Sierra Leone: Breaking the Chain of Transmission in 2015

Back in October, the story of 15 year old Augusta Vandy shocked many people around the world. Augusta's parents had died of the Ebola virus and just few days later, she started to show symptoms of Ebola. She and her neighbours frantically called the public emergency line- 117, while she waited (to no avail) for her to be picked up by the ambulance team. So Augusta took the hard decision of breaking the chain of transmission in her family. She moved to the balcony of their house where she passed a couple of nights- leaving her younger siblings- a 9-year-old and a 5-month-old baby inside the house. Augusta eventually died but she had succeeded in preventing her siblings from being infected!

We are moving into 2015 with a not so promising infection rate. As of 30th December 2014 Sierra Leone has recorded a total of 1,513 new cases- about 600 shy of the over 2,000 cases recorded in November. A big difference but certainly not good enough. There have been outbursts of the virus from time to time and from place to place. The recent developments in the sudden high number of cases in Kono and Koinadugu districts and the sustained high numbers coming from Port Loko, Bombali and Western Area (especially Western Urban) continue to remind us of the gaps in logistics, treatment and holding centers. Tonkolili district is also steadily recording new cases in spite of a sustained collaborative social mobilization drive by key government functionaries and descendants of that district.

...

AllAfrica publishes around 400 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.