Ebola outbreak takes its toll on women

[Sharky]

Ebola Is Killing Women In Far Greater Numbers Than Men

A Liberian health official estimates 75% of Ebola deaths are women. That?s because they are the nation?s caregivers.

(continues)

http://www.buzzfeed.com/jinamoore/ebola-is-killing-women-in-far-greater-numbers-than-men#3691wq9

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: 75% of Ebola cases are women

Re: 75% of Ebola cases are women

More from the article provided by Sharky:
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To specialists, Ebola is a deadly but manageable threat. It isn?t contagious until patients show symptoms, and chlorine and ultraviolet light and even a good soaping up will kill it. Avoid the bodily fluids of the sick and you?ll probably avoid Ebola.

But to families losing their loved ones, Ebola is a heartless killer. It demands what most people consider a ruthless response to suffering: distance. Its secret weapon is not the scientific mystery of its seven proteins. It?s love. It?s the human need to show compassion and care, and it?s killing Liberia?s women.
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?We?re used to bathing our bodies. We?re used to burying. We?re used to hugging,? said Sayday Williamson Taylor, a psychiatrist who volunteers with a national Ebola hotline. ?When you?re told not to ? it?s like we?re being denied the chance to give a mother, a child, that last love. This person has been part of you forever.

?And it?s hard for the sick. You have to say, ?I love you, but I can?t touch you.? You have to do that for the people you are leaving behind,? Williamson Taylor said.

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Ebola crisis: This is why '75%' of victims are women

Heather Saul
Wednesday 20 August 2014
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Julia Duncan-Cassell, Liberia?s minister for gender and development, said health teams at task force meeting in Liberia found three-quarters of those who were infected or died from Ebola were female.

She told the Washington Post: ?Women are the caregivers ? if a kid is sick, they say, ?Go to your mom.' 

?The cross-border trade women go to Guinea and Sierra Leone for the weekly markets, [and] they are also the caregivers. Most of the time when there is a death in the family, it?s the woman who prepares the funeral, usually an aunt or older female relative.?
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Maricel Seeger, a WHO spokeswoman in Monrovia, Liberia, said reaching women and educating them on the disease is crucial to tackling the virus? spread, as they play a major role ?as conduits of information in their communities?.

?By reaching the women, they are reaching those who can best protect their families, and their own health,? she said.
...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...s-is-why-75-of-victims-are-women-9681442.html

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: 75% of Ebola cases are women

Re: 75% of Ebola cases are women

Addressing sex and gender in epidemic-prone infectious diseases

Departments of Gender, Women and Health, and Epidemic and Pandemic Alert and Response
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WHO would like to thank Martha Anker for preparing this publication.
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? World Health Organization 2007
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3.2.7 Implications for surveillance and response to Ebola haemorrhagic fever

? Differences in exposure between males and females have been shown to be important factors in transmission of EHF. Therefore, it is important to understand the gender roles and responsibilities that affect exposure in the local area.
? Comparison of epidemic curves for males and females can provide information on changes in gender patterns of transmission more quickly and in more detail than the cumulative rates that are now in more general use.
? Anthropologists with a gender perspective have been shown to be very helpful in elucidating gender roles and their impact on transmission, and they are now often included in the international EHF outbreak control teams fi elded by the World Health Organization.
? During outbreaks it is important that women who care for the sick outside health care settings are informed about how to protect themselves from EHF. During the most recent outbreak in the Congo, in October 2003, health education meetings targeted towards women on how to protect themselves while caring for the sick were found to be extremely useful in halting transmission.
? The introduction of barrier-nursing methods (coupled with contact tracing and isolation of patients) has been key to ending EHF outbreaks in several settings. However, nursing staff often are not empowered to initiate barrier-nursing procedures if they suspect a case of EHF. The need to provide nurses with better training in infection control and to empower them to initiate protective measures
are, therefore, key lessons to be learned from these outbreaks.
? Surveillance of complications of pregnancy suggestive of EHF and of deaths in maternity clinics is important for contact tracing, particularly at the beginning of an outbreak.
...
http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/sexandgenderinfectiousdiseases/en/

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: Ebola outbreak takes its toll on women

Ebola outbreak takes its toll on women

Date: 02 September 2014

On 8 August, the Ebola outbreak in West Africa was declared an international public health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO). Women are on the front lines of this disease, with female nurses representing the majority of the medical personnel who have died from the virus.

