Ebola survivors ‘face possible kidney damage’ – Report

A study of people who survived the Ebola virus in Guinea found out that their mortality rate remained severe within a year of leaving hospital – and faced possible kidney damage.

Researchers, writing in the Lancet, surveyed more than 1,100 survivors of the West African outbreak earlier this decade.

Fifty-nine died within about one year of leaving Ebola treatment units, a mortality risk five times that of the general Guinean population.

The cause of death for 62% of those who died within a year was tentatively attributed to kidney failure.

The study indicated that death rates were higher among those who had stayed in hospital for longer.

The researchers said that the findings showed an urgent need for more investigation into the role of renal failure in late deaths after recovering from Ebola.

With the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo inflicting a higher death rate among those infected, the team hope their work can enable help to be better targeted.