PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Horne, Simon
AU  - Forbes, K
AU  - Burns, D
AU  - Tuck, JJH
TI  - An outbreak inside an epidemic: managing an infectious disease outbreak while treating Ebola
AID  - 10.1136/jramc-2016-000684
DP  - 2017 Feb 01
TA  - Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps
PG  - 7--12
VI  - 163
IP  - 1
4099  - http://militaryhealth.bmj.com/content/163/1/7.short
4100  - http://militaryhealth.bmj.com/content/163/1/7.full
SO  - J R Army Med Corps2017 Feb 01; 163
AB  - Even in the middle of an epidemic of a very serious illness, outbreaks of other infectious diseases will continue. Clinicians need to be able to make rapid decisions about the nature of the outbreak and how to manage it. A balance needs to be struck between managing all patients as if they have the worst-case scenario illness and the resultant risks to themselves, their colleagues and the mission. This paper reviews basic epidemiological tools that inform robust decision-making in the management of such outbreaks. It then describes how a pragmatic approach, combined with effective use of these techniques, rapid diagnostics and remote specialist support, allowed a large outbreak of gastroenteritis to be safely and effectively managed during the response to the Ebola virus disease epidemic in Sierra Leone.