Photos: Ebola chances minimal but hospitals in UAE on alert

No official alert or infection control protocol has been issued in the UAE until now; however guidelines are in place in healthcare facilities and medical personnel are on high alert. Hospitals are prepared despite the minimal chance of Ebola entering the country.




"The chances of Ebola getting here is remote but as a medical person we are ready," said Dr. Subbian Krishnamurthy, a pathologist and chairman of infection control committee at LLH Hospital.

According to him, there were no official alert or any specific Ebola infection control protocol till this time, but the guidelines on virus disease outbreak in healthcare facilities here are in place.
"We are taking general care. Any patient with symptoms coming with this kind of disease, we will isolate and those giving personal care has to protect themselves.... But the chance of it being transmitted here is less, unless the patient comes from the infected country to the UAE," he pointed out.
"(As of now), there is no specific direction on what specimen to take or which facility to go for testing. Testing (for Ebola) is not available on a routine basis," he added.

According to him, symptoms to watch out for include fever and body pain. With the Ebola virus infection, the patient will deteriorate quickly with the bleeding of the mucosa and skin followed by multi-organ failure, which will eventually lead to death.
"The only advantage of this disease is that it doesn't spread through air like H1N1. It spreads through bodily secretions of infected persons."
"All of our hospitals have infection control protocols and these protocols are infection-specific. Whenever new infections emerge, institutions will follow the guidelines and recommendations set forth by health regulatory bodies," said Dr Asha Suresh Prakash, internal medicine specialist at NMC Specialty Hospital.
Despite the low risk of air travellers contracting the deadly disease, both the Dubai and Abu Dhabi airports confirmed that protocols are in placed to protect the UAE borders.