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Preparedness Tested: Severe Cerebral Malaria Presenting as a High-Risk Person Under Investigation for Ebola Virus Disease at a US Hospital

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 May 2020

George L. Anesi Open the ORCID record for George L. Anesi [Opens in a new window] ,
Nuala J. Meyer ,
John P. Reilly ,
William D. Schweickert ,
Mark E. Mikkelsen ,
Emma V. Myers ,
Edward T. Dickinson ,
Matthew P. Kelly ,
David A. Pegues  and
Neil O. Fishman
George L. Anesi*
Affiliation:
Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Nuala J. Meyer
Affiliation:
Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
John P. Reilly
Affiliation:
Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
William D. Schweickert
Affiliation:
Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Mark E. Mikkelsen
Affiliation:
Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Emma V. Myers
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Edward T. Dickinson
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Matthew P. Kelly
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
David A. Pegues
Affiliation:
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Neil O. Fishman
Affiliation:
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to George L. Anesi, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, 3400 Spruce Street, 824 Gates Building, Philadelphia, PA19104-6021 (e-mail: [email protected]).
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Abstract

In 2019, a 42-year-old African man who works as an Ebola virus disease (EVD) researcher traveled from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), near an ongoing EVD epidemic, to Philadelphia and presented to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Emergency Department with altered mental status, vomiting, diarrhea, and fever. He was classified as a “wet” person under investigation for EVD, and his arrival activated our hospital emergency management command center and bioresponse teams. He was found to be in septic shock with multisystem organ dysfunction, including circulatory dysfunction, encephalopathy, metabolic lactic acidosis, acute kidney injury, acute liver injury, and diffuse intravascular coagulation. Critical care was delivered within high-risk pathogen isolation in the ED and in our Special Treatment Unit until a diagnosis of severe cerebral malaria was confirmed and EVD was definitively excluded.

This report discusses our experience activating a longitudinal preparedness program designed for rare, resource-intensive events at hospitals physically remote from any active epidemic but serving a high-volume international air travel port-of-entry.

Keywords

Ebola virus diseasemalariapersonal protective equipmentPPEpreparednessspecial treatment unit
Type
Report from the Field
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 15 , Issue 4 , August 2021 , pp. 528 - 533
Copyright
Copyright © 2020 Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

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