Marburg viral disease (MVD), a lethal ailment with a fatality rate of up to 90%, poses significant challenges to prevention and control, particularly in resource-strapped nations such as Tanzania. This article recounts how Tanzania improved its capacity to prevent and control highly infectious diseases, illuminating the lessons gleaned from the country’s maiden MVD outbreak in 2023.
Historical assessments reflected a deficiency in Tanzania’s Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) capacity. To remedy this, cost-effective initiatives were launched involving the augmentation of IPC readiness through dissemination and development of guidelines, procurement of supplies, renovation or construction of facilities, assessments of healthcare establishments, and supportive mentorship and supervision.
The MVD, detected first in the country in March 2023, is known to spread via contact and features severe symptoms making prevention and patient care challenging. However, an adequately trained workforce managed to conduct rapid IPC needs assessment, highlighting specific gaps that led to the initiation of mentorship programs, development of guidelines and policies, improvement of security measures among others.
A total of 212 contacts were identified by the end of the outbreak, with the addition of merely three deaths. Patient survival was facilitated via previously discouraged invasive procedures such as dialysis and Manual Vacuum Aspiration. This underscores the crucial importance of stringent adherence to IPC practices in controlling highly infectious diseases, suggesting a need for motivating healthcare providers and enhancing working conditions, particularly in low-income countries.
Tanzania’s experience as detailed in this report provides valuable insights into the practical interventions required for preparing and addressing highly infectious disease outbreaks through IPC measures implementation.
Source: https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12879-024-09508-5