Suspected Nsawam Ebola Case proves Negative

One of three persons who reported at the Nsawam Government Hospital with symptoms of the dreaded Ebola disease has had his blood screened by the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR).

The result, however, proved negative.

The victims are said to be a 16-year-old girl, a 56-year-old man and a 53-year-old driver, all of whom reported at the hospital with blood in their urine.

The driver, who reported with a fever, however, had blood in his faeces.

Speaking with the Daily Graphic on the suspected cases ahead of the screening, the Medical Superintendent of the Nsawam Government Hospital, Dr Kofi Ablorh, said out of the three patients, only one had been isolated for further tests and observations.

He said the other two did not have a history that supported the likelihood of an Ebola infection which would necessitate their being set apart.

“The other two have been excluded because they have other issues which have got nothing to do with Ebola. The travel history does not support it,” he said.

Dr Ablorh explained that if, for instance, a patient reported with a history of two weeks of excessive coughing, he or she would be screened for tuberculosis, which did not mean the patient had that disease.

He said if the cases had come last year, they would not have been news because there was no Ebola.

According to the medical superintendent, people who report at health facilities with blood in their urine have to be screened because “the index of suspicion is high (which is good) and, therefore, we need to make sure that we don’t get it”.

He said the patient who had been kept in isolation was doing well, adding that the hospital was equipped to deal with any eventuality.

Dr Ablorh, however, said the hospital was waiting for the requisite clothing which would be delivered Monday.

Daily Graphic