Survivors now face difficult health conditions following their fights with Ebola, based on a new study, according to Scientific American. Liberian epidemiologist Mosoka Fallah, PhD, of Monrovia, Liberia-based Kennedy Medical Center, leads the research on Ebola survivors, investigating physical and psychological complications post-infection.
His survivor study includes more than 1,000 Ebola survivors from Liberia. His team will check their health semiannually for five years, as well as monitor people with whom the survivors have close contact. Those people will serve as the study's controls.
Here are four observations:
1. Coined the "post-Ebola syndrome," the infection's lasting complications may affect 17,000 survivors.
2. Dr. Fallah noted 53 percent of patients who suffered an attack of Ebola experienced muscle and joint problems later.
3. The study also found 68 percent of survivors experienced neurological problems, and 60 percent had eye complications, one year following the infection.
4. Avindra Nath, MD, of the National Institutes of Health, works with Dr. Fallah, and questions whether neurological conditions from Ebola are a result of the virus or the immune system's response to the infection.
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