Category Archives: healthcare

Thirty-five U.S. states report travel-related cases of chikungunya | Vaccine News Daily

Health officials in 35 states have reported a total of 284 cases of the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus, according to recent data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

The total number of cases reported in U.S. and its territories has risen to 497, most of which are associated with travelers returning from the Caribbean and South America. Locally-transmitted cases have been reported in Florida, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

According to the CDC, the number of cases will likely increase, thereby leading to additional local spread of the virus in the continental U.S. Between 2006 and 2013, an average of 28 people, all of whom were travelers returning from affected areas, tested positive for the virus.

Florida and New York have reported the most cases, followed by Tennessee, New Jersey, Rhode Island, California and Connecticut.

via Thirty-five U.S. states report travel-related cases of chikungunya | Vaccine News Daily.

Deja vu: EBOLA Fear Like Early Reactions to HIV/AIDS Liberia: ‘Greet Him From Distance’ – Phebe Doctor Face Ebola Stigma After Survival

Even though he is completely healthy, people are afraid to come near him or to have anything to do with him.

For example, Korkor arrived on the campus of Cuttington University Monday to ‘attend to personal issues’ but was kept at bay by friends, students and loved ones. ‘We want to hug our doctor but fear we would come in contact with the virus,’ one student told FrontPageAfrica. I will greet him from a distance.’

Another student only identified as Catherine told FrontPageAfrica: ‘I am happy doctor Korkor has returned but I am totally not convinced he is Ebola free. I will shake his hands after 21 days.’

That is the level of stigma that is lingering long after the virus has been purged from Korkor’s body. ‘Thanks to God, I am cured. But now I have a new disease: the stigmatization that I am a victim of,” Korkor was quoted by a local radio station in Gbarnga. ‘This disease (the stigma) is worse than the fever. I should have died, but I responded to care, which includes intensive hydration.’

Even though Korkor said he has been cleared of Ebola, he says that people avoid him. ‘Now, everywhere in my neighborhood, all the looks bore into me like I’m the plague,” he said. FrontPageAfrica reporter who trailed the Phebe doctor on Cuttington campus Monday observed that people left places when he showed up while friends, students and loved ones avoided his handshake or eat with him.

via allAfrica.com: Liberia: ‘Greet Him From Distance’ – Phebe Doctor Face Ebola Stigma After Survival.

The Satantic Temple uses Hobby Lobby ruling to claim religious exemption from anti-choice biased counseling laws

The Temple has helpfully provided a letter that people seeking an abortion can print out to explain to their doctor that they are exempt from informed consent mandates:

I regard any information required by state statute to be communicated or offered to me as a precondition for an abortion (separate and apart from any other medical procedure) is based on politics and not science (“Political Information”). I regard Political Information as a state sanctioned attempt to discourage abortion by compelling my consideration of the current and future condition of my fetal or embryonic tissue separate and apart from my body. I do not regard Political Information to be scientifically true or accurate or even relevant to my medical decisions. The communication of Political Information to me imposes an unwanted and substantial burden on my religious beliefs.

via The Satantic Temple uses Hobby Lobby ruling to claim religious exemption from anti-choice biased counseling laws.

New fears about Ebola spread after plane scare | Life , Health | THE DAILY STAR

{Thankfully, more and more news outlets are covering this epidemic now, even if a bit late into the process – any number of people exposed to ebola could fly anywhere in the world within 24 hours and potentially expose thousands – for real! The only saving grace is that, the disease requires direct contact with body fluids of someone infected – so it does not spread that quickly or by air. But! Someone could be exposed and not show symptoms for up toe 21 days!}

No one knows for sure just how many people Patrick Sawyer came into contact with the day he boarded a flight in Liberia, had a stopover in Ghana, changed planes in Togo, and then arrived in Nigeria, where authorities say he died days later from Ebola, one of the deadliest diseases known to man.

Now health workers are scrambling to trace those who may have been exposed to Sawyer across West Africa, including flight attendants and fellow passengers.

Health experts say it is unlikely he could have infected others with the virus that can cause victims to bleed from the eyes, mouth and ears. Still, unsettling questions remain: How could a man whose sister recently died from Ebola manage to board a plane leaving the country? And worse: Could Ebola become the latest disease to be spread by international air travel?

Sawyer’s death on Friday has led to tighter screening of airline passengers in West Africa, where an unprecedented outbreak that emerged in March has killed more than 670 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. But some health authorities expressed little confidence in such precautions.

via New fears about Ebola spread after plane scare | Life , Health | THE DAILY STAR.

Distrust based on “double-talk?” – FAO warns of fruit bat risk in West African Ebola epidemic

“We are not suggesting that people stop hunting altogether, which isn’t realistic,” said FAO Chief Veterinary Officer Juan Lubroth. “But communities need clear advice on the need not to touch dead animals or to sell or eat the meat of any animal that they find already dead. They should also avoid hunting animals that are sick or behaving strangely, as this is another red flag.”

