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| UK Dr. Black |
Ebola sufferers are too scared to come forward for treatment, a British volunteer doctor has warned. Some potential victims of the deadly virus in Sierra Leone blame witchcraft for the epidemic or wrongly fear that hospital staff are killing patients, Benjamin Black added.
‘The last few days, it’s been very quiet here – it seems patients are too frightened to come in. We’ve seen a sudden drop,’ Mr Black told Metro. ‘There are lots of rumours swirling around, that ebola is rife in the hospital – some even believe the hospital is killing people, because they come in for treatment and don’t always survive.’
Meanwhile, Dr Black has urged the world to wake up to the growing threat of Ebola after risking his life working 24-hour hospital shifts trying to save pregnant women struck down by the disease. Dr. Benjamin Black, who gave up his job in London to volunteer in Sierra Leone, told Metro that doctors were struggling to cope with the overwhelming pressure.
Mr Black said one of his first patients was a pregnant woman complaining of severe bleeding and fever after helping prepare bodies of Ebola victims for a funeral.
Obstetrician Mr Black, who worked in hospitals including Whipps Cross, Homerton and the Whittington, now covers one 24-hour shift every three days in a clinic in the southern Sierra Leone city of Bo. The 32-year-old, from Manchester, called for more help for aid agencies such as Medecins Sans Frontieres, one of only two working in the region. Source: www.metro.co.uk
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