Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever
A virus which takes over parts of the immune system
What is it?
Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever (Or Ebola) is a deadly virus that affects the immune system. About 40% of the known cases resulted in death. The virus enters the body from an infected persons' bodily fluids, and will take over the hosts' immune system.
Where is it located?
The first human case of Ebola discovered was in Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo) in 1976. The virus has been around longer than that in animals though. Scientists believe the virus originated in the fruit bat which is immune to the virus. Today, the virus is basically located in Central and Western Africa with an exception of the few people who brought the virus to different countries. These few people who brought the virus to different countries can't spread the virus too much because they are in isolation.
This is basically where the virus is in the 2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak. In the past there has been many outbreaks in central Africa but the biggest outbreak is the one going on right now in West Africa.
How is it transmitted?
Ebola is transmitted through an infected persons' bodily fluids, animals' bodily fluids or from contaminated objects. The virus can be in an infected persons' blood, saliva, sweat, semen, urine, breast milk, or vomit. The virus can enter the body through the nose, the eyes, the mouth, open wounds or cuts. The virus can also stay on contaminated objects for days.
What system of the body does Ebola affect?
The system of the body Ebola affects is the immune system. The immune system is responsible to fight off invaders or the body. When Ebola is in the body, it sends off a large amount of secreted glycoprotein (sGP) which is fake glycoprotein. Glycoprotein (GP) is the main thing the immune system fights off before anything else so while the immune system is busy fighting of the sGP, Ebola is taking over parts of the immune system. The only way people survive is if the immune system quickly realizes that the sGP isn't GP and fights off Ebola before it takes over too much of the immune system.
The Ebola Virus Explained — How Your Body Fights For Survival
What are the symptoms?
The early symptoms of Ebola are headaches, fever, joints aches, muscle aches, weakness, tiredness, chills, and a sore throat. As the virus gets worse the symptoms are diarrhea, skin rashes, chest or stomach pains, trouble swallowing or breathing, feeling sick, throwing up or in some cases internal or external breathing. If the virus takes over too much of the immune system organ failure or dehydration will occur resulting in death.
Diagnosis
It is very hard to diagnose Ebola because the early symptoms are very similar to those of less serious virus' like malaria. The most common ways doctors diagnose Ebola is through blood testing. They can only test blood 3 days after symptoms first appear to be sure if someone has Ebola.
Who does Ebola affect?
Ebola isn't targeted towards one race, gender or age. It can target any human that is associated with someone who has it or somewhere where there is an outbreak.
Treatment
There is no FDA-approved cure or treatment for Ebola but there are a few ways to increase chances of survival. To increase chances of survival hydration is very important. When you're hydrated it helps the immune system fight off the virus better. If a host has an infection they must treat it to help chances of survival. The hosts should also maintain oxygen levels and balance electrolytes (body salts).
Prognosis
When someone has Ebola they will either die 6-16 days after symptoms begin to show or they will recover and their life expectancy would be the same as it would have been if they didn't have Ebola. Some of them do not make a full recovery though. Some people who recovered from Ebola will have lifelong joint or vision problems.
Why I chose Ebola for my health project
I chose Ebola for my health project because I heard of the recent 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. I heard that Ebola is a deadly disease that spreads quickly and I wanted to learn more about how it kills, how it gets in your body and why it's so deadly.