First child death from Marburg virus in Ghana brings death toll to 3 in outbreak

Ghana have just had four firsts when it comes to Marburg virus disease (MVD), none of which were good firsts. The first came in late June when the country had its first ever reported case of MVD. This was soon followed by Ghana’s first reported death from the viral disease along with its first outbreak of MVD. And now, for the first time, a child has died of MVD in Ghana. That’s clearly four premieres too many.

The child was one year and two months old and sadly passed away three days after being admitted to the hospital on July 17, according to the following statement from the Ghana Health Service:

The child’s death brought the current death toll from the MVD outbreak in Ghana to three, including the child, the child’s 26-year-old father and another unrelated man, who was 51. There was a fourth case of MVD, a 24-year-old woman who was the wife of the 26-year-old man and the mother of a child who died of MVD. So three of the four cases were in the same household. The Ghana Health Service’s July 28 press release indicated that the woman had been “retained in a government-designated isolation center since Tuesday, July 26, 2022” and was “alive and well.”

You may have heard that the Marburg virus is similar to the Ebola virus. Of course, whenever someone describes something as similar to the Ebola virus, it’s best to put the thing down and take a step back as soon as possible. Both viruses belong to the Filoviridae Family. Both can lead to similar symptoms. Both can be transmitted via bodily fluids such as blood or secretions, which is another reason why bodily fluids should not be gambled with. Both can be passed through objects touched or contaminated with body fluids by an infected person, such as B. One Direction sheets, clothing and stuffed animals. Because of this, in other countries, healthcare workers who care for people with either virus and those who perform funeral ceremonies for those who died from either virus have in turn become infected.

The Marburg and Ebola viruses are also similar in that they can both be very deadly as opposed to kinda or somehow deadly. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), MVD can have a mortality rate of up to 88%. Good and prompt medical care can bring the mortality rate down to 24%, which is lower but still not at the level of “has the Marburg virus and my day was great”.

Now you might be wondering why the virus is named after Marburg in Germany. Well, that was one of three places where the virus was first detected in 1967, the other two being Frankfurt, Germany and Belgrade, Serbia. So yes, theoretically the Marburg virus could have been called the Frankfurt virus instead if history had gone a little differently. The outbreaks of that time were with African vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops) imported from Uganda for laboratory work. Cases have since been reported in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, South Africa (in someone who recently traveled to Zimbabwe) and Uganda. The recent cases in Ghana are only the second time MVD has been reported in a West African country. The first time was in Guinea in August 2021 when an MVD case was reported.

The virus can enter your body through injuries to your skin or mucous membranes, such as your eyes, nose or mouth. This usually happens through prolonged close contact rather than something quick like a chest bump. The breaks in your skin don’t have to be obvious. Their skin is not like toilet bowl porcelain but has many microscopic breaks through which the Marburg virus can penetrate.

Once the virus has entered your body, it usually takes anywhere from two to 21 days for symptoms to suddenly appear. Initial symptoms can usually be a combination of high fever, severe headache, muscle pain, and severe fatigue. After a few days, gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and severe watery diarrhea can occur, which can last for a week. At this point, you may have developed what is known as a “ghostly” face, with deep-set eyes and a blank face.

About a week after the onset of symptoms, you can enter the severe hemorrhagic phase of the disease. Note that if someone calls you hemorrhagic, since hemorrhagic means bleeding, it may be time to see a doctor. Bleeding in MVD can consist of bleeding in multiple areas such as the nose, gums, gastrointestinal tract, and vagina. Major bleeding would be considered the severe phase of MVD. You probably won’t follow the words “heavy bleeding” with the word “yay.” Things can get worse when your central nervous system is also involved, which can lead to confusion, irritability, and aggression. If you have eggs, which means literally and not figuratively, another symptom can be inflammation of one or more of your testicles. All of this bleeding can lead to too much blood loss and shock. Death can occur fairly quickly, just eight to nine days after you develop symptoms.

If you develop MVD, there’s not much doctors can do other than keep you well hydrated and treat specific symptoms. While this may improve your chances of survival, there are no vaccines or antivirals on the market that have been shown to be effective against Marburg virus. Researchers have studied the use of various monoclonal antibodies and antivirals such as remdesivir and favipiravir.

In addition to close contact with an infected person, you can also become infected with the Marburg virus through infected people Rousettus aegyptiacus bats. Such bats tend to inhabit mines and caves. You don’t have to touch bats directly to get infected. The virus can spread via infected bat feces or aerosols. So if you interact with Rousettus aegyptiacus E.g. eating dinner or playing craps, make sure you have proper protection such as a mask and gloves.

The Marburg virus is not the same as the coronavirus Covid-19 and not nearly as contagious. It is also not the same as the monkeypox virus. Comparing these three viruses would be like comparing a broom, a hot dog, and a cactus plant. That hasn’t stopped some people (or bots) on social media from lumping them together. even with other problems like inflation, and surprise, surprise, spreading misinformation about the virus. Relying on social media for health information can be like relying on bathroom stall graffiti for all your important life decisions. While it will be important for authorities to conduct contact tracing, quarantine people who may have been in close contact with infected people, isolate all those infected and try to contain the Marburg virus outbreak as quickly as possible, there is Don’t panic and start hoarding toilet paper now.