(New England Journal of Medicine, 2024-07-17) Wailagala, Abdullah; Kobba, Kenneth; Aanyu-Tumukahebwa, Hellen; Kirenga, Bruce; Wayengera, Misaki
Infections among health care workers represented a high proportion of cases during the first weeks of the 2022 Ebola outbreak in Uganda.1 This Ebola outbreak, which was caused by Sudan virus, resulted in 19 infections in health care workers among 142 confirmed cases.1 Not only are health care workers vulnerable to infection, but cases that occur early after detection of an Ebola outbreak carry an increased risk of death2 as health systems scramble to set up well-functioning Ebola treatment units. Ethical priority for immediate and quality care of infected health care workers is buttressed by the need to minimize fear, burnout, and strikes among these workers, since such complications could ultimately lead to deaths among patients with or without Ebola disease.