How to Avoid Marburg Disease from Bleeding Eye Virus

How to Avoid Marburg Disease from Bleeding Eye Virus

Overview

Marburg virus disease (MVD) is a rare but dangerous illness that can cause bleeding, organ failure, and even death. The Marburg virus (MARV), a member of the filovirus family that also includes Ebola, is the cause of the illness.

Doctors Offer Advice on How to Avoid Getting Marburg Disease from Bleeding Eye Virus

The following are some MVD facts to be aware of:

Transmission

Direct contact with an infected person or animal's blood or body fluids can spread MVD, as can indirect contact with contaminated objects or surfaces. Neither airborne nor communicable before symptoms appear. The Ravn virus (RAVV) and the Marburg virus (MARV) cause the rare but occasionally fatal disease known as the Marburg virus.

How does Marburg's illness occur?

Rousettus aegyptiacus bird bat

Rousettus aegyptiacus, a fruit bat belonging to the Pteropodidae family, is believed to be the natural host of the Marburg virus. Human-to-human transmission of the Marburg virus occurs when fruit bats infect humans. To effectively control outbreaks, community engagement is essential.

Does the Marburg virus have a vaccine or treatment?

Marburg virus disease (MVD) has no licensed vaccines or antiviral therapies. Early intensive supportive care, however, can increase survival. The death rate from this illness can reach 88%. Sabin intends to provide more vaccines pending a request from Rwandan authorities and BARDA approval.

Survival rates can be raised with early supportive treatment.

• Drinking enough water: To combat dehydration, rehydrate and replenish electrolytes.
• Levels of oxygen: Keeping oxygen levels constant
• Blood and its derivatives: Replacing blood products and lost blood
• Anticoagulants: Use anticoagulants early in an infection to prevent disseminated intravascular coagulation.
• Procoagulants: Give procoagulants late in an infection to reduce bleeding.
• Antifungals or antibiotics: Treating secondary infections with antibiotics or antifungals

Avoidance

Avoid coming into close contact with patients, their bodily fluids, and any potentially contaminated materials to prevent MVD. Medical personnel should dress in gowns, goggles, gloves, and disposable face masks.

What would happen if Marburg appeared?

MVD is a sudden illness that manifests as severe headache, high fever, and extreme malaise. Muscle soreness and aches are common. Severe watery diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea, and vomiting may begin on the third day.

Which nation is the source of Marburg disease?

The first MVD outbreak happened in 1967 in Marburg, Germany. Since then, outbreaks have been documented in Tanzania, Ghana, and Rwanda, among other African countries. 

Between February and June 2023, the most recent outbreaks were documented in the United Republic of Tanzania and Equatorial Guinea. MVD epidemics have previously occurred in many African countries, including Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda.

Is it possible for the Marburg virus to survive? 

Marburg usually means death, but there have been survivors.

How can the Marburg virus be prevented?

• Steer clear of anything contaminated with blood or bodily fluids, including bedding and needles. If you are employed in the healthcare industry, adhere to strict infection control protocols. Using personal protective equipment (gloves, gowns, masks, and goggles) and keeping impacted individuals apart is necessary for this.
• It is important to avoid contact with infected people and bats. You can utilize personal protective equipment (PPE) and adhere to strict infection control protocols in healthcare environments.

Also, read https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/marburg-virus-outbreak-in-rwanda/

How is the Marburg virus disinfected?

For cleaning, use soap and water; for disinfection, use chlorine. This suggests that if you use soap and water first, chlorine can perform its function efficiently. Starting with the cleanest region, cleaning should go to the dirtiest.

Pain control: Handling pain

A Guide to Marburg Virus Disease for Clinicians | NETEC

In a hospital intensive care unit, supportive care works best.

The video warns of the deadly Marburg virus. 

To treat MVD, the following drugs are being developed:

• Monoclonal antibodies, or mAbs
• Antibiotic medications
• Possible immunizations
• Immunotherapy
• Oligomers of phosphorodiamidate morpholino
• Enveloped short-interfering RNAs in lipids
• Inhibitors of small molecules
• Interferons
• Analogs of antiviral nucleosides

Making a diagnosis

• Marburg virus disease (MVD) diagnostic tests consist of a mix of the following:
• The antibody-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent test (ELISA) can detect IgM antibodies. This means that the infection happened not long ago.
• The reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test is used to diagnose MVD.
• Electron microscopy: the gold standard for diagnosis, which entails finding distinctive virions in blood or tissue that have been infected.
• Histological techniques: A delicate method, particularly for diagnosis after death
• The physician may also perform a urinalysis, liver and coagulation tests, standard blood chemistries, and a complete blood count.

How MVD spread to others

• Distinguishing MVD from other infectious diseases like typhoid fever, malaria, Ebola, and shigellosis may be difficult.
• MVD patients typically become ill 2–21 days after exposure. Although there isn't a single cure or therapy for MVD, medical professionals can treat problems and manage symptoms.
• Close contact with an infected person's or animal's bodily fluids can spread the Marburg virus.
• Human-to-human
• Direct contact with human milk, blood, urine, vomit, excrement, saliva, semen, or vaginal secretions can cause this. Broken skin or mucous membranes may cause this.

