The thousands of individuals who survived the Ebola outbreak in West Africa may require services to address long-term adverse health effects, according to a recent study conducted by U.S. Military HIV Research Program at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Silver Spring, Md.
Researchers studied nearly 50 probable and confirmed survivors of the Bundibugyo ebolavirus outbreak that plagued Uganda in 2007 and 2008, and 157 individuals who tested negative for the Ebola virus. The researchers observed and collected health status information on the study participants 29 months after the outbreak.
They found the survivors were at a significantly higher risk of developing blurred vision, hearing loss and neurologic abnormalities like difficulty swallowing and sleeping. The survivors also reported more chronic health problems — including pain in the abdomen, back and large joints, fatigue, impotence, severe headaches, memory problems and confusion.
Limitations attributable to memory problems and confusion were six times more prevalent among the Ebola virus survivors that the uninfected study participants.
"The ongoing Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa has resulted in thousands of fatalities, but also thousands of survivors," said Col. Nelson Michael, director of the U.S. Military HIV Research Program at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. "The limited evidence from this study and the work of others indicates that strategies to address the long-term health needs of survivors are needed."