The medical community that has been the first line of defence in the fight against the Marburg virus in Rwanda is paying the price for taking the bullet for the public against the deadly disease.
Rwanda announced the outbreak of the viral disease last week. By Wednesday, some 11 people had died from the disease, almost doubling the death toll in one week.
And a number of doctors and nurses at King Faisal hospital and the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (CHUK), the largest medical facilities in Rwanda, have already succumbed to the disease.
The government and hospitals in general said they were implementing safety measures, such as testing everyone who goes to hospital for signs of the virus, including high body temperatures, and then subjecting those with symptoms to further screening.
In fact, Rwanda already banned visitors from hospitals as soon as the outbreak began, the first step in limiting the spread of the virus.
However, it has become more difficult to protect health care workers as they are the ones that interface with Marburg patients, leading to more reports of doctors showing symptoms of the disease, with some eventually dying.
The death toll rose as seven new cases were also reported, bringing the total number to 37, 27 of whom remain in isolation and under treatment, according to the Ministry of Health. Most of them are doctors and nurses at various hospitals.
Dr Uzamukunda Claudine
The Ministry of Health said more than 80 percent of those infected are health workers. One of the first doctors to succumb to the virus was Dr Uzamukunda Claudine, a consultant anaesthesiologist who worked at CHUK and King Faisal.
In a tribute to her, CHUK described her as a highly dedicated doctor and said her death was a great loss to the country, her family and the hospital.
Uwase Sonia, who knew Dr Uzamukunda, described her as “a person with the most humility, kindness and an intelligent doctor”.
She was laid to rest on the September 28 at the Rusororo public cemetery, leaving behind children and a husband.
The deaths of doctors and nurses has left many healthcare providers and their families fearing for the worst, despite measures in place to minimise Marburg infections among them.
University Teaching Hospital of Kigali. Health care workers in Rwanda are on the frontline of the fight against Marburg.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Protective gear
“It is a difficult time, you can’t downplay the worrying situation that many healthcare service providers are working in, but there is nothing else to do, we have to wake up and go try save lives even when ours are in danger, that’s what we signed up for” said Dr Igiramaboko Jean Regis.
He said the government and hospitals were doing their best to ensure that doctors and nurses wore medically approved protective gear and gloves to limit infections.
“All we can do is wear available protective equipment, and doctors are doing what they can to protect themselves.”
The Minister of State for Health, Dr Yvan Butera, said they were currently “monitoring 410 contacts and aiming to break transmission chains”.
He added that “five patients have now tested negative, pending further clinical and lab work” and that the ministry was also “about to start vaccine and therapeutic clinical trials to protect high-risk groups”.
The seven cases are the highest number of cases reported in 24 hours, and were discovered mainly among health workers in various hospitals across the country, particularly those working in intensive care units.
The Ministry of Education announced that it had temporarily suspended monthly visits to students in boarding schools as part of measures to prevent the spread of the deadly Marburg virus to the educational institutions.
Dr Sabin Nsanzimana, the Minister for Health, said the measures put in place to control the spread of the Marburg virus, including contact tracing, were paying off, explaining the increase in the number of identified cases.
“The numbers may even increase due to the fact that these people can still be traced. We are now at a point where we’re zeroing in on all contacts, which is easy, since we know that it started in health facilities as we explained.
“We are confident that in the coming days we will have contained it, and then we will overcome it,” Dr Nsanzimana said.
“It’s something that will require everyone’s cooperation and all institutions working together,” he added.
The fact that the Marburg virus is mainly concentrated among health care workers has meant that many people suffering from various illnesses are reluctant to go to hospitals for fear of contracting the virus, which also poses a threat to the health of the population.
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