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Surviving Ebola: Physical & Psychological Ailments Linger for Many

LIVE SCIENCE by Rachael Rettner                          June 19, 2015

Many people who survive an Ebola infection experience appetite loss and joint pain for months after they are declared free of the virus, although nearly half say they feel they've made close to a full recovery, according to a new study of more than 100 survivors of the disease.

But in addition to causing physical symptoms, Ebola often leaves a lasting impact on people's social lives and mental health, with nearly all survivors reporting social rejection and a loss of self-confidence, the study found.

"Our findings highlight the need for continued surveillance among survivors of Ebola virus disease," the researchers, from Donka National Hospital in Guinea, wrote in the June 9 issue of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. "In countries where psychiatric and psychological care may be limited, provision of such care may require additional resources and awareness."

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http://www.livescience.com/51278-ebola-survivors-physical-mental-health.html

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Seven Graphics that Explain Energy Poverty and How the US Can Do Much More

          

cgdev.org - by Todd Moss and Madeleine Gleave - February 18, 2014

1.     Energy poverty is an endemic and crippling problem; nearly 600 million people in Africa live without access to any power, which also means no access to safer and healthier electric cooking and heating, powered health centers and refrigerated medicines, light to study at night, or electricity to run a business.  Here’s the situation in the 6 countries chosen to be part of President Obama’s Power Africa Initiative, home to nearly 1/3 of the continent’s population:

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Staying at zero: Keeping Ebola out of Liberia


WHO                                                                  June 19, 2105
Ebola transmission may be over in Liberia, but in northwestern Lofa County health officials are concerned about its return. The virus first surfaced in the county in March 2014 via a traveller from Guinea and went on to devastate the country.

All 6 districts of northwestern Lofa County share a border with Guinea or Sierra Leone, where the Ebola transmission continues. Every day, hundreds of people pour into Lofa from the 2 Ebola-hit countries — traders, merchants, farmers and other economic migrants, relatives of Liberians attending weddings and funerals and patients going to Liberian health centres in border towns. On market days, the numbers double. They enter Liberia through 33 official border checkpoints and nearly 300 unofficial, mostly unmanned crossings.

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Trial of Canadian Ebola drug stopped; no overall benefit shown

CANADIAN PRESS  by  Helen Branswell                       June 19, 2015

TORONTO -- A Canadian company that had been developing an Ebola drug says a clinical trial of the experimental product has been stopped.

Tekmira Pharmaceuticals says the trial was halted because it seemed clear that continuing was not likely to show that the drug works.

The drug is called TKM-Ebola. It was being tested with Ebola patients in Sierra Leone.

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http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/trial-of-canadian-ebola-drug-stopped-no-overall-benefit-shown-1.2430501

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Ebola showed aid delivery desperately needs an overhaul

REUTERS  by Stella Dawson                                                          JUNE 18, 2015

WASHINGTON -- The Ebola epidemic exposed long-standing holes in aid delivery,  which desperately needs an overhaul before the next international emergency hits, aid experts said on Thursday.

Supplies for the Ebola zone in West Africa wait to be loaded at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport September 20, 2014. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

Many of the shortcomings seen during the Haiti earthquake of slow responses and uncoordinated relief efforts were repeated during the Ebola crisis that erupted in West Africa a year ago, they said.

With Sierra Leone and Guinea continuing to report cases of the deadly virus, the international community must act urgently, said Carolyn Reynolds, external relations manager at the World Bank.

"We need to think outside the box," she said at a panel on global health preparedness held on Capitol Hill.

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www.trust.org/item/20150618215202-ilvea/?source=fiOtherNews2

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New Data Reveals Which Approach to Helping the Poor Actually Works

      

An Ethiopian man examines his crop near Korom in northern Tigray province, November 25, 2004.
REUTERS/Radu Sigheti

CLICK HERE - RESEARCH - A multifaceted program causes lasting progress for the very poor: Evidence from six countries

reuters.com - by Dean Karlan - June 17, 2015

For years, policymakers have debated different approaches to helping the poor . . . new data, published in May after a nine-year, six-country study, offers resounding evidence for a strategy that works.  An approach known as a "Graduation" program is such a strategy.

Organizations employing this approach had been offering participants a “productive asset” (an asset that generates income, such as livestock or supplies to sell in a small store), training on how to use it, healthcare to keep them healthy enough to work, a small amount of food or money to support themselves while they learned to make a living (so they didn’t have to sell the asset immediately, merely to eat), access to a savings account to build up a buffer for future emergencies, and weekly coaching in areas like overcoming unexpected obstacles and meeting their savings goals.

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World's Displaced Hits Record High of 60 Million, Half of Them Children - UN

reuters.com - by Joseph D'Urso - June 18, 2015

Almost 60 million people worldwide were forcibly uprooted by conflict and persecution at the end of last year, the highest ever recorded number, the U.N. refugee agency said on Thursday, warning that the situation could deteriorate further. . .

. . . "I believe things will get worse before they eventually start to get better," U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said at a news conference in Istanbul.

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Thailand Confirms First MERS Case: Health Ministry

      

Crew members of Thai Airways prepare to disinfect the cabin of an aircraft of the national carrier at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Thailand, June 18, 2015.  Reuters/Chaiwat Subprasom

reuters.com - by Pracha Hariraksapitak and Amy Sawitta Lefevre; Editing by Jeremy Laurence - June 18, 2015

Thailand confirmed its first case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) on Thursday, becoming the fourth Asian country to register the deadly virus this year.

Public Health Minister Rajata Rajatanavin told a news conference that a 75-year-old businessman from Oman had tested positive for MERS.

"From two lab tests we can confirm that the MERS virus was found," Rajata said, adding the man had traveled to Bangkok for medical treatment for a heart condition.

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(ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLE HERE)

CLICK HERE -WHO - MERS

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Pregnant Ebola patient may have been contagious for days without symptoms

REUTERS by Gene Emery                                                                         June 18, 2015

 NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Pregnant women infected with Ebola may be contagious for days before they show symptoms, a group of doctors is warning in the June 18 New England Journal of Medicine.

The warning is based on a single case and the woman did not actually spread the deadly infection to anyone. But laboratory tests revealed high levels of the virus when no symptoms were present.

Usually people aren't considered to be contagious until they start to feel ill.

The reason pregnant women may be an exception may have to do with the way pregnancy affects the woman's body, the doctors say. Her immune system becomes more tolerate of the fetus, whose tissues would normally be considered foreign.

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http://news.yahoo.com/pregnant-ebola-patient-may-contagious-days-without-symptoms-124114264.html;_ylt=AwrC0wxAAYNVTlEAmp7QtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTBybGY3bmpvBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMyBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg--

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Pope Francis, in Sweeping Encyclical, Calls for Swift Action on Climate Change

          

Pope Francis experienced extreme weather when he visited Tacloban - AP

Click Here - ENCYCLICAL LETTER LAUDATO SI’ OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS ON CARE FOR OUR COMMON HOME - (184 page .PDF file)

nytimes.com - By Jim Yardley and Laurie Goodstein - June 18, 2015

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Thursday called for a radical transformation of politics, economics and individual lifestyles to confront environmental degradation and climate change, as his much-awaited papal encyclical blended a biting critique of consumerism and irresponsible development with a plea for swift and unified global action.

The vision that Francis outlined in the 184-page encyclical is sweeping in ambition and scope: He described a relentless exploitation and destruction of the environment, for which he blamed apathy, the reckless pursuit of profits, excessive faith in technology and political shortsightedness. The most vulnerable victims are the world’s poorest people, he declared, who are being dislocated and disregarded.

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