Category Archives: pandemic

IRIN Africa | Turning away the Ebola dying | Guinea | Liberia | Sierra Leone | Aid Policy | Governance | Health & Nutrition | Human Rights

Pierre Trbovic, an anthropologist from Belgium working with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) at the ELWA Ebola Treatment Centre, one of two in the capital, Monrovia, was forced to turn patients away: He had no choice – the centre was full and could not safely admit more patients.

“The first person I had to turn away was a father who had brought in his sick daughter in the trunk of his car. He was an educated man, and he pleaded [with] me to take her, saying while he knew we couldn’t save her life, we could save the rest of his family from her. At that point I had to go behind one of the tents to cry,” says Trbovic in a written testimony.

Other families pulled up in cars, let the sick out and drove off, abandoning them. One mother tried to leave her baby on a chair hoping that doctors would have no choice but to care for the child.

In streamed the patients, “but there was nothing we could do. We couldn’t send them anywhere else – everywhere was, and still is, full.”

Health workers are already completely overwhelmed by the brutal job of providing palliative care for Ebola sufferers: Each morning dead bodies must be body-bagged, and blood, faeces and vomit cleaned from the ward – and if they take on more patients, they risk lowering their safety guard which could prove fatal.

via IRIN Africa | Turning away the Ebola dying | Guinea | Liberia | Sierra Leone | Aid Policy | Governance | Health & Nutrition | Human Rights.

Ebola: ‘In decades of humanitarian work, I’ve never seen such suffering’ | Comment is free | The Guardian

Each day this week patients have recovered – in the early stages there were no survivors whatsoever. Yesterday seven people went home, including a young man who had painted the inside of one of our tents red when he arrived because he was bleeding so profusely. Our team had thought he had no hope of survival. It is lovely to see the patients going home with their certificate of discharge, though most have lost family members or friends, and can face stigma upon their return.

via Ebola: ‘In decades of humanitarian work, I’ve never seen such suffering’ | Comment is free | The Guardian.

Ebola outbreak: Malaysia sends W Africa medical gloves – BBC News

Malaysia plans to donate more than 20 million protective rubber gloves to five African countries affected by the Ebola outbreak, the government says.

They will be distributed among medical workers in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

via Ebola outbreak: Malaysia sends W Africa medical gloves – BBC News.

The Mathematics of Ebola Trigger Stark Warnings: Act Now or Regret It | WIRED

We need someone to take over the position of “command and control.” The United Nations is the only international organization that can direct the immense amount of medical, public health and humanitarian aid that must come from many different countries and nongovernmental groups to smother this epidemic. Thus far it has played at best a collaborating role, and with everyone in charge, no one is in charge.

A Security Council resolution could give the United Nations total responsibility for controlling the outbreak, while respecting West African nations’ sovereignty as much as possible. The United Nations could, for instance, secure aircraft and landing rights…

The United Nations should provide whatever number of beds are needed; the World Health Organization has recommended 1,500, but we may need thousands more. It should also coordinate the recruitment and training around the world of medical and nursing staff, in particular by bringing in local residents who have survived Ebola, and are no longer at risk of infection. Many countries are pledging medical resources, but donations will not result in an effective treatment system if no single group is responsible for coordinating them.

I’ve spent enough time around public health people, in the US and in the field, to understand that they prefer to express themselves conservatively. So when they indulge in apocalyptic language, it is unusual, and notable.

via The Mathematics of Ebola Trigger Stark Warnings: Act Now or Regret It | WIRED.

French minister ‘first from Europe’ to visit Africa’s Ebola-hit region – France 24

“I’m the first European minister to set foot” in the region since the start of the epidemic, Girardin told FRANCE 24’s sister station RFI in an interview ahead of the trip. “France can be proud,” she exclaimed.

Girardin’s visit follows a call from the World Health Organization (WHO), urging the international community to respond more quickly to stop the epidemic from spiraling out of control.

“I’m going to Guinea first to say that France is with them. And that’s not an insignificant message,” she told a news conference in Senegal’s capital, Dakar, on Friday.

“It’s also an important message to say that there are behaviours to adopt, that there are health systems that are resilient and that can take on this Ebola virus,” Girardin said.

