Thousands of Liberians in 'post-Ebola syndrome'

MONROVIA: Liberia launched a five-year study on Wednesday to unravel the mystery of the long-term health effects that plague Ebola survivors and assess how long they should go without sex.

The Partnership for Research on Ebola Vaccines in Liberia, a collaboration with the United States more commonly known by the acronym PREVAIL, is expected to enrol 1,500 survivors and 6,000 of their partners and family across the west African country.

"The clinical course of Ebola virus disease is reasonably well-understood, but we still have much to learn about the long-term health effects of the illness in those who recover," Anthony Fauci, of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) said in a statement.
The epidemic killed more than 4,800 Liberians after spreading from Guinea in March last year but the country was given the all-clear on May 9 -- 42 days after the last case was buried.

There has been little research on survivors, but the World Health Organization (WHO) has acknowledged that many are experiencing crippling complications long after walking out of Ebola treatment units (ETUs).

Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO´s head in Africa, told AFP in April Liberian survivors had been reporting a range of problems, including sight and hearing impairment, as part of a mystery condition referred to as "post-Ebola syndrome".

Investigators from the NIH´s National Eye Institute (NEI), the John F Kennedy hospital in Monrovia and the Liberian government will collaborate on the research.