Dear colleagues,

 

Below are extracts from a news item on allAfrica

 

The article draws attention to the risks of transmission through contaminated hands and utensils in barber shops and beauty salons. Contaminated sheets, clothing and other items are clearly also a risk factor.

 

I reviewed the WHO guidance on this. Their section: "Ebola: What you need to know" (http://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/en/) says simply:

 

"The risk of Ebola transmission is low. Becoming infected requires direct, physical contact with the bodily fluids (vomit, faeces, urine, blood, semen, etc.) of people who have been infected with or died from Ebola virus disease (EVD)."

 

This statement is accurate, but is it not likely to be misinterpreted to suggest that Ebola transmission occurs only through direct contact with an infected person?

 

I reviewed the rest of the WHO guidance for the public (http://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/what-you-need-to-know/en/) and was unable to find anything there about the danger of transmission through contaminated items. 

 

Contamination is addressed in some of the WHO technical papers, but these are unlikely to be read by members of the general public.  

 

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Ministry of Health website still carries misleading information about  Ebola transmission:

"Ebola VD is usually spread within a health care setting."

"Ebola VD could be spread through ... inhalation of contaminated air in hospital environment"

"Who is at risk?... People that go to hospitals with poor hygiene and sanitation practices".

 

Here is the piece from allAfrica

Monrovia; Liberia Fears of Contracting Virus From Salons & Barber Shops

By Mae Azango

Since the outbreak of the Ebola virus in Liberia about six months ago, many have been taking preventive measures through constant hand washing and avoiding physical contacts, but there are growing fears that there are other modes through which the virus can be transmitted.

 

Barber shops and beauty salons are still operational and people visit these places to shave, braid hair amongst others. Still others do their feet and hands or pedicure and manicure as it is called, without knowing that the Ebola virus has hidden carriers that could come from combs, brushes, blades, razors, scissors and other items which hold blood and fluid and are used in the saloons or barber shops.

 

"There are also lifestyles that need to be stopped; people are getting contaminated by braiding and cutting hair in saloons, but people are still doing it, regardless of all the awareness we have done. So we hope that you are in the media and will help us in getting these messages out," says James Dorbor Jallah, National Task Force Coordinator.

 

Taking a tour around town and visiting beauty salons and barber shops that are usually jammed packed daily, a few women were seen braiding hairs and other customers sitting in the saloons waiting to be attended to.

 

"I am braiding my Aunty hair so that I can get money for my children to eat. Of course I heard that Ebola can be spread through plating hair, and I am scared, but if you do not have anybody to give you money, the hunger alone will kill you and people will say it was Ebola that killed you", says Alice Sackie, a hairdresser on Ashmun Street in Monrovia...

 

"We do not want to carry our children to the hospital when they have small fever, before they tell us it is Ebola. So some of us are over dosing our children, I almost killed my son Emmanuel the other time because he was sick", Alice expresses frustration.

 

Dr. Jacob Payne, from the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare told FPA that barbing shops and beauty salons are potential sources of transmission of the Ebola virus. "It is like HIV/AIDS, which is spread through fluid contact, once you made contact with fluid like blood of an infected person, you can get it..."

 

Let's build a future where people are no longer dying for lack of healthcare knowledge: Join HIFA www.hifa2015.org

 

Neil Pakenham-Walsh

HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is the coordinator of the HIFA campaign (Healthcare Information For All) and co-director of the Global Healthcare Information Network. He is also currently chair of the Dgroups Foundation (www.dgroups.info), a partnership of 18 international development organisations promoting dialogue for international health and development. He started his career as a hospital doctor in the UK, and has clinical experience as an isolated health worker in rural Ecuador and Peru.  For the last 20 years he has been committed to the global challenge of improving the availability and use of relevant, reliable healthcare information for health workers and citizens in low- and middle-income countries. He is also interested in the wider potential of inclusive, interdisciplinary communication platforms to help address global health and international development challenges. He has worked with the World Health Organization, the Wellcome Trust, Medicine Digest and INASP (International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications). He is based near Oxford, UK. www.hifa2015.org  neil.pakenham-walsh AT ghi-net.org