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eBook/Digital Version available from:
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Score: 96 |
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| Pregnant in the Time of Ebola: Women and Their Children in the 2013-2015 West African Epidemic |
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ISBN: 978-3319976365,
487 pages,
Hard Cover
ISBN-10: 3319976362 |
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| Copyright: |
2019 |
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| Edition: |
1st |
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| Editor: |
Schwartz, David A., MD, MSHyg, FCAP; Anoko, Julienne Ngoundoung, PhD, MS, MS; Abramowitz, Sharon A., PhD |
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Specialties:
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Epidemiology
, Infectious Disease
, Public Health |
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| Publisher: |
Springer |
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| Series Title: |
Global Maternal and Child Health: Medical, Anthropological, and Public Health Perspectives |
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| List Price: |
$159.99 |
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| Google: |
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At A Glance
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For the first time, this book incorporates the experiences and opinions of a team of internationally respected experts from different fields to address a public health problem of global magnitude -- the West African Ebola virus epidemic. In particular, the book addresses the effects of the epidemic on the most vulnerable elements of society -- women and children -- whose health and even survival were significantly affected by the outbreak, whether they were infected with Ebola virus or not. The authors are from some of the leading global health agencies that were involved in the Ebola relief effort -- UNICEF, Partners in Health, Medecins Sans Frontieres, International Rescue Committee, UNFPA, The Carter Center, and others as well as from multiple universities.The biomedical aspects of the recent Ebola virus epidemic, occurring predominantly in the West African nations of Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, have received unprecedented worldwide attention, but little systematic analysis. Even before the epidemic, these three countries had some of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, and had severe shortages of medical personnel and equipment. There were also significant sociocultural and behavioral factors that played important roles in fostering the dissemination of the virus among the individuals in these societies, as well as interrupting the medical care of non-infected individuals. In outbreaks of infectious diseases, sex, gender, and age play important roles in vulnerability to infection, caregiving roles, patient roles, access to healthcare resources, and perceptions and realities of risk. During the Ebola virus outbreak, however, the impact of sex, gender, and age was insufficiently studied and frequently misrepresented. This volume is the first to address these issues, and provide research, policy insights, and observations that can be of use to biomedical, health policy, social science, and public health students and experts in future epidemic events.Women and children, and especially pregnant women, are generally the most defenseless persons in the event of an infectious disease catastrophe such as the present Ebola virus outbreak. Women, children, and pregnant women were further affected by the inability of international NGOs to initially provide effective clinical care to pregnant women with Ebola, the rapid increase in Ebola orphans, and the complex role that traditional healers (like midwives) played in both expanding and containi
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Reviewer:
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Joan MacEachen,
MD, MPH
(Loma Linda University)
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Range
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Question
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Score
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| 1-10 |
Are the author's objectives met? |
10 |
| 1-10 |
Rate the worthiness of those objectives. |
10 |
| 1-5 |
Is this written at an appropriate level? |
5 |
| 1-5 |
Is there significant duplication? (1=significant, 5=insignificant) |
3 |
| 1-5 |
Are there significant omissions? (1=significant, 5=insignificant) |
5 |
| 1-5 |
Rate the authority of the authors. |
5 |
| 1-5 |
Are there sufficient illustrations? |
5 |
| 1-5 |
Rate the pedagogic value of the illustrations. |
4 |
| 1-5 |
Rate the print quality of the illustrations. |
4 |
| 1-5 |
Are there sufficient references? |
5 |
| 1-5 |
Rate the currency of the references. |
5 |
| 1-5 |
Rate the pertinence of the references. |
5 |
| 1-5 |
Rate the helpfulness of the index. |
5 |
| 1-5 |
If important in this specialty, rate the physical appearance of the book |
5 |
| 1-10 |
Is this a worthwhile contribution to the field? |
10 |
| 1-10 |
If this is a 2nd or later edition, is this new edition needed? |
N/A |
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Reviewer:
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Joan MacEachen,
MD, MPH
(Loma Linda University)
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Description
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| This presentation and analysis of the experience of the population of the West African countries of Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone and of those who provided international assistance during the Ebola epidemic of 2013 to 2015 is written by experts with firsthand knowledge. |
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Purpose
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| The chapters examine various aspects of the social, medical, and political impact of the Ebola virus epidemic on the most vulnerable population: women and children in some of the poorest countries in the world, which were still recovering from decades of civil war. |
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Audience
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| This is a comprehensive and detailed source book for anyone in the medical, public health, anthropology, and political fields who wish to learn about and from the Ebola epidemic of 2013-15. |
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Features
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| The authors have gathered multiple experts in medicine, public health and anthropology who focus on the underlying culture and infrastructure; the epidemiology and virulence of the Ebola virus; the disproportionate burden of the infection on caregivers; and the stigmatization of pregnant women. It documents the efforts of the international response to interrupt transmission and limit spread of the virus, and to improve the rapid diagnosis and medical treatment of those infected. It includes protocols for use in Ebola treatment centers in the future. Furthermore, it reveals the collateral damage caused by quarantines, school and health clinic closures, and worsening of underlying gender-based violence to adolescent women. It uses case presentations, personal memoirs, and studies that involve interviews of survivors to illustrate the fear in both caregivers and the local population which put them at cross-purposes and ultimately resulted in the loss of previous gains in maternal and child health. It describes the interventions and evaluation of the maternity care provided by Medecins Sans Frontieres centers, the ongoing public health support in the region provided by Partners in Health, and the efforts and results of multiple other international agencies in each of the countries affected. |
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Assessment
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| The passion to alleviate the human misery suffered in this epidemic motivates the authors throughout the book. It is a rich resource from which to build in order to prevent, provide rapid intervention, and ameliorate the consequences of future Ebola outbreaks. |
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