Stephens Moses Tende, Dossen Peter Chilaque
Master Program of Basic Medical Science, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia.
Department of Health Science, United Methodist University, Monrovia, Liberia.
Belitung Nurs J. 2024 Feb 28;10(1):67-77. doi: 10.33546/bnj.3069. eCollection 2024.
The Ebola virus, a highly infectious and deadly pathogen, has posed a significant public health threat in West Africa for several decades. Liberia is one of the most severely affected countries. Healthcare personnel, including nurses, are on the front lines of patient care, and their perspectives are invaluable in understanding the challenges that arise during outbreaks, especially in implementing prevention measures.
This study aimed to explore the potential risk components and prevention measures of the Ebola virus disease (EVD).
This study used an exploratory descriptive qualitative design. Five stakeholders, ten doctors and five nurses who had suffered from EVD during the outbreak in Liberia participated in semi-structured interviews to provide their experience and comprehensive perspectives on EVD. Data were collected from February 2022-August 2023. NVivo 12 plus was used for inductive thematic analysis.
Six themes and several subthemes emerged: 1) transmission modes (body contact, body fluid, sexual intercourse, traditional burial), 2) funeral attendance (traditional practices and crowded gatherings), 3) community-led prevention (promoting good hygiene practices, increasing awareness, contact tracing, and surveillance), 4) Ebola virus vaccine (false sense of security, potential side effects, and limited data), 5) challenges in implementing prevention measures (inadequate health infrastructures, difficulty of tracing infected people, lack of resources, and cultural-social barriers), 6) Liberia's health systems (a weak, underfunded, fragile health infrastructure, lack of health facilities and shortage of health workers).
Several potential risk components contributing to the EVD outbreak should be a public concern. Strengthening the current healthcare system supported by local community and international aid providers (multidisciplinary teams) is needed to anticipate behavioral problems and to improve the efficacy of the prevention measures appropriate to the conditions in Liberia. Accordingly, the nurses' compliance with the recommended prevention practices is necessary.
埃博拉病毒是一种极具传染性和致命性的病原体，几十年来在西非构成了重大的公共卫生威胁。利比里亚是受影响最严重的国家之一。包括护士在内的医护人员处于患者护理的第一线，他们的观点对于理解疫情期间出现的挑战，尤其是在实施预防措施方面，具有不可估量的价值。
本研究旨在探讨埃博拉病毒病（EVD）的潜在风险因素和预防措施。
本研究采用探索性描述性定性设计。五名利益相关者、十名在利比里亚疫情期间感染过埃博拉病毒病的医生和五名护士参与了半结构化访谈，以提供他们对埃博拉病毒病的经验和全面看法。数据收集时间为2022年2月至2023年8月。使用NVivo 12 plus进行归纳主题分析。
出现了六个主题和几个子主题：1）传播方式（身体接触、体液、性行为、传统葬礼），2）参加葬礼（传统习俗和人群聚集），3）社区主导的预防（促进良好卫生习惯、提高意识、接触者追踪和监测），4）埃博拉病毒疫苗（安全感错觉、潜在副作用和数据有限），5）实施预防措施的挑战（卫生基础设施不足、追踪感染者困难、资源缺乏以及文化社会障碍），6）利比里亚的卫生系统（薄弱、资金不足、脆弱的卫生基础设施、缺乏卫生设施和卫生工作者短缺）。
导致埃博拉病毒病爆发的几个潜在风险因素应引起公众关注。需要加强当前由当地社区和国际援助提供者（多学科团队）支持的医疗系统，以预测行为问题并提高适合利比里亚情况的预防措施的效果。因此，护士遵守推荐的预防措施是必要的。
