Pilot clinical bacteriology in the EVD care response to detect intercurring bloodstream infections and inform about appropriate antibiotic treatment (Bact-EVD)

Despite access to experimental Ebola Virus Disease (EVD)-specific treatments, about 30% of patients still die in the Ebola Treatment Centers (ETC) in DRC. This negatively impacts the communities’ perception of ETCs. There is limited study done about the potential contribution of bacterial co-infections (in particular bloodstream infections) to this adverse outcome, as blood cultures were so far rarely available in epidemic areas. Findings from patients treated in Europe and the USA, and case discussions in the field call for further investigation. Thanks to our ongoing surveillance project in DRC, we are able to set up in the short term a research project, which will pilot in a standardized manner clinical bacteriology tools (bacterial blood cultures, biomarkers as CRP, and WBC) to study bacterial bloodstream infection in EVD patients in the N-Kivu/Ituri outbreak.

Our project will add evidence on
1) frequency, causative pathogen and antibiotic resistance profiles of bacterial bloodstream infections, as well as
2) the predictive value of CRP and WBC, in EVD patients at different timepoints during hospitalization in an ETC in DRC.

The results will inform appropriate antibiotic treatment in an EVD setting and improve patient outcomes.

Project type:PhD project