Fruit bats – usually eaten dried or in a spicy soup – are thought to be the most likely reservoir species for the virus, which they can carry without developing clinical signs of the disease, and should be avoided altogether, according to FAO.

via FAO – News Article: FAO warns of fruit bat risk in West African Ebola epidemic.

Recalls, Market Withdrawals, & Safety Alerts > Wawona Packing Co. Takes Precautionary Step of Voluntarily Recalling Fresh, Whole Peaches, Plums, Nectarines, and Pluots Because of Possible Health Risk

Wawona Packing Company of Cutler, Calif is voluntarily recalling certain lots of whole peaches (white and yellow), nectarines (white and yellow), plums and pluots packed between June 1, 2014 through July 12,2014 due to the potential of the products being contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Wawona Packing has notified retailers of the specific lots being recalled. No other products are impacted by this recall. No illnesses have been linked to this recall to date.

Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

via Recalls, Market Withdrawals, & Safety Alerts > Wawona Packing Co. Takes Precautionary Step of Voluntarily Recalling Fresh, Whole Peaches, Plums, Nectarines, and Pluots Because of Possible Health Risk.

Some good common sense! The Ebola Denial Starts from the Top: Sierra Leone News

One of the major reasons behind the unprecedented scale of the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone has been the aspect of denial. The denial is visible from top to bottom. Yesterday July 17th 2014, even as an ambulance raced through streets of Freetown with a dead Ebola patient to be hastily buried, it was interesting to see top government cadre is still in denial as to extent of catastrophe.

 

Minister of Tourism Peter Bayuku Conteh yesterday asked journalists to tell potential tourists that Ebola was only found “in one region” of Sierra Leone. He passionately urged journalists to report such false information as a means of making tourists comfortable to come and visit Sierra Leone.

 

The minister is in denial of what Ebola represents. We wonder if this minister knows the implication of just one tourist catching Ebola here? Is it not better for tourists to stay away until we stop active viral transmission in the country?

 

So, until top cadre in government develop the required maturity on this issue, every time these government officials point at denial amongst the ordinary citizens, four fingers will be pointing right back at them. We just hope Posterity will not harshly judge this government on how it managed this Ebola crisis.

via The Ebola Denial Starts from the Top: Sierra Leone News.

Fail Self-Promotion – Ebola sensitization is murderous…says Co-founder | Sierra Express Media

70-90% die – that’s a fact and any chance of surviving requires immediate treatment in hospital!

He warned health experts and the media to stop spreading the wrong message that Ebola is a death sentence, assuring that the disease is treatable.

Gabriel Pratt observed that since the outbreak of the dreaded disease in Guinea and, subsequently, in Sierra Leone, its killing potential has been exaggerated.

via Ebola sensitization is murderous…says Co-founder | Sierra Express Media.

Kidnapped women, kids are ‘sex slaves’ in DR Congo | News , World | THE DAILY STAR

Anyone listening? Didn’t think so, since this has been going on for decades. As long as minerals keep flowing from Congo to rest of the world’s industries – no one seems to really care.

“Victims have been held as sex slaves – sometimes for months at a time – and sexually assaulted violently by several men, several times a day,” MSF psychologist Ana Maria Tijerino said in a statement.

The aid group also warned that men are being kidnapped and put to work as laborers in the gold and diamond mining region of Okapi, in the east of the vast, mineral-rich nation.

In just one village between May and early July, MSF said its medical teams provided consultations for 3,586 people and treated 143 women, three men and two children who had suffered sexual violence.

Last month a team treated 20 women in a single village who had been raped, it said.

“Violence and sexual violence are nothing new in DR Congo,” Tijerino said. “But for the victims, these atrocities are not normal. No one should have to accept violence on this level.”

MSF warned that many of the victims of sexual violence kept captive for weeks were not receiving vital medical aid that could protect against HIV, sexually transmitted infections or pregnancy.

“Months after an assault, the physical and psychological trauma is still apparent in the survivors,” Tijerino said. “Many suffer from pain, infected wounds, stress, depression and nightmares. They are scared for the future and haunted by what they have lived through.”

via Kidnapped women, kids are ‘sex slaves’ in DR Congo | News , World | THE DAILY STAR.

rubble and dust | Palestine Rose

Dr. Nasser al-Tatar, shining example

of selflessness and humanity,

worked continuous shifts for six days

in Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital;

…when he finally went home,

Dr. Nasser al-Tater,

watched as his home

where he had lived for 30 years—

was being bombed into rubble and dust

in less than one minute,

by an American F-16 ‘Falcon Fighter’ jet,

given to Israel by American tax payers…

via rubble and dust | Palestine Rose.