title: Palliative care conundrums in an Ebola treatment centre.
abstract: We describe the treatment course and last days of a 33-year-old man from Western Africa who died from Ebola-related complications. Specifically, the issues around declaring a patient palliative in a low resource environment while dealing with a largely unknown entity, Ebola viral disease, make this an important discussion-stimulating case. The patient presented as a confirmed Ebola-positive case from a peripheral holding centre and then proceeded to deteriorate under our care. Significant neurological decline was noted and the prognosis was felt to be grim by certain providers. Other providers disagreed and a number of treatment algorithms were started and stopped during the patient's last days. He succumbed to Ebola complications after 17 days under our care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Academic Family Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dhillon
authors.affiliation: Save the Children, Cork, Ireland.
authors.forename: Sinead
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: McCarthy
authors.affiliation: Heart of England Foundation Trust, Birmingham, UK.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gibbs
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada.
authors.forename: Kyle
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sue
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000354:Africa, Western; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D019142:Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010166:Palliative Care; D013727:Terminal Care