Two infectious disease experts, Dr. Eskild Petersen and Dr. Boubacar Maiga, have noted that there is a lack of uniform guidelines for treatment of patients with Ebola virus disease in West Africa, where the epidemic is ongoing. Specific approved treatments have not been established, as in industrialized nations, and there are some indications that in some locations patients may not, in effect, be receiving treatment at all, but merely palliative care. Ebola hospitals may, in fact, be functioning as hospices in some areas.
The experts, writing in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases, suggest that the World Health Organization develop guidelines for diagnosis; intravenous fluid replacement; management of electrolyte imbalance; concomitant malaria; administration of antibiotics on suspicion of septicemia; HIV testing; and creating an effective reporting system for all Ebola virus disease facility.
The editorial is available online at http://www.ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712(14)0719-6/fulltext.
