What are the clinical manifestations of Ebola hemorrhagic fever?
Disease description:
One of my colleagues has had a high fever since yesterday, accompanied by symptoms such as headache, sore throat, and vomiting. We suspect he may have Ebola hemorrhagic fever. What are the clinical manifestations of this disease?
Ebola hemorrhagic fever presents with diverse and severe clinical manifestations, mainly including the following aspects:
1. Initial symptoms: Patients typically develop acute onset, accompanied by systemic symptoms such as high fever, fatigue, headache, and myalgia, as well as gastrointestinal symptoms including nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. These symptoms are prominent early in the disease course and are similar to those of common cold but more severe.
2. Peak symptoms: As the disease progresses, patients may enter the acute phase, characterized by persistent high fever, worsening septic symptoms, and hemorrhagic manifestations of varying severity. Hemorrhage may occur in multiple areas such as skin, mucous membranes, gastrointestinal tract, and respiratory tract, including petechiae, purpura, hematemesis, hemoptysis, melena, and hematuria. The peak of bleeding typically occurs around day 10 after onset, at which time the patient's condition becomes critical.
3. Severe manifestations: Patients with severe disease may develop altered mental status, such as somnolence and delirium, and may even experience serious complications including shock and multiple organ failure. Due to coagulation disorders and uncontrolled bleeding, patients' lives are often seriously threatened, resulting in a very high mortality rate.