Authorities in Liberia estimate as many as 75 per cent of their Ebola fatalities are women, while UN sources in Sierra Leone report women represent around 59 per cent of their deceased.

Since Ebola is spread through bodily fluids, women as primary care providers in the community and as medical professionals are at an increased risk of contracting the virus. Furthermore certain traditional practices and rituals performed on the deceased that women typical perform, can also pose and increased risk.

Still, despite the growing evidence that women are particularly at risk, there have been no communication and outreach services specifically targeting women. Any Ebola response should address the needs of women and harness their leadership roles as caregivers and community leaders.

According to the spokesperson for the WHO in Liberia, Maricel Seeger, it is vital that women are equipped with knowledge to counter the spread of the virus, since they play an important role as "informants within their community."

The international community, governments and other stakeholders must focus on women as key agents of change and social mobilizers with a central role to play in sharing knowledge, raising awareness and enhancing care.

On 13 August 2014, UN Women Deputy Executive Director Lakshmi Puri met with Dr. Hadja Saran Daraba Kabba Secretary-General Mano River Union, which comprises the countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia and Cote d?Ivoire. Dr. Kabba, who has been on the forefront of containing the Ebola epidemic in affected countries, discussed with UN Women the need to integrate a gender perspective in the international response to the crisis. She said women?s groups and associations can help influence governments to strengthen response mechanisms.
...

http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stor...-takes-its-toll-on-women#sthash.Azfimlcg.dpuf

 

[Emily]

Re: Ebola outbreak takes its toll on women

It's certainly true that women tend to be the caretakers of their families, but men do much of the hunting and eat supposedly high risk bush meat and would be exposed to bats while hunting, too.

Could there be a biological factor involved on top of the disease amplification we see in family and hospital settings among female caretakers and nurses due to lack of protection from body fluids?
Maybe involving sex-linked cultural habits regarding food consumption?:


http://www.hindawi.com/journals/tswj/2014/921080/abs/
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030441651400110X
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/08/ebola-discard-bitter-kola-story/

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: Ebola outbreak takes its toll on women

It's certainly true that women tend to be the caretakers of their families, but men do much of the hunting and eat supposedly high risk bush meat and would be exposed to bats while hunting, too.
...

From the WHO report: "Addressing sex and gender in epidemic-prone infectious diseases":
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3.2 Ebola haemorrhagic fever (EHF)
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The index cases in several outbreaks have been shown to have had contact with forest animals, including through the handling and butchering of animals found dead in the forest (Table 3). This suggests that men, who are more likely than women to go regularly into the forest as a consequence of their gendered roles, may be at greater risk of infection at the onset of an outbreak. However, as an EHF outbreak progresses, females infection rates are often higher than those of males, implying that women?s exposure to the virus increases as the outbreak progresses. These incidence patterns suggest that gender-related factors are key determinants of exposure to, and infection with, the Ebola virus.
...
http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/SexGenderInfectDis.pdf?ua=1


But interestingly, reseachers did not identify a man hunter as patient "0" in the Ebola outbreak in West Africa :

"Patient Zero in the Ebola outbreak, researchers suspect, was a 2-year-old boy who died on Dec. 6, just a few days after falling ill in a village in Gu?ck?dou, in southeastern Guinea....

A week later, it killed the boy?s mother, then his 3-year-old sister, then his grandmother. All had fever, vomiting and diarrhea, but no one knew what had sickened them."
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/10/w...s-breakout-to-an-african-2-year-old.html?_r=0

Another observation is that according to Dr Michael Kinzer, CDC epidemiologist, in an interview with the Figaro, very few children have been infected in this Ebola outbreak:

Translated:
...
Are you sure not to have been infected with the virus?

I'm not worried. I have no risk to catch it, even if I went around, resided in Conakry and shook hands! Ebola is a scary disease but hard to catch. People who have been infected have had close contact with a patient. There are very few cases among children even if they touch everything and do not always wash their hands....
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http://sante.lefigaro.fr/actualite/2014/09/02/22740-nous-gagnerons-lutte-contre-ebola