted among them being a serum that is meant to annihilate infected cells. The viruses tend to be difficult to eliminate since they take over the cells of the host and in turn reproducing and multiplying in the body. Identifying the illness during the early stages happens to be very effective since treatment can be done before the virus is implanted in the DNA and the RNA of the host(Wheaton, 2015). Identification of the virus in the oxygen status of a patient can be handled through maintenance of blood pressure which balances the electrolytes thus providing intravenous fluids with any identifiable infections being treated to prevent the body from becoming weak.

References

Hiam, D. S. (2015). Why Ebola is Not Likely to Become Airborne; Taxonomic Biodiversity Data. Farmington Hills: Gale.

King, J. . (2017). Ebola Virus Infection Workup. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.

Laverack, G. (2018). Ebola virus disease. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

Wheaton, O. (2015). Scientist might have found the Ebola “patient zero.” New York: St. Martin’s Press.