Journal of Infectious Diseases & Therapy
Open Access

Abstract

Introduction & Aim: Ebola disease (EVD) is a fetal viral infectious disease with case fatality as high as 90%. Early discriminating patients on admission into high risk or low risk are of extremely important, thus the patients can be delivered to corresponding isolation areas to avoid Ebola viral cross transmission. However, diagnostic lab results of patients are difficultly obtained at first, especially during the early period of outbreak. A questionnaire triaging model was designed and then applied in a holding center in Sierra Leone successfully during the outbreak 2014. Methodology: Medical histories of the patients were collected on admission according to case investigation form made by �WHO�, including 21 symptoms. The patients were diagnosed to have or not to have EVD 2 to 3 days after admission based on results of RTPCR. Symptoms between the EVD and non-EVD patients were analyzed and compared. A criterion of screening the patients was made based on the results of date analysis. Results: The total symptoms of EVD patients were significantly higher than those of non-EVD patients (9 vs. 5.5; p<0.001). Cutoff value was 6, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 70.4, 76.1, 87.4 and 52.2 % respectively. We assigned suspected patients to high risk area if the amount of their symptoms were equal or greater than 6; or to low risk area if less than 6. Patients were separated by space in both quarantine areas according to the Sierra Leone Emergency Management Program Standard Operating Procedures for Managing Ebola Virus Disease in Holding Centers. By the end of our work in Sierra Leone, there was no patient of cross transmission reported under this triaging model. Conclusions: Questionnaire triaging model is efficient in screening suspected EVD patients in highly epidemic regions, which could be reference in patient management for other fetal infectious diseases. Even though clinical manifestations of EVD patients are generally non-specific, the amount of all symptoms could be of more diagnostic value.

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