Hospital in Kakata, Margibi County.

The C. H. Rennie Hospital is the third facility to join the study nearly four months after it began at the JFK Medical Center and the Duport Road Health Center on June 17 and July 22 respectively.

The hospital will enroll Ebola survivors into the study from nearby counties, including Grand Bassa and Bong Counties, while plans are being made to open additional sites in Liberia, including the Phebe Hospital in Bong County, which will accommodate survivors from Lofa, Nimba and Grand Bassa Counties.

According to a U.S Embassy press release issued here Monday, the study will investigate the variety of health problems faced by people who have survived the Ebola Virus Disease and provide participants with referrals to other healthcare facilities in Liberia that have been designated by the Ministry of Health.

The study, known as PREVAIL III, is designed to better understand what health problems Ebola survivors experience and to determine whether they are the same or different from the health problems experienced by people who have recovered from other serious diseases.

The study will also help to determine if people who survived the Ebola are “immune” or protected from contracting Ebola in the future. In addition, the researchers will examine whether those who survived Ebola can transmit the disease to their household contacts or sexual partners.

The facilities have state-of-the-art equipment that can analyze blood samples for a variety of medical conditions. The equipment can also uncover eye problems that Ebola survivors are experiencing so that optimized clinical care can be provided to them.

Since the study started on June 17, 2015, more than 600 Ebola survivors have successfully joined the study which is expected to enroll about 7,500 people, including 1,500 Ebola survivors and 6,000 of their close contacts, within a five-year period.

The Ebola Natural History Study is led by a team of Liberians and Americans under the umbrella of a larger Liberia-U.S. bilateral program to build a clinical research partnership and infrastructure in Liberia.
LINA PR/RD/JGT/TSS/PTK