Ebola survivors may face increased risk of death after hospitalization

A new study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal concluded that Ebola patients might face an increased risk of death for an entire year after being released from the hospital.

Conducted on 1,130 members of the Guinean populace that survived the 2013-2016 West African Ebola outbreak, the study tracked mortality rates as much as five times higher than among the general population, for that year post-discharge. In all, 59 people died over the follow-up period, 37 of them due to renal failure. Vulnerability remains high, and the longer and harder these patients are hit by the disease, the worse this becomes.

“Our results could help to guide current and future survivors’ programmes and the prioritisation of funds in resource-constrained settings,” Judith Glynn, professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said. “For example, those hospitalised with Ebola for longer may be at greater risk, and could be specifically targeted.”

Dr. Ibrahima Socé Fall, study author and Assistant Director-General for Emergency Response at the World Health Organization, agreed with the assessment, noting the study highlights a need to strengthen Ebola survivor programs.

In all, survivors of Ebola discharged from treatment units were found to have an overall mortality of 5.2 percent, though those figures reached 7 percent in those hospitalized at least 12 days and decreased to 3 percent for those hospitalized fewer than 12 days. Whether the higher counts for those with longer stays are just a matter of the effects of prolonged, acute forms of the disease have yet to be determined. The authors also propose that better access to health care in urban areas could help, given that mortality rates were lower in those living in the capital than those in other regions.

The prevalence of renal failure in these deaths, and that they occurred over time, has led the authors to conclude that most deaths were linked to longer-term effects of Ebola. There was, however, a lack of documentation or autopsies for them to determine other causes of death, so they have called for more research to determine whether renal failure is a common long-term effect of Ebola.