“This is the case here in Senegal, it is the case in Ivory Coast and, unfortunately, not the case in Guinea, where health systems have proved less resilient to this virus, this epidemic,” she said, adding that Guinea desperately needs an overhaul of its health infrastructure, but noted “for that we need resources”.

via Africa – French minister ‘first from Europe’ to visit Africa’s Ebola-hit region – France 24.

Global response to Ebola marked by lack of coordination and leadership, experts say – The Washington Post

Global response to Ebola marked by lack of coordination and leadership, experts say – The Washington Post.

An accurate account finally. Problem is that the World Health Organization is expected to lead in this area, dropped the ball big time, I think, by being too sensitive to the behind the scenes expressed need by leaders of the nations impacted to downplay the problem, so income from trade and tourism would not be effected. Then August happened – game changed.

Avian Flu Diary: WHO: Cuba To Lend 165 HCWs To The Ebola Fight

WHO welcomes Cuban doctors for Ebola response in west Africa

Statement

12 September 2014

WHO welcomes the commitment from the Government of Cuba to provide 165 health professionals to support Ebola care in west Africa. The newly announced support includes physicians, nurses, epidemiologists, specialists in infection control, intensive care specialists and social mobilization officers, and will be concentrated in Sierra Leone.

“If we are going to go to war with Ebola, we need the resources to fight,” says Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization. “I am extremely grateful for the generosity of the Cuban government and these health professionals for doing their part to help us contain the worst Ebola outbreak ever known. This will make a significant difference in Sierra Leone.”

“Cuba is world-famous for its ability to train outstanding doctors and nurses and for its generosity in helping fellow countries on the route to progress,” says Dr Chan.

via Avian Flu Diary: WHO: Cuba To Lend 165 HCWs To The Ebola Fight.

PAHO warns of heightened chikungunya, dengue threats | CIDRAP

Since the start of the year countries in the PAHO region have reported almost 850,000 dengue infections, including 470 deaths, PAHO said in a press release. As of Sep 5, the area has reported more than 650,000 chikungunya cases, 37 of them fatal.

Both diseases are spread by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, present in most countries in the Americas.

The group said dengue prevention strategies can be applied to chikungunya, and it recommends beefing up efforts in six ways: patient care, social communication, surveillance, lab capacity, mosquito control, and environmental control.

via PAHO warns of heightened chikungunya, dengue threats | CIDRAP.

Spam/Spin/WhatMeWorry? Oxford study predicts 15 more countries are at risk of Ebola exposure – The Washington Post

{Complicity with spinning ebola story for profit of the newspaper and the university. If Ebola was that likely to move about quickly and to 15 more countries – this story would not be running would it? Ebola would already be a common disease in all these countries – and it is not. Why does it break out from time to time? No one knows and this “Oxford Model” does not tell us that. All you need to do the Oxford study is a map of where the two species of fruit bats live – and guess what? They are not limited to Africa. Something else is at play that triggers an outbreak and it is not greed for covering disasters!}

According to the Oxford model, in addition to the seven countries who have reported Ebola outbreaks in this epidemic and in past outbreaks since the disease was identified 1976, 15 other countries are at risk. There are five known strains of Ebola, and the one currently causing the West African outbreak, Zaire, is the most virulent. The other strains, Sudan, Taï Forest and Bundibugyo, have caused contained outbreaks in Ivory Coast, Sudan, and Uganda in the past. And the Reston species has not caused any known outbreaks, according to the World Health Organization.

via Oxford study predicts 15 more countries are at risk of Ebola exposure – The Washington Post.

Mexico first with dengue vaccination?

The second and final clinical trial of the drug was conducted on 20,875 children aged 9-16 in five Latin American countries, including Mexico. It provided high protection against dengue hemorrhagic fever and cut by 80% the risk of hospitalization, said the drug firm on Wednesday.

These tests and earlier ones in Asia showed the vaccine acts best as an immune booster for people with previous exposure, so it is seen as being the most useful in tropical regions where the disease is common, rather than a vaccination for tourists.

via Mexico first with dengue vaccination?.