Liberia

Measles

Tue, 2016-03-29 10:56 — Mohamed S

Key facts

Measles is one of the leading causes of death among young children even though a safe and cost-effective vaccine is available.
In 2014, there were 114 900 measles deaths globally – about 314 deaths every day or 13 deaths every hour.
Measles vaccination resulted in a 79% drop in measles deaths between 2000 and 2014 worldwide.
In 2014, about 85% of the world's children received one dose of measles vaccine by their first birthday through routine health services – up from 73% in 2000.
During 2000-2014, measles vaccination prevented an estimated 17.1 million deaths making measles vaccine one of the best buys in public health.

Measles is a highly contagious, serious disease caused by a virus. In 1980, before widespread vaccination, measles caused an estimated 2.6 million deaths each year.

The disease remains one of the leading causes of death among young children globally, despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine. Approximately 114 900 people died from measles in 2014 – mostly children under the age of 5.

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Six Years of CARMMA

Tue, 2016-03-29 10:39 — Mohamed S

Six Years of CARMMA: restoring gains in health service delivery

March 22, 2016 By Ahmed Sahid Nasralla (De Monk)

The Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone had an adverse effect on the health sector, with gains achieved in the implementation of the Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality (CARMMA) suffering a set-back as most women were afraid of accessing reproductive health care services.

Restoring such gains made over the years in maternal and infant mortality reduction initiatives is therefore a key post-Ebola objective in the three Ebola-affected countries of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

CARMMA @ 6

In Sierra Leone, to mark the sixth year of the CARMMA initiative, the Office of the First Lady (OFL) is collaborating with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS), UNFPA, PPASL and Marie Stopes Sierra Leone to host a one day meeting at the Bo government Hospital on the 22nd March 2016 with a focus on enhancing institutional delivery, increasing family planning services and cervical cancer awareness. Partners such as Marie Stopes Sierra Leone and PPASL will provide free family planning services on that day. The OFL will take the lead, with support from UNFPA and MoHS, in restoring the confidence of pregnant women to access reproductive health services.

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Hundreds of contacts identified and monitored in new Ebola flare-up in Guinea

Thu, 2016-03-24 09:38 — Mohamed S

Hundreds of contacts identified and monitored in new Ebola flare-up in Guinea

Nzérékoré, Guinea — More than 800 contacts of recently confirmed Ebola cases in Guinea’s southern prefecture of Nzérékoré have been identified and placed under medical monitoring in a bid to contain a new flare-up of Ebola virus disease.

A community in Dubreka Prefecture, Guinea, gathers for Ebola-awareness meeting.

WHO/P. Haughton

On 16 March, Guinean health authorities alerted WHO and partners to 3 probable Ebola deaths and 2 suspect Ebola cases in the village of Koropara Centre, all from the same family. The following day, the 2 suspect cases, a mother and her 8-year-old daughter, tested positive for Ebola virus disease. The child has since died in a treatment facility and the mother is reported seriously ill. A high-risk contact, who travelled to the neighbouring prefecture of Macenta to consult a healer, has also died and has since tested positive for Ebola, bringing the total number of probable and confirmed Ebola deaths in the flare-up to 5.

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WHO - Interim Guidance - Clinical Care for Survivors of Ebola Virus Disease

Thu, 2016-03-24 01:41 — Kathy Gilbeaux

who.int - February 24, 2016

CLICK HERE - WHO - Interim Guidance - Clinical Care for Survivors of Ebola Virus Disease

Overview

Today, there are over 10 000 survivors of Ebola virus disease. A number of medical problems have been reported in survivors, including mental health issues. Ebola virus may persist in some body fluids, including semen. Ebola survivors need comprehensive support for the medical and psychosocial challenges they face and also to minimize the risk of continued Ebola virus transmission.

WHO has developed this document to guide health services on how to provide quality care to survivors of Ebola virus disease. Table of contents include:

Introduction

Planning follow-up of the Ebola survivor

Common sequelae of Ebola virus disease and recommended evaluation and clinical management

Considerations for special populations

Monitoring for persistent Ebola virus infection in survivors: guidelines for testing and counselling

Infection prevention and control considerations in survivors

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Foreign nationals from Ebola-affected countries can stay 6 more months

Wed, 2016-03-23 10:42 — davidmc

The Obama administration said Tuesday it will allow foreign nationals from Ebola-affected countries in West Africa to stay in the U.S. for another six months, even though global health officials said the outbreak that killed 11,000 people abroad is officially over.

