After a gruelling recent Ebola infection, Dr Patrick Oparpio, a gynaecologist based in Bunia in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has urged health authorities to offer psychological support for Ebola survivors and their families.

This week, the DRC reported 6,843 Ebola cases and 3,310 deaths – a case fatality rate of over 48%  – mostly from Ituri province, where Bunia is situated, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

“I was in a coma for four days, and spent eight days under intubation,” Oparpio told a webinar last week organised by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Information Network for Epidemics, known as Epi-WIN.

“I was hospitalised for a very long time. When I was discharged from the hospital, I didn’t believe I was going to be able to go back to my regular life or get back to my professional life,” said Oparpio, whose fiancée was also infected but did not survive.

“After I recovered, I had to be taken care of by psychologists. I had to get some therapy. When I look around me, I see orphans. I see people who have lost loved ones who need that psychiatric support. That’s one of the things that the WHO needs to think about as well. I haven’t really seen that being addressed.”

Oparpio, who only went to an Ebola treatment centre several days after falling ill as he initially thought he had malaria, said Ebola survivors could help educate their communities.

“We can talk to those in vulnerable situations to help prevent the spread of the disease,” said Oparpio.

“We are probably better situated to fight against this disease as we’ve already experienced it. We know what it’s like, and we know what our community is thinking, and how to answer some of the questions that they have, and [address] some of the distrust that they have.”

“Some 218 health workers have been infected, but most in the early phase of the outbreak,” Dr Yap Boum told the Africa CDC media briefing on Thursday.

In the past week, an additional health zone, Kayna in North Kivu, reported Ebola cases for the first time. This means 61 health zones are affected in six out of the DRC’s 26 provinces. 

Ituri is the worst-affected province, accounting for 80% of cases. Twenty-eight of its 36 health zones have Ebola cases. However, the outbreak may be stabilising as Ituri reported fewer cases and deaths in the past week than previously.

However, cases continue to rise in Ituri’s neighbouring provinces of North Kivu and Haut-Uélé. North Kivu is the second worst affected province, with 16 of its 34 health zones affected.  However, no new cases have been reported from South Kivu province since 29 May. 

Image Credits: DRC Health Ministry.