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Cuban medical team kitting up for
the fight against Ebola in West Africa
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Reports From The Front
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Cuban doctor Ronald Hernandez, a member of the medical brigade fighting Ebola in Liberia, expressed his optimism about the success of their mission in that western African nation.
In statements to Radio Havana Cuba via telephone, Hernandez recalled that the Cuban brigade marked its first month in Liberia and that the island´s medical personnel is closely following the indications given to minimize any risk to get infected with the virus.
The doctor said that on November 19, the brigade members began to work in a recently inaugurated special care unit with 200 beds. We are working from daybreak to 10 pm in the night in 8-hour shifts made up of one doctor and two nurses.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday that Ebola cases have not continued to increase in an exponential manner in Liberia and Guinea, where along with Sierra Leone the virus has killed over 5 400 people.
"We have noticed that the number of cases is no longer increasing exponentially in Liberia or in Guinea... and in the Guinean capital Konakry, we are seeing a situation tending to stabilization" said Tarik Jasarevic, spokesperson with the World Health Organization.
This progress means that what we did has worked, said the spokesperson referring to the international response against Ebola.
Doctor Making Progress
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Meanwhile Cuban doctor Felix Baez, who got the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone, is making progress as the presence of the virus in his blood has significantly reduced, according to the medical team assisting him at Geneva´s Cantonal Hospital.
"He has improved in a significant way. He has no fever and he has begun eat," said the head of the intensive care unit Jerome Pugin, who is in charge of the medical treatment.
In a recent telephone conversation with Granma newspaper, the director of Havana´s Pedro Kouri Tropical Medicine Institute, Doctor Jorge Perez said from Geneva that the Cuban doctor is receiving very good attention.
The Geneva University Hospital is releasing all information about the progress of the Cuban doctor, who was taken to that medical institution at the proposal of the World Health Organization.
Three doctors and nine nurses are in charge of the Cuban doctor 24 hours a day, along with specialists in different medical disciplines, while security protocols are being implemented to prevent any exposure by the medical personnel.
The head of the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital, Doctor Jerome Pugin recently said that the patient is being administered two experimental pharmaceuticals that have proven favorable in other Ebola patients. One of the drugs is based on anti-bodies and is similar to Z-Mapp, a Canadian treatment against Ebola and the other is a Japanese anti-viral medication.
Given the spread of Ebola in Africa, the World Health Organization approved the administration of experimental treatments to fight the virus.
Two US workers, who got the virus in Liberia, recovered after having received the treatment.
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Article Source ACN
