How to Treat Marburg Virus

Of all the diseases running rampant throughout the world, hemorrhagic fevers are the most likely to raise the hairs on the back of your neck. They are hideously painful, frightening and have extremely high mortality rates. Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever appears to have originated in central and eastern Africa, although it has piggybacked its way all over the world.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

1. Go to the hospital immediately if you suspect you've been exposed to this virus and are beginning to exhibit some of the symptoms. There is no vaccine, cure or medicine to take to kill this virus, so it's extremely important to have the necessary palliative care available.
2. Treat symptoms such as confusion and restlessness by calming the patient and administer sedatives and pain-relievers when necessary. Since treatments are aimed at maintaining functions of the organs, facilitating breathing and controlling bleeding and shock, the medical treatment differs from patient to patient, depending on their needs.
3. Control any bleeding, unless it is mild. There are differing opinions on how this must be done, but administration of fresh, frozen plasma, clotting agents and platelets appears to be helpful in treating the Marburg virus. It's also important to supply blood-pressure support and provide mechanical respiration devices when needed.
4. Attempt to give fluids to patient, but be aware of possible pulmonary edema. Dehydration due to vomiting, diarrhea, fever and heat is often present but patients do not respond well to fluid infusions, which easily leads to shock. Dopamine is often used for patients who do not respond to fluid replacement.
5. Be aware of any new developments in regard to Marburg virus vaccines if you work in the healthcare field. There is one experimental vaccine researchers are working on which shows great promise when used on monkeys. Even when administered after exposure to the virus the animals do not become ill. Considering this is a disease with a mortality rate of up to 80 percent, it's an important break-through.