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WASH activities at two Ebola treatment units in Sierra Leone
- Source :
- PLoS ONE, PLoS ONE, Vol 13, Iss 5, p e0198235 (2018)
- Publication Year :
- 2018
- Publisher :
- Public Library of Science, 2018.
-
Abstract
- Purpose The 2014 outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in West Africa was the largest in history. Starting in September 2014, International Medical Corps (IMC) operated five Ebola treatment units (ETUs) in Sierra Leone and Liberia. This paper explores how future infectious disease outbreak facilities in resource-limited settings can be planned, organized, and managed by analyzing data collected on water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) and infection prevention control (IPC) protocols. Design/Methodology/Approach We conducted a retrospective cohort study by analyzing WASH/IPC activity data routinely recorded on paper forms or white boards at ETUs during the outbreak and later merged into a database from two IMC-run ETUs in Sierra Leone between December 2014 and December 2015. Findings The IMC WASH/IPC database contains data from over 369 days. Our results highlight parameters key to designing and maintaining an ETU. High concentration chlorine solution usage was highly correlated with both daily patient occupancy and high-risk zone staff entries; low concentration chlorine usage was less well explained by these measures. There is high demand for laundering and disinfecting of personal protective equipment (PPE) on a daily basis and approximately 1 (0–4) piece of PPE is damaged each day. Research limitations/Implications Lack of standardization in the type and format of data collected at ETUs made constructing the WASH/IPC database difficult. However, the data presented here may help inform humanitarian response operations in future epidemics.
- Subjects :
- RNA viruses
Viral Diseases
Sanitation
Databases, Factual
Epidemiology
lcsh:Medicine
medicine.disease_cause
Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Geographical locations
0302 clinical medicine
Mathematical and Statistical Techniques
Hygiene
Medicine and Health Sciences
Infection control
Public and Occupational Health
030212 general & internal medicine
lcsh:Science
media_common
Data Management
Multidisciplinary
Ebolavirus
Chemistry
Geography
Infectious Diseases
Medical Microbiology
Filoviruses
Viral Pathogens
Physical Sciences
Viruses
Regression Analysis
Medical emergency
Chlorine
Pathogens
Ebola Virus
Environmental Health
Statistics (Mathematics)
Research Article
Chemical Elements
Neglected Tropical Diseases
Computer and Information Sciences
media_common.quotation_subject
030231 tropical medicine
Linear Regression Analysis
Research and Analysis Methods
Microbiology
Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever
Sierra leone
Sierra Leone
03 medical and health sciences
medicine
Humans
Statistical Methods
Personal protective equipment
Microbial Pathogens
Retrospective Studies
Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers
Ebola virus
Biology and life sciences
Hemorrhagic Fever Viruses
lcsh:R
Organisms
Outbreak
Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola
medicine.disease
Tropical Diseases
Health Care
Africa
lcsh:Q
People and places
Mathematics
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Volume :
- 13
- Issue :
- 5
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- PLoS ONE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....932856a03fd597c155a3a15d2d50a756