{"id":3934,"date":"2015-05-08T15:21:01","date_gmt":"2015-05-08T14:21:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=3934"},"modified":"2015-05-08T15:58:21","modified_gmt":"2015-05-08T14:58:21","slug":"fighting-ebola-with-microscopes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=3934","title":{"rendered":"Fighting Ebola with microscopes"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Ebola \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a disease that devastated West Africa last summer \u00e2\u20ac\u201c is now a household name, as its viral tentacles spread rapidly from Guinea and then onwards to Sierra Leone and Liberia, leaving thousands upon thousands dead, with both the domestic and international community scrambling to respond.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe World Health Organisation (WHO) called it \u00e2\u20ac\u015bthe most severe acute public health emergency seen in modern times,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 adding that \u00e2\u20ac\u015bnever before in recorded history has a biosafety level four pathogen infected so many people so quickly, over such a broad geographical area, for so long.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nLess than a year later, however, the disease, which has killed by a conservative estimate more than 10,000 people, is now contained, the end of the epidemic itself in sight.<\/p>\n

 
\nThis drastic turnaround \u00e2\u20ac\u201c from a humanitarian crisis of potentially global consequences \u00e2\u20ac\u201c to the much more controlled disease that it is now is thanks, in part, to a mass mobilisation of health workers, both domestic and international.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Volunteers<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

 
\nFour Unite members, biomedical scientists from Brighton and Sussex Hospitals University Trust, played their part as volunteers in labs in Sierra Leone, where they worked tirelessly under strenuous conditions to test potentially infected patients for the disease.<\/p>\n

 
\nAdrian Atterbury explains that there was an NHS call-out for volunteers, as labs over Christmas time last year were desperately understaffed.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not often that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a world crisis and someone shouts for a laboratory scientist,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Atterbury said.<\/p>\n

 
\nEmily Clement agreed. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt was a chance to help, to make a difference,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd also we were given so much support \u00e2\u20ac\u201c our travel was paid, our salary was paid. There really wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t any reason not to do it.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nFor five weeks, they were sent to work at Ebola treatment centres which were set up to support the existing health system in the country. Atterbury explains that laboratory scientists were needed especially because of the nature of the disease.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bEbola symptoms, at least at the outset, are so vague, so general. Until it really gets going, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s difficult to differentiate from something like malaria,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bSo a quick turnaround on confirming whether someone has the disease or not is enormously helpful.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

\"ebola_emily<\/a>

Unite member and biomedical scientist Emily Clement<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tough conditions<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 
\nWhen the crew of scientists arrived, they faced tough conditions, including working in heavy protective equipment at all times in searing, 30-plus degree heat.<\/p>\n

 
\nThomas Somassa, who is originally from Sierra Leone, contends that even for him, the heat was difficult to adjust to.
\nBut both he and his colleagues said that the training they received before they departed prepared them for almost every scenario imaginable.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe replica lab where we received our training replicated a series of disasters that we had to respond to, so we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d know how to react when we were doing the real thing,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Somassa explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhen you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re working in a mobile lab like we were, you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have the facilities we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re used to in our usual workplace, so that level of intensive training was absolutely essential.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nThomas Harman wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t prepared, however, for becoming ill himself. He came down with a fever, an early symptom of potential Ebola.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey took me away in an ambulance and brought me to an isolation room,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI was held there for 24 hours until the fever went away.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nHarman said that in the end, he was only tested for malaria and not Ebola. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI really didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think I had it but at the same time it was definitely worrying.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nSomassa recalls being invited to a ceremony held by families affected by Ebola. They had just discharged four patients, who must test negative for the disease three times before they can leave the treatment centre.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Health workers are often invited to such ceremonies but since Somassa could speak the language, he had the opportunity interact with families and hear their stories.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOne of our patients who had been infected with Ebola was a six-year- old child, and it was incredible because no one thought she would survive,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Somassa. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAt the ceremony, everyone was singing and celebrating. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll never forget that.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nAtterbury noted how rewarding it was to work in an environment which valued lab workers.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe work in the labs was quite high profile over there,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI had people stopping me in the camps saying, \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Oh you work in the lab. Thank you, you guys have really helped turn things around here.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt was a big difference from working in the health service here, where generally if you work in the labs, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re always trying to find some reason to fire us,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Atterbury laughed.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe group attended the Advancing Healthcare Awards<\/a>, of which Unite sponsors one award, on April 17. It was here that they were given a standing ovation by the hundreds of the ceremony attendees.<\/p>\n

 
\nBut when the group spoke to UNITElive, they insisted the part they played in fighting Ebola was a very small one.<\/p>\n

\"ebola<\/a><\/p>\n

Actions<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no cure for Ebola, so the treatment centres were really centralised places for people to go to when they got the disease,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Atterbury explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut what stopped the disease from spreading was the actions of the West African people themselves – they are the ones who deserve the most credit.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey had to change the way they buried their dead. They had to stop touching, stop gathering. There was a curfew in place and schools had closed for 14 months.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nSomassa added that the \u00e2\u20ac\u015bno-touch\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 policy was an especially drastic one, given how close and familial many Sierra Leonean communities are. Harman pointed out that the ambulance drivers had been working for months without pay.\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey were still there, working, just to help people out and not for their own good.”<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe were just passing by for five weeks,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Atterbury added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt was the people themselves who had to live with one of the terrors of the earth. And it was their actions that saved the rest of us.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nReflecting on the experience, Clement explained how it gave her a newfound gratitude for the NHS.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to walk around worrying about infections and epidemics. It really makes you realise how immensely lucky we are to have the health service that we do, one that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s accessible to all of us.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ebola \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a disease that devastated West Africa last summer \u00e2\u20ac\u201c is now a household name, as its viral tentacles spread rapidly from Guinea and then onwards to Sierra Leone and Liberia, leaving thousands upon thousands dead, with both the domestic and international community scrambling to respond.   The World Health Organisation (WHO) called it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4106,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[295,80],"wps_subtitle":"Unite path lab scientists help fight deadly virus ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3934"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3934"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3934\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4114,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3934\/revisions\/4114"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}