Hemorrhage as presentation in emerging 2014 Western Africa Ebola virus infection: What about its magnitude?

Dear Sir,

The present emerging 2014 Western Ebola virus infection is of great concern. ^[1],[2],[3] This is believed to be one of the most virulent outbreaks, and the high fatality rate of this infection can be observed. ^[1],[2],[3] As a new disease, the data on the clinical presentation of this new infection is very limited. As a kind of acute viral hemorrhagic disease, the main clinical features of this infection include fever and hemorrhage. Here, the authors try to summarize on the magnitude of hemorrhage as presentation in emerging 2014 Western Ebola virus infection. Based on available data from 15 confirmed case in the early phase of the outbreak in Guinea, ^{[1],[2],[3],[4]} the calculated rate of hemorrhage as clinical presentation is equal to 26.7%. Of interest, it can be seen that only about one-fourth of the patient presents hemorrhage as the chief complaint. This brings us the concern that hemorrhage might not be seen in the case with Ebola virus infection at the presentation. The physician should not rule out the Ebola infection when face up the febrile case returning from the outbreak area although there is no evidence of hemorrhage.

Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None

DOI: 10.4103/1755-6783.146447