Monday, March 2, 2015

Guinea says Ebola patients sent home after botched blood tests

Blood samples from patients suspected of having Ebola virus disease are prepared for transportation at the Port Loko District Hospital By Emma Farge DAKAR (Reuters) - Health officials botched more than 20 Ebola blood tests in January and February which led to the release of at least four positive patients, two of whom later died, Guinea's anti-Ebola coordinator and other health officials told Reuters. Five health officials and experts familiar with the incidents said the mistakes occurred at two different treatment centres and resulted in as many as 52 botched tests, exposing many others to the virus and revealing weaknesses in Guinea's response to the crisis. Dr. Sakoba Keita, Guinea's anti-Ebola coordinator, confirmed the mistake had occurred but gave lower figures. Health officials, some of whom asked not to be named because they were worried about embarrassing the Guinean government, said the mistakes took place in Coyah, where Cuban medics are supporting a government-run centre, and in Conakry, where medical charity Medicins Sans Frontieres runs a centre at the Donka hospital complex, when staff placed blood samples in the wrong test tubes, damaging specimens.








via Health News Headlines - Yahoo News http://ift.tt/1F3IzS8

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