Analyses of the performance of the Ebola virus disease alert management system in South Sudan: August 2018 to November 2019.
South Sudan implemented Ebola virus disease preparedness interventions aiming at preventing and rapidly containing any importation of the virus from the Democratic Republic of Congo starting from August 2018. One of these interventions was a surveillance system which included an Ebola alert manageme...
Published in: | PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2020
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008872 https://doaj.org/article/6bce75ee655441bcbb367483e3fdc364 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:6bce75ee655441bcbb367483e3fdc364 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:6bce75ee655441bcbb367483e3fdc364 2023-05-15T15:14:06+02:00 Analyses of the performance of the Ebola virus disease alert management system in South Sudan: August 2018 to November 2019. Olushayo Oluseun Olu Richard Lako Sudhir Bunga Kibebu Berta Matthew Kol Patrick Otim Ramadan Caroline Ryan Ifeanyi Udenweze Argata Guracha Guyo Ishata Conteh Qudsia Huda Malick Gai Dina Saulo Heather Papowitz Henry John Gray Alex Chimbaru Kencho Wangdi Steven M Grube Beth Tippett Barr Joseph Francis Wamala 2020-11-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008872 https://doaj.org/article/6bce75ee655441bcbb367483e3fdc364 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008872 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0008872 https://doaj.org/article/6bce75ee655441bcbb367483e3fdc364 PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 14, Iss 11, p e0008872 (2020) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008872 2022-12-31T11:50:15Z South Sudan implemented Ebola virus disease preparedness interventions aiming at preventing and rapidly containing any importation of the virus from the Democratic Republic of Congo starting from August 2018. One of these interventions was a surveillance system which included an Ebola alert management system. This study analyzed the performance of this system. A descriptive cross-sectional study of the Ebola virus disease alerts which were reported in South Sudan from August 2018 to November 2019 was conducted using both quantitative and qualitative methods. As of 30 November 2019, a total of 107 alerts had been detected in the country out of which 51 (47.7%) met the case definition and were investigated with blood samples collected for laboratory confirmation. Most (81%) of the investigated alerts were South Sudanese nationals. The alerts were identified by health workers (53.1%) at health facilities, at the community (20.4%) and by screeners at the points of entry (12.2%). Most of the investigated alerts were detected from the high-risk states of Gbudwe (46.9%), Jubek (16.3%) and Torit (10.2%). The investigated alerts commonly presented with fever, bleeding, headache and vomiting. The median timeliness for deployment of Rapid Response Team was less than one day and significantly different between the 6-month time periods (K-W = 7.7567; df = 2; p = 0.0024) from 2018 to 2019. Strengths of the alert management system included existence of a dedicated national alert hotline, case definition for alerts and rapid response teams while the weaknesses were occasional inability to access the alert toll-free hotline and lack of transport for deployment of the rapid response teams which often constrain quick response. This study demonstrates that the Ebola virus disease alert management system in South Sudan was fully functional despite the associated challenges and provides evidence to further improve Ebola preparedness in the country. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 14 11 e0008872 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
spellingShingle |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Olushayo Oluseun Olu Richard Lako Sudhir Bunga Kibebu Berta Matthew Kol Patrick Otim Ramadan Caroline Ryan Ifeanyi Udenweze Argata Guracha Guyo Ishata Conteh Qudsia Huda Malick Gai Dina Saulo Heather Papowitz Henry John Gray Alex Chimbaru Kencho Wangdi Steven M Grube Beth Tippett Barr Joseph Francis Wamala Analyses of the performance of the Ebola virus disease alert management system in South Sudan: August 2018 to November 2019. |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
South Sudan implemented Ebola virus disease preparedness interventions aiming at preventing and rapidly containing any importation of the virus from the Democratic Republic of Congo starting from August 2018. One of these interventions was a surveillance system which included an Ebola alert management system. This study analyzed the performance of this system. A descriptive cross-sectional study of the Ebola virus disease alerts which were reported in South Sudan from August 2018 to November 2019 was conducted using both quantitative and qualitative methods. As of 30 November 2019, a total of 107 alerts had been detected in the country out of which 51 (47.7%) met the case definition and were investigated with blood samples collected for laboratory confirmation. Most (81%) of the investigated alerts were South Sudanese nationals. The alerts were identified by health workers (53.1%) at health facilities, at the community (20.4%) and by screeners at the points of entry (12.2%). Most of the investigated alerts were detected from the high-risk states of Gbudwe (46.9%), Jubek (16.3%) and Torit (10.2%). The investigated alerts commonly presented with fever, bleeding, headache and vomiting. The median timeliness for deployment of Rapid Response Team was less than one day and significantly different between the 6-month time periods (K-W = 7.7567; df = 2; p = 0.0024) from 2018 to 2019. Strengths of the alert management system included existence of a dedicated national alert hotline, case definition for alerts and rapid response teams while the weaknesses were occasional inability to access the alert toll-free hotline and lack of transport for deployment of the rapid response teams which often constrain quick response. This study demonstrates that the Ebola virus disease alert management system in South Sudan was fully functional despite the associated challenges and provides evidence to further improve Ebola preparedness in the country. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Olushayo Oluseun Olu Richard Lako Sudhir Bunga Kibebu Berta Matthew Kol Patrick Otim Ramadan Caroline Ryan Ifeanyi Udenweze Argata Guracha Guyo Ishata Conteh Qudsia Huda Malick Gai Dina Saulo Heather Papowitz Henry John Gray Alex Chimbaru Kencho Wangdi Steven M Grube Beth Tippett Barr Joseph Francis Wamala |
author_facet |
Olushayo Oluseun Olu Richard Lako Sudhir Bunga Kibebu Berta Matthew Kol Patrick Otim Ramadan Caroline Ryan Ifeanyi Udenweze Argata Guracha Guyo Ishata Conteh Qudsia Huda Malick Gai Dina Saulo Heather Papowitz Henry John Gray Alex Chimbaru Kencho Wangdi Steven M Grube Beth Tippett Barr Joseph Francis Wamala |
author_sort |
Olushayo Oluseun Olu |
title |
Analyses of the performance of the Ebola virus disease alert management system in South Sudan: August 2018 to November 2019. |
title_short |
Analyses of the performance of the Ebola virus disease alert management system in South Sudan: August 2018 to November 2019. |
title_full |
Analyses of the performance of the Ebola virus disease alert management system in South Sudan: August 2018 to November 2019. |
title_fullStr |
Analyses of the performance of the Ebola virus disease alert management system in South Sudan: August 2018 to November 2019. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Analyses of the performance of the Ebola virus disease alert management system in South Sudan: August 2018 to November 2019. |
title_sort |
analyses of the performance of the ebola virus disease alert management system in south sudan: august 2018 to november 2019. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008872 https://doaj.org/article/6bce75ee655441bcbb367483e3fdc364 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 14, Iss 11, p e0008872 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008872 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0008872 https://doaj.org/article/6bce75ee655441bcbb367483e3fdc364 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008872 |
container_title |
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
11 |
container_start_page |
e0008872 |
_version_ |
1766344594246598656 |