BENGALURU: The health and family welfare department has directed all private medical establishments, medical colleges, hospitals and other healthcare institutions to maintain a high degree of suspicion for symptoms of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).
They should ensure strict compliance with disease surveillance and reporting requirements as prescribed by the department.
All healthcare facilities should mandatorily report suspected or probable Ebola cases through the Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP). They should use the credentials provided by the district surveillance unit. Those without credentials should contact the district health officer or district surveillance officer concerned to obtain access to the IHIP portal, the circular stated.
Healthcare facilities should ensure vigilant screening of patients presenting compatible clinical symptoms and relevant travel history. Along with immediate reporting of all suspected and probable Ebola cases through the IHIP, they are to report the same to the district surveillance officer without any delay.
They should maintain detailed records of patients and contacts, and facilitate epidemiological investigation by the district surveillance unit. They are also to strictly abide by Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) measures, including isolation of suspected cases and use of appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), as per the circular.
The circular defines suspected cases as any person ill or deceased who has or had fever with acute clinical symptoms and signs of haemorrhage including bleeding of the gums, nosebleeds, conjunctival injection, red spots on the body, bloody stools and/or black liquid stools or vomiting blood, possessing a history of travel to the affected area in the last 21 days, regardless of documented prior contact with an Ebola disease case.
A probable case, with or without bleeding, is any suspected case who has had contact with a confirmed case of Ebola disease in the last 21 days. A confirmed case is any suspected or probable case with laboratory confirmation. Contact is defined as a person without any symptoms who has had physical contact (sharing the same room/bed, caring for the patient, has touched bodily fluids or participated closely in the burial process, with physical contact with the corpse) with a case within the last three weeks.