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Post-Ebola survivors hit by brain health issues - study

A majority of Ebola survivors suffer some form of long-term brain health problems, according to a new study.

Patients who were successfully treated for the disease were found to have neurological issues six months later.

The most common problems included muscle pain, headaches, memory loss and depressed moods, but in rare cases patients were suicidal, the US researchers said.

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Ebola: Sierra Leone's survivors return to daily life – but as outcasts

When Abibatu and Lanphia finally returned home from the field treatment centre where they came close to losing their lives to Ebola, they hoped it was an end to the terrible price that the virus which had robbed them of their father and two brothers had exacted from their family.

Instead, what awaited them was a second battle for survival against the disease – this time the struggle against stigmatisation and rejection by a community which blamed them for bringing the disease into their midst in Sierra Leone and sought turn them into outcasts.

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Low-cost portable device that can detect Ebola

Researchers have developed a low-cost and portable diagnostic device that can be used to detect Ebola infection and many other diseases. The device could be particularly useful to monitor endemic, epidemic and pandemic disease outbreaks in resource-limited developing countries that need portable diagnostic equipment that functions outside the hospital.

Read more at: http://www.oneindia.com/international/low-cost-portable-device-that-can-detect-ebola-2020618.html

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Ebola crisis provides framework for responding to outbreaks like Zika virus

As world leaders grapple with containing the Zika virus, the Ebola epidemic in West Africa provides valuable lessons for how to respond to other infectious disease epidemics, according to a policy report published by researchers at Princeton University and the Wellcome Trust.  

Rebuilding local health care infrastructures, improving capacity to respond more quickly to outbreaks and considering multiple perspectives across disciplines during decision-making processes are among the key recommendations the authors propose. 

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Ebola Treatment Using Plasma From Survivors Is Not Effective, Study Says

THE NEW YORK TIMES   By Sheri Fink, MD             January 7, 2007

A treatment once considered among the most promising for Ebola patients was not found to be effective in a study performed in Guinea, researchers reported Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine.

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Ebolavirus Evolution: Past and Present

PLOS PATHOGENS  by Marc-Antoine de La Vega,  Derek Stein, and GaryKopinger, University of Manitoba, Canada , Nov. 12, 2015    

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada The past year has marked the most devastating Ebola outbreak the world has ever witnessed, with over 28,000 cases and over 11,000 deaths. Ebola virus (EBOV) has now been around for almost 50 years. In this review, we discuss past and present outbreaks of EBOV and how those variants evolved over time. We explore and discuss selective pressures that drive the evolution of different Ebola variants, and how they may modify the efficacy of therapeutic treatments and vaccines currently being developed. Finally, given the unprecedented size and spread of the outbreak, as well as the extended period of replication in human hosts, specific attention is given to the 2014–2015 West African outbreak variant (Makona).

Read complete article.

http://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1005221

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Each 1-Day Delay in Hospitalization Ups Risk of Ebola Death

US NEWS AND WORLD REPORT HEALTHDAY NEWS by Robert Preidt,  Nov. 6, 2015

Ebola patients are more likely to survive if they are hospitalized soon after being infected, a new study finds.

Researchers analyzed data from nearly 1,000 cases of Ebola virus that occurred in the Democratic Republic of Congo over 38 years. They found that each day of delay in hospital admission was associated with an 11 percent higher risk of death during epidemics.

Delays in hospitalization were caused by factors such as geography, infrastructure and cultural influences, the researchers said.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has had more Ebola outbreaks than any other country since the deadly virus was discovered in 1976, they noted.

The researchers also found that rapidly progressing Ebola outbreaks are swiftly brought under control, while national and international responses to slower-progressing outbreaks tend to be less intense. As a result, those outbreaks last longer, the study authors said.

The study was published Nov. 3 in the journal eLife.

Read complete story.

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/articles/2015/11/06/each-1-day-delay-in-hospitalization-ups-risk-of-ebola-death

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The velocity of Ebola spread in parts of west Africa

THE LANCET by Kate Zinszer and others.                   Aug. 24,2015

In a speed outpacing control efforts, the Ebola virus disease (EVD) epidemic in parts of west Africa spread across Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone infecting an estimated 26 800 individuals and claiming more than 11 000 lives as of May 15, 2015.1 Mobile populations coupled with porous borders1, 2 and commercial air travel patterns3 affected the frequency and breadth of Ebola virus transmission.

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Cheap Paper Test to Screen Patients for Ebola, Yellow Fever, Dengue

MEDGADGET                                                                                   Aug. 20, 2015

BOSTON --At the 250th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society this week, researchers from MIT, Harvard Med School, and the FDA are showing off a new field test that can quickly screen people for Ebola, yellow fever, and dengue. While the researchers don’t claim their technique to be as accurate as PCR and ELISA, it is nevertheless an excellent tool in poor areas of the world where these diseases tend to thrive.

The test doesn’t require any water or electricity nor any complicated and expensive equipment. It works similar to pregnancy tests, providing a color readout that signals whether a disease is detected that is easily readable by just about anyone.

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Physicians: Global Vaccine Development Fund Could Save Billions

PHARMACEUTICAL PROCESSING by  Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs   Aug. 6, 2015

Ebola is a preventable disease, and yet a safe and effective vaccine has not been deployed. As with many vaccines, financial barriers persist: pharmaceutical companies see high costs with limited market potential, and government support is lacking. But there may be a solution to this vaccine crisis with the ability to save at-risk populations, according to a perspective piece written by physicians based at Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania and the Wellcome Trust.

The article, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, proposes the creation of a $2 billion global vaccine-development fund - supported by governments, foundations and pharmaceutical companies - that would carry promising vaccines through development to deployment. With initial support, the global vaccine fund could help make vaccines available for emergency use.

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