Liberia

Study: Ebola Infections 17 Times Less Likely in Communities that Participated in Community-Led Total Sanitation

Wed, 2015-08-19 22:21 — Kathy Gilbeaux

globalcommunities.org - August 13, 2015

100% of 284 Open Defecation-Free Liberian communities reported they were Ebola-free

Research evidence points to a strong correlation between Community-Led Total Sanitation and Open Defecation-Free status and reduced risk of Ebola

Global Communities today released results of a study to examine whether communities in Liberia stood a better chance of resisting Ebola during the outbreak of the past 18 months if they participated in efforts to achieve Open Defecation Free (ODF) status. The study confirmed that a representative sample drawn from 284 Liberian communities that achieved ODF status by participating in the Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) process were Ebola-free despite their proximity to Ebola hotspots. Communities that began but did not complete the CLTS process also experienced significant protection and were 17 times less likely to experience Ebola Virus Disease infections.

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Ebola Scares Off Trainee Nurses in Liberia

Tue, 2015-08-18 23:09 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Marconi Collins, a nursing student at the Redemption Hospital in Liberia, cares for a patient as part of her internship, despite fears of Ebola. Photo: Prince Collins/IRIN

irinnews.org - by Prince Collins

MONROVIA, 18 August 2015 (IRIN) - Like hundreds of other nursing students in Liberia, Jerry Songu should have been beginning his internship this month, the final step to graduating and earning his license. Instead, he has chosen to put his studies and future career on hold.

“Ebola has no boundaries,” the 36-year-old, who is in his third year of nursing school at the Caldwell Community Nursing School in the capital Monrovia, told IRIN. “It killed registered nurses and it can also kill practising nurses. So this is nothing to play with.”

“For me, I have resolved to wait until everything [the Ebola outbreak] is totally over,” he said. “My life is important and I must do everything to protect it. Big [senior] doctors died in this country from Ebola and who am I to take the risk? I am just a student. No rush now.”

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The Use of Intraosseous Fluid Resuscitation in a Pediatric Patient with Ebola Virus Disease

Sun, 2015-08-16 17:42 — Kathy Gilbeaux

jem-journal.com - by Michael L. Paterson and Charles W. Callahan - August 14, 2015

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jemermed.2015.06.010

Abstract

Background

Vomiting, diarrhea, and severe dehydration are common manifestations of Ebola virus disease (EVD), leading to its high mortality. Mortality is especially high in patients older than 45 years, younger than 5 years, and in pregnant women and their fetuses. The majority of patients with EVD are not able to tolerate the quantities of oral hydration solutions necessary to rehydrate properly. Although some have speculated that IV and intraosseous lines are not practical in the austere, resource-constrained settings of an Ebola treatment unit during an epidemic, it is necessary to provide parenteral fluids and electrolyte replacements to significantly decrease mortality. Due to the inability to spend long periods of time working in hot environments wearing personal protective equipment, it is necessary to maximize the use of rapidly obtainable and safe parenteral access.

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Some Ebola Survivors Still Suffer—And Doctors Don’t Know Why

Sat, 2015-08-15 11:50 — mike kraft

SCIENCE by Katie M. Palmer Aug. 15, 2015

For the communities in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia where Ebola took the greatest toll last year, the worst is over. After claiming 11,000 lives, the fatal virus has finally begun to retreat. Numbers of new Ebola cases are dwindling. But for some of the survivors—the 50 percent or so of the infected who pull through—Ebola’s effects still linger.

Ebola survivor Fayiah, 11, sits with her relatives in Monrovia, Liberia. Jerome Delay/AP

For the communities in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia where Ebola took the greatest toll last year, the worst is over. After claiming 11,000 lives, the fatal virus has finally begun to retreat. Numbers of new Ebola cases are dwindling. But for some of the survivors—the 50 percent or so of the infected who pull through—Ebola’s effects still linger.

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Ebola survivors clinic opens in Monrovia

Fri, 2015-08-14 09:46 — mike kraft

WHO August 2015

MONROVIA -- Surviving Ebola is only part of the story. Many patients experience "post-Ebola" symptoms - joint pain, dizziness, blurred vision, inability to concentrate, headaches. The Ebola Survivors Clinic, opened recently at the Redemption Hospital in Monrovia, Liberia, not only offers treatment, support and training for Ebola survivors, but also helps health-care workers better understand this disease.

A Liberian doctor, Moses Soka, runs the Ebola Survivors Clinic that opened recently at the Redemption hospital in Monrovia WHO/C. Bailey

The line around Redemption Hospital in Monrovia was already stretching around the street corner when Dr Moses Soka arrived. The Ebola Survivors' Clinic had only been open a week, but word had spread and patients were beginning to come in numbers, patients of all ages and from across the city.

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Using Public-Private Partnerships to Combat Ebola Globally

Thu, 2015-08-13 22:16 — Kathy Gilbeaux

The Completed Containerized Biocontainment Systems Units at Dobbins Air Force Base, in Marietta, Georgia

blogs.state.gov - by Andrew O'Brien - August 13, 2015

In treating Ebola internationally, U.S. government personnel, doctors, nurses, aid workers, and other global health professionals are often put in direct contact with Ebola, and unfortunately some contract the virus themselves. Yet with limited resources, the U.S. Department of State needed more capacity to safely transport these Ebola patients to treatment facilities. Additionally, availability of medevac is important to getting doctors and epidemiologists from all over the world to volunteer to join the Ebola response.

By partnering with the Paul G. Allen Family Fund we were able to confront this challenge head on. Two containerized medevac biocontainment systems were funded by a $5 million grant by the Paul G. Allen Family Fund and the units were unveiled on August 11th at an event recognizing the partnership. MRIGlobal, a leading research institute, built the units, which are fully equipped to transport four patients, contain a broader array of dangerous pathogens, and fly aboard both military and civilian aircraft to multiple destinations in a single mission.

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How The Department of Defense Helped Confront Ebola

Thu, 2015-08-13 10:37 — mike kraft

GEORGETOWN PUBLIC POICY REVIEW by Col.Russell E. Coleman Aug. 12, 2015
WASHNGTON -- More than 10,000 people have died of Ebola virus disease (EVD) since the outbreak in West Africa began in December 2013. An epidemic of this magnitude, whether naturally occurring or caused by a biowarfare agent, could compromise both the U.S. health care system and the U.S. military’s ability to defend this country and its allies.

This possibility, long recognized by the Department of Defense (DoD), drives the department’s development of medical countermeasures. The response to the current Ebola outbreak demonstrates how DoD prepares for a medical threat without knowing (1) where it will happen, (2) when it might happen, (3) what the disease will be, and (4) what local resources will be immediately available.

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http://gppreview.com/2015/08/12/how-the-department-of-defense-helped-confront-ebola/

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Interagency Collaboration on Ebola - Situation Report - 12 August 2015 - WHO

Wed, 2015-08-12 18:01 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Ebola Situation Reports:

CLICK HERE - Interagency Collaboration on Ebola - Situation Report - 12 August 2015 (4 page .PDF report)

CLICK HERE - WHO - Situation Report - 12 August 2015

CLICK HERE - