Ebola survivors commend Chinese medical team

Want China Times, Xinhua 2015-03-01

China's medical team at a treatment center in Freetown, Sierra Leone,
Feb. 21. (Photo/Xinhua)

"But for the treatment I received from the Chinese, I should not be alive today," said Memunatu Fofanah when recalling the experience at a Chinese treatment center in Sierra Leone after testing positive for Ebola.

Fofanah, a community health nurse in Sierra Leone's capital Freetown, was one of the Ebola survivors thanks to China's aid in consonance with the government and other development partners.

Fofanah said she contracted the Ebola virus through her father, who was very ill when he was brought from the northern part of the country. As a nurse she decided to receive some medical care and was later taken to her health clinic at Upper Allen about 30 km from the city where her father passed away.

A few days later she started feeling sick and developed a high fever, then decided to consult medical attention but was advised to call 117, the Ebola Emergency Response Center.

"I listened to the advice and promptly the command center dispatched an ambulance that conveyed me to the Chinese treatment center at Jui on the outskirts of the city, where I was diagnosed with the Ebola virus," said Fofanah.

"My first week in the hospital was not easy. I lost hope because I had lost considerable weight, was vomiting and could hardly walk. The Chinese started to give me intravenous fluids as well as treatment for the high fever, coupled with words of consolation that I would not die, that 'I would survive," she said.

Fofanah recalled that within two weeks "I must say that I owe my survival to the care and treatment I got at the center, for which I am very grateful."

Like Memunatu Fofanah, all the survivors that spoke to Xinhua had similar stories of harrowing experiences with the dreaded disease and the support from the Chinese treatment center.

Maseray Kamara, Another Ebola survivor who lost her five-month-old child, said it was through this confused state of mind that she probably might have contracted the disease.

Like her compatriots, Kamara got her healing through support and treatment from the Chinese medical team. She explained that she manifested the symptoms a week afterher child's death and was rushed to the Jui treatment center where she was handled with care, noting that they were visited at least two times a day by the Chinese doctors and nurses to administer medicines and psychosocial support.

According to the figures available from the Chinese embassy, the center has treated about 671 patients, among which there are 151 Ebola-positive.

Since the Ebola outbreak, about 8,000 Sierra Leoneans have been infected, of which some 2,000 have survived whilst some 2,859 have succumbed to the dreaded disease, including hundreds of medical personnel.

When the president of the west African state of Sierra Leone reported the first case of the Ebola virus about nine months ago, China was one of the first countries to respond to the call of the west African state by dispatching a plane load of medical supplies including personal protective equipment, medical personnel as well as drugs.

The equipment was also supplemented with two mobile laboratories. The Sierra Leone-Chinese Friendship hospital was immediately transformed into a holding center and later to a treatment center, especially when the disease became endemic.

Duan Xuezhang, a Chinese expert at the treatment center, explained that though Ebola has no known cure, early diagnosis at the treatment center will increase the chances of a patient's survival.

According to him the main problem is "dehydration and infection." Duan noted that when a person is very weak "he or she is susceptible to infection." In this case "the main therapy is fluid resuscitation with supportive treatment."

The Chinese medical team comprises 41 staff members, including 8 doctors, 16 nurses and other supporting staff. They visit the patients two times a day to administer drugs as well as give them psychological and social support for their hope and confidence.

As the country is now recording single digit figures, he advised that "we should not be complacent and ensure all suspected cases are isolated to prevent further spread and ensure that those with the virus are taken to the treatment centers as soon as possible".

He maintained that "the Chinese will be here until Ebola is kicked out of Sierra Leone."