Emmanuel Angmorteh Mensah1,2, Annet Kisakye2, Samuel Ofori Gyasi2,3. 1. Disease Control Unit, Kwatire Polyclinic, Sunyani West Municipal, Bono Region, Ghana. 2. Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals, World Health Organization Country Office, Kampala, Uganda. 3. Health Information Department, Western Regional Health Directorate, Takoradi, Ghana.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: the August 2018 ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo turns out to be second largest outbreak of ebola in public health history. The response to the outbreak which would have halted wider spread to neighboring countries failed. Hence, high risk districts in Uganda initiated preparedness activities in the wake of a possible inflow of cases. This study was therefore designed to identify, describe and assess surveillance activities and preparedness in the Kasese, Ntoroko and Bundibugyo districts of Uganda. METHODS: the study employed the mixed method approach. The qualitative arm involved the use of participant observation to describe surveillance activities that were carried out as part of the ebola preparedness surveillance in the high-risk districts. The quantitative arm included assessment of 102 health facilities on ebola virus disease preparedness with a WHO standard checklist hosted on the Open Data Kit software. Descriptive statistics were performed using STATA (version 14). RESULTS: the study showed that high risk districts employed numerous interlocking public health emergency activities which included readiness assessment, risk mapping and temperature-based screening for ebola at points of entry. Most health workers (91.18%) could correctly state the case definition of ebola although only 56.86% of them were trained on ebola surveillance. CONCLUSION: health worker knowledge on ebola virus disease case definition was high but training and logistics were inadequate. Continuous efforts are required to sustain health workers knowledge on ebola surveillance through trainings and supportive supervision whiles addressing gaps in the operation of ebola screening posts. Copyright: Emmanuel Angmorteh Mensah et al.
INTRODUCTION: the August 2018 ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo turns out to be second largest outbreak of ebola in public health history. The response to the outbreak which would have halted wider spread to neighboring countries failed. Hence, high risk districts in Uganda initiated preparedness activities in the wake of a possible inflow of cases. This study was therefore designed to identify, describe and assess surveillance activities and preparedness in the Kasese, Ntoroko and Bundibugyo districts of Uganda. METHODS: the study employed the mixed method approach. The qualitative arm involved the use of participant observation to describe surveillance activities that were carried out as part of the ebola preparedness surveillance in the high-risk districts. The quantitative arm included assessment of 102 health facilities on ebola virus disease preparedness with a WHO standard checklist hosted on the Open Data Kit software. Descriptive statistics were performed using STATA (version 14). RESULTS: the study showed that high risk districts employed numerous interlocking public health emergency activities which included readiness assessment, risk mapping and temperature-based screening for ebola at points of entry. Most health workers (91.18%) could correctly state the case definition of ebola although only 56.86% of them were trained on ebola surveillance. CONCLUSION: health worker knowledge on ebola virus disease case definition was high but training and logistics were inadequate. Continuous efforts are required to sustain health workers knowledge on ebola surveillance through trainings and supportive supervision whiles addressing gaps in the operation of ebola screening posts. Copyright: Emmanuel Angmorteh Mensah et al.
Authors: Elhadj Ibrahima Bah; Marie-Claire Lamah; Tom Fletcher; Shevin T Jacob; David M Brett-Major; Amadou Alpha Sall; Nahoko Shindo; William A Fischer; Francois Lamontagne; Sow Mamadou Saliou; Daniel G Bausch; Barry Moumié; Tim Jagatic; Armand Sprecher; James V Lawler; Thierry Mayet; Frederique A Jacquerioz; María F Méndez Baggi; Constanza Vallenas; Christophe Clement; Simon Mardel; Ousmane Faye; Oumar Faye; Baré Soropogui; Nfaly Magassouba; Lamine Koivogui; Ruxandra Pinto; Robert A Fowler Journal: N Engl J Med Date: 2014-11-05 Impact factor: 91.245
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