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Preventing Diseases From Crossing Borders in West Africa Post-Ebola

Mon, 2016-03-21 10:34 — Mohamed S

Preventing Diseases From Crossing Borders in West Africa Post-Ebola:

By Mirabelle Enaka Kima

When the Ebola outbreak was confirmed in Guinea two years ago, one of the reasons the virus spread so quickly was due to the high amount of people traffic across the borders of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. To mitigate the introduction of new Ebola cases or other diseases by cross border travellers, the Red Cross has introduced a community event-based surveillance system. It is successful, in large part, due to the engagement of community members.

Settled near the Kolantin River, a Red Cross health screening post is now part of the picturesque landscape at the popular Binticabaya border crossing between Guinea and Sierra Leone. Outfitted with a hand washing kit, a thermometer, and a register, volunteers at the screening post are ready to monitor people crossing the river between the two countries.

"I cross twice a week to visit my wife who lives in a nearby village in Sierra Leone," says one soldier as he stops to wash his hands before going for his temperature check.

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Treating Ebola with Plasma

Mon, 2016-03-14 14:06 — davidmc

During the Ebola outbreak of 1995 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, eight patients with Ebola were given blood transfusions from people who had recently recovered from Ebola. Seven of them survived.

The blood of people who have recently recovered from an infection contains antibodies that the body develops naturally to fight that infection. The transfusion of these antibodies into infected individuals (as whole blood, plasma, or concentrated antibodies) has a long history and has been proposed as a possible treatment for Ebola virus disease.

see more at: http://www.dddmag.com/news/2016/03/treating-ebola-plasma

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Building A More Resilient West Africa - How Open Innovation Can Help

Sat, 2016-02-27 20:29 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Improving local health workers’ access to real-time health information will enable a faster and better response to global health threats. / Neil Brandvold, USAID

medium.com/usaid-2030 - by Ann Mei Chang - February 11, 2016

. . . The next generation of health information systems have to not only quickly and accurately deliver the necessary information to healthcare workers, but they need to be able to communicate with each other. The wide range of people involved in combating epidemics such as Ebola need to be able to efficiently and seamlessly share information to ensure coordinated responses and better resource distribution. . . .

. . . To get the conversation started, USAID put out a call for innovative concepts for improving interoperability within health information systems in the developing world. We gathered over 40 organizations for a three-day co-creation workshop in Washington, D.C. in November. Almost 100 experts — including donors, engineers, software developers and implementers in the field — arrived to co-design a solution. . . .

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Ebola Survivors Suffer Long-Term Consequences: Studies

Sat, 2016-02-27 00:17 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Most people who survive an Ebola infection will have long-lasting health problems, say doctors from the US National Institutes of Health.

CLICK HERE - Press Release - American Academy of Neurology (AAN) - Most Ebola Survivors Examined in Study Experienced Brain Symptoms Six Months After Infection

CLICK HERE - Abstract - Survivors of Ebola Virus Disease Have Persistent Neurologic Deficits

nbcnews.com - by Maggie Fox - February 24, 2016

From headaches and memory loss to vision problems and infected semen, Ebola survivors are suffering serious, long-term effects from their battles with the deadly virus, new studies show.

The most high-profile patient may be Scottish nurse Pauline Cafferkey, who is back in a London hospital for the second time after her recovery from infection. But thousands of people in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone are also suffering, researchers say.

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At Davos, U.N. Appeals For Final $1 Billion To Fight Ebola

Sat, 2016-01-23 05:41 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Fabrice Coffrini via Getty Images

huffingtonpost.com - by Ben Hirschler

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 21 (Reuters) - United Nations agencies need a final $1 billion to fight West Africa's deadly Ebola epidemic as experts move to a new phase involving a massive detective operation to trace remaining cases, the U.N. Ebola chief said on Wednesday.

David Nabarro estimated that an overall total of $4 billion in new money, equivalent to all the aid committed so far, was needed by relief agencies and the worst affected countries themselves to end the epidemic and "help these countries to get back to the economic trajectory they had."

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