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Complications
By Mayo Clinic staffBoth Ebola and Marburg hemorrhagic fevers lead to death for a high percentage of people who are affected. As the illness progresses, it can cause:
- Multiple organ failure
- Severe bleeding
- Jaundice
- Delirium
- Seizures
- Coma
- Shock
Death often occurs less than 10 days from the start of signs and symptoms.
One reason the viruses are so deadly is that they interfere with the immune system's ability to mount a defense. But scientists don't understand why some people recover from Ebola and Marburg and others don't.
For people who survive, recovery is slow. It may take months to regain weight and strength, and the viruses remain in the body for many weeks. People may experience:
- Hair loss
- Sensory changes
- Liver inflammation (hepatitis)
- Weakness
- Fatigue
- Headaches
- Eye inflammation
- Testicular inflammation
- Ebola hemorrhagic fever fact sheet. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/mnpages/dispages/Fact_Sheets/Ebola_Fact_Booklet.pdf. Accessed March 29, 2009.
- Questions and answers about Ebola hemorrhagic fever. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/Spb/mnpages/dispages/ebola/qa.htm. Accessed March 29, 2009.
- Questions and answers about Marburg hemorrhagic fever. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/mnpages/dispages/marburg/qa.htm. Accessed March 29, 2009.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Notice to readers update: Management of patients with suspected viral hemorrhagic fever - United States. MMWR. 1995;44:475. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00038033.htm. Accessed March 29, 2009.
- Ebola hemorrhagic fever. World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/en. Accessed March 29, 2009.
- Marburg hemorrhagic fever. World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/csr/disease/marburg/en. Accessed March 29, 2009.
- Marburg hemorrhagic fever, imported case - United States. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/outbreaks/index.htm. March 29, 2009.
- Ebola/Marburg vaccine development. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/topics/ebolaMarburg. Accessed April 9, 2009.
- Peters CJ. Marburg and Ebola - Arming ourselves against the deadly filoviruses. New England Journal of Medicine. 2005;352:2571.
- Towner JS, et al. Marburg virus infection detected in a common African bat. PLoS (Public Library of Science) One. http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.000076Accessed April 11, 2009.
