Viral haemorrhagic fever

Viral haemorrhagic fever in children.

Viral haemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) are currently at the forefront of the world's attention due to the recent Zaire ebola virus epidemic in West Africa. This epidemic has highlighted the frailty of the world's public health response mechanisms and demonstrated the potential risks to nations around the world of imported cases of epidemic diseases. While imported cases in children are less likely, t...

Viral haemorrhagic fever and vascular alterations.

Pathogenesis of viral haemorrhagic fever (VHF) is closely associated with alterations of the vascular system. Among the virus families causing VHF, filoviruses (Marburg and Ebola) are the most fatal, and will be focused on here. After entering the body, Ebola primarily targets monocytes/macrophages and dendritic cells. Infected dendritic cells are largely impaired in their activation potency, l...

Tackling viral haemorrhagic fever in Africa

Outbreaks of viral haemorrhagic fevers, such as the Ebola virus disease epidemic in west Africa, have caught the attention of the global health community because of perceived and real threats to local, national, and global health security and their economic impact. Although viral haemorrhagic fever outbreaks primarily affect settings in which pathogens emerge from animal hosts, they also have t...

Nososcomial transmission of viral haemorrhagic fever in South Africa.

Recent events in West Africa have highlighted the potential for the viral haemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) to cause considerable mortality and morbidity among heathcare workers. However, this is not a new threat as, although the risk is currently increased, it has always been present. In South Africa (SA) the only endemic haemorrhagic fever is Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, transmitted by the Hyal...

Viral haemorrhagic fever: A case of systematic neglect.