Guinea

How to stop the next epidemic

Sat, 2015-03-21 19:33 — mike kraft

THE ECONOMIST May 19, 2015

..when the next epidemic breaks out, how do we prevent it from spreading around the world? It is easier said than done.

First: Early detection is critical, and it relies on good surveillance. But only 64 of the 194 member states of the World Health Organisation (WHO) have the surveillance procedures, laboratories and data-management capabilities required by the International Health Regulations. Improvements in things like basic public health infrastructure are needed...

Second: A swift response to an outbreak – which might involve getting skilled people, equipment and money to the right places – can potentially save more lives than drugs and vaccines. ... The World Health Organisation and the global community were slow to recognise that there was an international public health emergency.

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Ebola data and statistics : WHO

Sat, 2015-03-21 19:04 — mike kraft

WHO SITUATION SUMMARY March 20, 2015

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Ebola-proof tablet designed by Google rolled out in Sierra Leone disease centre

Sat, 2015-03-21 15:09 — mike kraft

THE TELEGRAPH by Aislinn Laing March 20, 2015

An Ebola-proof tablet that can survive being doused in chlorine and can be used while wearing gloves has been developed by Google and technology volunteers for use by health workers in Sierra Leone.

MSFStaff testing one of the Clinical Management Tablets at the Magburaka treatment centre in Sierra Leone Photo: MSF

The Android device, based in a waterproof Sony Xperia with an extra protective casing, allows medics to safely record and share patient temperatures and symptoms over days and weeks....

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Video - Congressional Forum - “Building Resilient Communities: Ebola and Global Health Crises – Where We Need to Go”

Fri, 2015-03-20 22:01 — Kathy Gilbeaux

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KljU5Fx09y8

University of Missouri - youtube

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Congressional Forum - “Building Resilient Communities: Ebola and Global Health Crises – Where We Need to Go”

Fri, 2015-03-20 22:00 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Dr. David Nabarro - Congressional Forum

upmchealthsecurity.org

CLICK HERE -Agenda

CLICK HERE -Photos

CLICK HERE - Videos

On February 25, 2015 a Congressional Forum was convened.

Objectives:

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Spike in Ebola in Guinea could reflect access to hidden patients

Fri, 2015-03-20 15:48 — mike kraft

REUTERS by Misha Hussain March 20, 2015

DAKAR, Mar 20 - The latest spike in Guinea's Ebola cases could be a sign that aid teams are at last gaining access to hidden patients, rather than a surge of new cases, a senior World Health Organization (WHO) official said.

A woman cooks in Meliandou February 4, 2015. REUTERS/Misha Hussain

The number of suspected cases in the West African country has more than doubled from last month, according to the health ministry, prompting fears the epidemic could mushroom as it did in Liberia and Sierra Leone in September.

However, Jean-Marie Dangou, the WHO's Guinea country representative, said the uptick in cases was explained by previously hostile communities opening up to Ebola teams, mainly lead by the Red Cross.

"Unfortunately this has led to the discovery, not unexpected, of a large number of hidden cases and community deaths," Dangou told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an email.

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Deep in the jungle, hunting for the next Ebola outbreak

Fri, 2015-03-20 15:23 — mike kraft

THE WASHINGTON POST by Kevin Sieff March 20, 2015

NOUABALE-NDOKI NATIONAL PARK, Congo Republic — More than 3,000 miles from the fading Ebola crisis in West Africa, a team of U.S.-funded researchers is hunting deep in a remote rain forest for the next outbreak.

Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is seen just across the Congo River from Brazzaville, capital of Congo Republic. Researchers have come to Congo Republic to explore the role wild pigs may play in the transmission of Ebola from wildlife to humans. Nichole Sobecki/For The Washington Post

They aren’t looking for infected people. They’re trying to solve one of science’s great mysteries: Where does Ebola hide between human epidemics?

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WHO urges mass vaccination against measles, other diseases in Ebola areas

Fri, 2015-03-20 14:53 — mike kraft

REUTERS by Kate Kelland March 21, 2015

LONDON--The World Health Organization warned on Friday of a risk of outbreaks of measles, whooping cough and other diseases in West African countries hit by Ebola and urged a rapid intensification of routine immunizations....

The epidemic has disrupted delivery of routine childhood vaccines against measles, polio and tuberculosis, and of a combined shot against meningitis, pneumonia, whooping cough, tetanus, hepatitis B and diphtheria.

Jean-Marie Okwo-Bele, the WHO's vaccines director, told a briefing in Geneva that the health agency wanted an intensification of immunization services, and mass measles vaccination campaigns in all areas where feasible.

"Campaigns will only be conducted in areas that are free of Ebola virus transmission," he said, stressing that clinics and health workers administering vaccines would be required to adhere to very strict infection control measures.

The WHO sent a warning note to affected countries this week saying: "Any disruption of immunization services, even for short periods ... will increase the likelihood of vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks."

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Emails: UN health agency resisted declaring Ebola emergency

Fri, 2015-03-20 14:34 — mike kraft

ASSOCIATED PRESS by Maria Cheng and Raphael Satter March 20, 2015

GENEVA — In a delay that some say may have cost lives, the World Health Organization resisted calling the Ebola outbreak in West Africa a public health emergency until last summer, two months after staff raised the possibility and long after a senior manager called for a drastic change in strategy, The Associated Press has learned.

Among the reasons the United Nations agency cited in internal deliberations: worries that declaring such an emergency — akin to an international SOS — could anger the African countries involved, hurt their economies or interfere with the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.

Those arguments struck critics, experts and several former WHO staff as wrong-headed.

"That's like saying you don't want to call the fire department because you're afraid the fire trucks will create a disturbance in the neighborhood," said Michael Osterholm, a prominent infectious diseases expert at the University of Minnesota.

In public comments, WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan has repeatedly said the epidemic caught the world by surprise.

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3 ways mobile helped stop the spread of Ebola in Nigeria

Thu, 2015-03-19 21:51 — mike kraft

BROOKINGS TECH TANK by Joshua Bleiberg and Darrell M. West March 19, 2015

...There were a variety of factors that contributed to Nigeria’s success at combating the (Ebola) disease. One important factorwas the use of mobile electronic health records programs.

1. Training Healthcare Workers

Training health care providers was a priority at the beginning of the Ebola outbreak. A survey found that 85 percent of health care workers in the country believed you could avoid Ebola by abstaining from handshakes or touching. Correcting these myths about the disease was a critical part of the response effort, especially for health care workers.

2. Rapid Deployment

One of the virtues of mHealth is its speed and flexibility. Mobile allows officials to quickly disseminate the latest information to front line health care workers. Increasing the speed of communication is a general boon to any large public health response.

3. Virtual Records

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