ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2017
Implementation of a study to examine the persistence of Ebola virus in the body fluids of Ebola virus disease survivors in Sierra Leone: Methodology and lessons learned.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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13 citing papers in PubMed, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Implementation of the multicountry WHO COVID-19 pregnancy cohort study: challenges and lessons learned during the pandemic.Reproductive health · 2025Article
- Statistical methodologies for evaluation of the rate of persistence of Ebola virus in semen of male survivors in Sierra Leone.PloS one · 2022Article
- Presence of Ebola virus in breast milk and risk of mother-to-child transmission: synthesis of evidence.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2021Review
- Persistence of Ebola virus in semen among Ebola virus disease survivors in Sierra Leone: A cohort study of frequency, duration, and risk factors.PLoS medicine · 2021Article
- Impact of the Ebola virus disease outbreak (2014-2016) on tuberculosis surveillance activities by Guinea's National Tuberculosis Control Program: a time series analysis.BMC public health · 2020Article
- Perceptions on the collection of body fluids for research on persistence of Ebola virus: A qualitative study.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2020Article
- Public Health Program for Decreasing Risk for Ebola Virus Disease Resurgence from Survivors of the 2013-2016 Outbreak, Guinea.Emerging infectious diseases · 2020Article
- Comprehensive Clinical and Laboratory Follow-up of a Female Patient With Ebola Virus Disease: Sierra Leone Ebola Virus Persistence Study.Open forum infectious diseases · 2019Article
- Involvement of Surfactant Protein D in Ebola Virus Infection Enhancement via Glycoprotein Interaction.Viruses · 2018Article
- Efficacy of Ebola Glycoprotein-Specific Equine Polyclonal Antibody Product Against Lethal Ebola Virus Infection in Guinea Pigs.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2018Article
- Fear and culture: contextualising mental health impact of the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa.BMJ global health · 2018Article
- Ebola RNA Persistence in Semen of Ebola Virus Disease Survivors - Final Report.The New England journal of medicine · 2017Observational
- Development of risk reduction behavioral counseling for Ebola virus disease survivors enrolled in the Sierra Leone Ebola Virus Persistence Study, 2015-2016.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2017Article
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Authors and funding
22 authors at 5 institutions in 4 countries.
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Abstract
backgroundThe 2013-2016 West African Ebola virus disease epidemic was unprecedented in terms of the number of cases and survivors. Prior to this epidemic there was limited data available on the persistence of Ebola virus in survivors' body fluids and the potential risk of transmission, including sexual transmission. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL
findingsGiven the urgent need to determine the persistence of Ebola virus in survivors' body fluids, an observational cohort study was designed and implemented during the epidemic response operation in Sierra Leone. This publication describes study implementation methodology and the key lessons learned. Challenges encountered during implementation included unforeseen duration of follow-up, complexity of interpreting and communicating laboratory results to survivors, and the urgency of translating research findings into public health practice. Strong community engagement helped rapidly implement the study during the epidemic. The study was conducted in two phases. The first phase was initiated within five months of initial protocol discussions and assessed persistence of Ebola virus in semen of 100 adult men. The second phase assessed the persistence of virus in multiple body fluids (semen or vaginal fluid, menstrual blood, breast milk, and urine, rectal fluid, sweat, saliva, tears), of 120 men and 120 women. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Data from this study informed national and global guidelines in real time and demonstrated the need to implement semen testing programs among Ebola virus disease survivors. The lessons learned and study tools developed accelerated the implementation of such programs in Ebola virus disease affected countries, and also informed studies examining persistence of Zika virus. Research is a vital component of the public health response to an epidemic of a poorly characterized disease. Adequate resources should be rapidly made available to answer critical research questions, in order to better inform response efforts.
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