Ebola Survivors Haunted By Disturbing Long-Term Brain Problems, Study Finds

Ebola Survivors Found To Have Disturbing Symptoms Long After They've 'Recovered'
|

A majority of Ebola survivors suffer some form of long-term brain health problems, according to a new study.

Patients who were successfully treated for the disease were found to have neurological issues six months later, the Press Association reported.

The most common problems included muscle pain, headaches, memory loss and depressed moods, but in rare cases patients were suicidal, the US researchers said.

Open Image Modal

Ebola survivor Banganelee Yougi, 22, at a market in a slum in Liberia

The study, by the US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, examined 82 survivors in Liberia and found that most had some form of "neurologic abnormality" at least six months after they became infected.

Around two thirds of the group, which had an average age of 35, had body weakness, while half suffered headaches and memory loss. Two people were suicidal and one suffered hallucinations.

Doctors also found survivors commonly had abnormal eye movements and tremors.

The research, which will be presented at the annual meeting of American Academy of Neurology, forms part of a wider study into the long-term health effects of the virus.

Speaking to the BBC, Dr Lauren Brown, the study's author, said: "It was pretty striking, this is a young population of patients, and we wouldn't expect to have seen these sorts of problems.

"When people had memory loss, it tended to affect their daily living, with some feeling they couldn't return to school or normal jobs, some had terrible sleeping problems.

"Ebola hasn't gone away for these people."

Open Image Modal

Pauline Cafferkey is in hospital

It comes as British nurse Pauline Cafferkey remains in the Royal Free Hospital in London for treatment for a "late complication" from Ebola.

It is the third time the 40 year old, from South Lanarkshire, Scotland, has been treated in hospital since contracting the virus in Sierra Leone in December 2014 at a Save the Children treatment centre.

More than 17,000 people survived the outbreak in west Africa, although the virus left 11,300 dead.

Dr Brown, said: "While an end to the outbreak has been declared, these survivors are still struggling with long-term problems."

"It is important for us to know how this virus may continue to affect the brain long term."

The World Health Organisation declared the Ebola outbreak over last year, but two new cases emerged in Sierra Leone in January. The organisation called for a ''critical period of heightened vigilance''.