Dr. Mawanda's miraculous recovery from Ebola

By Raymond Baguma

KAMPALA - There are parallels that can be drawn between the biblical Lazarus of Bethany who Jesus restored to life and Dr. Michael Mawanda of Uganda, who recovered from Ebola.

Both men practically lived twice. Today, 38-year-old Mawanda is lucky to be alive after recovering from Ebola, a highly infectious disease that kills most of its victims.

For a man who was at the edge of the grave after suffering multiple organ failure, it is a miracle Mawanda is alive today.

In an interview with New Vision, Mawanda said: “It’s by the grace of God I am here. My family which stood with me all the way; my wife and children were always praying.”

He thanked people who prayed for him, the Italian NGO Emergency where he worked; World Health Organisation, partner agencies, friends in Uganda, United States, Italy, Sierra Leone and the Government of Uganda and Ministry of Health.

Fighting Ebola

On a daily basis, he was in direct contact with Ebola patients, using the protocols and procedures that had been prepared months before.

“It is tough looking after Ebola patients. You are looking after patients most of whom you know are going to die. And if you are going to lose more than half of your patients, that’s traumatising. It’s tough because you want to see people getting better,” said Mawanda.

 After weeks of working on the ward, the scary moment arrived. “It was routine work and I cannot point out how I got infected,” he said.
 

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Bombshell

“When I came down with the fever, my first suspicion was I had been infected. I informed my colleagues and I was immediately isolated.

“Tests were run and I found to be positive. My immediate thoughts were about my family. What was going to happen? But I accepted it. The fact I had worked with patients, I knew there was a risk. I hoped against all hope that I would have a chance.”

At the onset of infection, he had a fever, abdominal pain, and was vomiting. Five days after he tested positive, he was flown to Frankfurt in Germany where he received treatment.

The long fight

“After I got to Germany, the severe manifestations of the disease developed. I had multiple organ failure. During that time, it was very tough because your chances are very slim.

“I had to be put in an induced coma for two weeks while machines took care of my body systems. I was on dialysis and respiratory support. I was on different forms of life support to assist the organs and allow the infection to reduce.

Miracle
 

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The online publication, www. utsandiego.com reported that at Frankfurt University Hospital Dr. Mawanda was treated with experimental drugs, which also included a dialysis device that filtered the Ebola virus from the blood.

The device which was used for the first time on an Ebola patient was made by a US company Aethlon Medical, based in San Diego.

The physicians noted that the device was used late in the course of Mawanda’s illness, which was 12 days after diagnosis when the Ebola virus load in his body was already declining.

Working in Sierra Leone

When an Ebola outbreak was first reported in Guinea in March this year, health authorities in Sierra Leone began to get ready for emergency responses.

By then, Dr. Mawanda was a paediatrician working with Emergency in the capital Freetown. Having more knowledge and awareness of Ebola than fellow medics, because Uganda had experienced Ebola outbreaks before, he became a leader in the response.

In 2011, Mawanda worked at St. Mary’s Hospital, Lacor in Gulu. Although he had not directly treated Ebola patients, he was aware of the procedures for infection control.

“We started to raise awareness, formulated screening tools for patients coming into hospitals because we expected patients from Guinea,” he narrated.
 

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As a leader of the response team, he was involved in screening patients. It was in July that Mawanda’s hospital received the first patients and soon there was a surge in numbers.

The situation only became dire, with long working hours. Another treatment centre was opened in Lakka, 5km from Freetown.

Doctors resigned and left the country, organisations withdrew staff and international flights were halted.

A time came when Mawanda was no longer attending to only child patients. He had to get involved in doing nursing work, including cleaning.

According to Mawanda, the key in stopping the Ebola outbreak will be contact tracing. If a person gets infected, there is need to know those with whom they made physical contact.

“When you identify those people, you monitor them and isolate them if they develop symptoms. In this way, you prevent the next generation of people from infection and the outbreak is over,” said Mawanda.

What next?

Mawanda, a father of four is non-committal on whether he will return to Sierra Leone.

“My focus is to regain strength and spend time with my family. I hope to get back to work soon, but I have not decided where I will be.

“Chances are that I will stay in Uganda. I am a doctor and I think there is always work for a doctor in Uganda.”


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