Ebola Prevention Education in the Works

Ebola is an extremely deadly, costly and easily contracted virus which has put many health workers at risk of contraction due to sheer lack of knowledge. With a world that has been connected like never before, viruses such as Ebola have been able to make their way out of rural areas and far away places, right onto the doorsteps of the US. As we saw in 2014, the US is not protected from Ebola and in fact cases of Ebola cost the US about $30-50,000 per case. This not only limits the number of hospitals that are able to treat it, but also put their workers at much higher risk for getting the disease. Seeing as contraction results in a 78% death rate, prevention is most likely the only viable solution to the problem.

One solution that the CDC and the World Health Organization are working on is a software educational package. The program is compiled of information from various sources and can be downloaded on mostly any computer system. Not only does the program have information about Ebola, but it also has a hands-on simulation that can evaluate individuals’ and teams’ ability to assess and respond to cases of the virus. After running the simulation through various cohorts of MUSC staff, the researchers found that it was able to increase overall knowledge by 19% as well as reduce the likelihood of critical incidences to 2.3%. More versions and adaptions are in the works but the MUSC is hoping that this solution will be a major step forward on the prevention front.

For more information:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190202171849.htm

-India Robinson