First sign/stage of symptoms:
- Fever fatigue (greater than 38.6 or 101.5 degree Celsius)
- Severe headache
- Sore throat
- Muscle pain
Follow by second stage:
- Weakness
- Diarrhea
- Rash
- Vomiting
- Abdominal pain
- Symptoms of impaired kidney and liver function
- Unexplained hemorrhage (bruising or bleeding)
- Bleeding includes internal/external (for ex: oozing from the gums, blood in stool, vagina, gastrointestinal tract, nose, eye, etc)
- Cough up/vomit blood
- Red eyes
Symptoms may appear anywhere from 2 to 21 days after exposure to Ebola, but the average is 8 to 10 days. First stage of symptoms are usually similar to malaria, topic fevers, and dengue fever. But eventually proceed to the bleeding phase which is in cases about 40-50%. Heavy bleeding is rare but can be dangerous because heavy loss of blood may lead to death.
Reference:
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/symptoms/index.html
I'm interested to learn why the first stage of symptoms are similar to malaria, topic fevers, and dengue fever. I wonder if it has to do perhaps with the structure of the bacteria/virus, or maybe they have something else in common like perhaps the region of the world where they are more common. With an outbreak currently going on and infected travelers being brought back to their respective countries, its of the utmost importance that people recognize the symptoms to prevent a spread anywhere else! I like the diagram, really lays it out better.
ReplyDeleteI found this week’s blog very clear and concise. Someone can know exactly what the signs and symptoms are without having to sift through information. I think this is important especially during public health initiatives to really present the etiology and characteristics of a disease quickly and efficiently. What’s frightening is most of these symptoms are very universal to various other illnesses. That being said it’s hard to recognize if you have it until it has compromised ones system and spread a great deal.
ReplyDeleteThe ebola virus sounds terrible! These signs and symptoms sound horrific. The diagram you chose to include about the symptoms of the virus is very helpful in understanding where Ebola affects the human body directly. It seems that Ebola is very invasive in the human system, affecting almost anything in its path. I'm curious to know at what stage the virus becomes lethal with no possible way to treat the damage that has been done.
ReplyDelete