title: Handling Europe's first Ebola case: internal hospital communication experience.
abstract: Europe's first Ebola virus disease (EVD) case was diagnosed in our hospital. There was an unjustified panic in the population because of an imbalance of credibility assigned to the media as opposed to scientific information. A reinforcement of hospital internal communication was needed to keep health care workers informed with up-to-date scientific EVD information. The proactive management of information flow to both internal and external actors is required to reduce unjustified fear within the public.
authors.affiliation: Preventive Medicine Department, Alcorcón University Hospital Foundation, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: mmosquera@fhalcorcon.es.
authors.forename: Margarita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mosquera
authors.affiliation: Internal Communication Department, Alcorcón University Hospital Foundation, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Melendez
authors.affiliation: Preventive Medicine Department, Alcorcón University Hospital Foundation, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Pello
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Latasa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003142:Communication; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel; D019142:Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D017758:Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional / Q000517:prevention & control*
keywords: Communications media; Ebola virus; Public health