Interaction with polluted surfaces

• Contact with objects or surfaces tainted by an infected person's bodily fluids can spread the disease.
• Interaction with deceased individuals
• Making direct contact with a deceased person's body during funeral rites accomplishes this.
• Interaction with primates that are not human
• Handling infected non-human primates or contacting their bodily fluids can cause this.
• exposure in a laboratory
• Working with the live Marburg virus in a lab allowed for this accomplishment.

Caution

• The Marburg virus cannot be spread by air.
• As long as the virus is present in their blood, people can spread the illness even before they start showing symptoms. Symptoms typically appear 9 days after exposure, with an incubation period ranging from 2 to 21 days.
• The disease caused by the Marburg virus is extremely contagious and dangerous. Without treatment, up to 90% of virus-infected individuals will pass away.

Rate of death

• Although the death rate from Marburg virus disease (MVD) typically hovers around 50%, it can vary from 24% to 88% depending on the epidemic:
• According to our estimations, the MVD case fatality rate in 2023 was 61.9%, or 3.50 percent.

Early care: Two early supportive care strategies that can improve survival are symptomatic therapy and rehydration.

Fruit bats can transmit MVD, a serious and frequently lethal disease, to people. It is distinguished by:

The condition is known as bleeding eye syndrome.

Extreme hemorrhagic illness

Flu-like symptoms that worsen and lead to neurological problems, severe vomiting, and bleeding

Extreme drowsiness, deep-set eyes, an expressionless visage, and "ghost-like" sketched features

There are numerous drug treatments and vaccinations under development.

MVD risk factors include:

• Using animals that are capable of carrying it
• Operating within caves, mines, or other fruit bat habitats
• Having intimate touch with or providing care for an affected individual
• The African nations that have the Marburg virus include Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• Marburg virus: Information about outbreaks and the illness...
• In the arid forests of equatorial Africa, the virus is endemic. The virus most frequently infects people who visit caves or work in mines where Egyptian fruit bats reside.

Can Marburg be cured?

Although rare, both diseases have the potential to cause deadly epidemics, and there is currently no specific treatment or vaccine for Marburg hemorrhagic fever, a serious and frequently fatal illness caused by a virus that is related to the same family as the virus that causes Ebola hemorrhagic fever.

Doctors Offer Advice on How to Avoid Getting Marburg Disease from Bleeding Eye Virus

Medical professionals said that people in India want to know how to prevent the fatal Marburg sickness, as reports from the US and the UK have raised anxiety over the bleeding-eye virus's spread.

The UK media reports on the "Bleeding Eye" Virus Outbreak, advising travelers to exercise extra caution due to the spread of the Marburg, Mpox, and Oropouche viruses in 17 nations. The "bleeding eye" virus, so named because of one of its symptoms, is the most deadly of them. Known as the Marburg virus disease, it has claimed the lives of 15 people in Rwanda and is believed to have infected hundreds more.

The Marburg virus sickness is feared to be one of the most deadly illnesses on the planet, with a 50/50 risk of fatality. The virus could spread to other African countries already experiencing outbreaks worldwide.

 

In India   

India has not reported any cases of the Marburg, Mpox, or Oropouche viruses. The public is afraid of such a scenario, nevertheless, as most people remember the COVID-19 outbreak and the significant damages it caused as it swept over the world.

Typical Measures to Stop the Bleeding Eye Virus from Spreading

To find out how to stop the bleeding eye virus from spreading throughout India, ABP Live met with Dr. Rohit Kumar Garg, Senior Consultant, Infectious Diseases, Amrita Hospital, Faridabad, and Dr. Aklesh Tandekar, Head Consultant, Critical Care, Wockhardt Hospitals, Mira Road, Mumbai.

• They offered the following advice:
• Practice excellent hand hygiene by regularly washing your hands with soap and water.
• Steer clear of touching your lips, nose, or eyes, especially in busy places.
• Clean shared items and frequently touched surfaces.
• When near an infected person or during an outbreak, wear personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks, gloves, and gowns. Steer clear of sick people and their bodily fluids, such as blood, sweat, and saliva.
• Steer clear of handling or consuming undercooked meat.
• Activities If you have the infection or have come into contact with someone who has, isolate yourself to prevent the infection from spreading.
• If symptoms appear or if you suspect exposure, seek medical attention immediately for confirmation and advice.
• Don't share personal stuff like glasses or towels or touch your face.
• To clean and properly dispose of eye discharge, use disposable tissues.
• If exposure is detected, notify contacts so that prompt actions can be taken.
• Observe the treatment and care instructions provided by your healthcare practitioner.

Conclusion

Marburg virus spreads through close contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or animal. 

It is a serious and very contagious disease. Up to 9 out of 10 people infected with the virus will die without treatment. In India, people want to know how to prevent the fatal Marburg sickness. Always consult your GP whenever you come across any symptoms in the body.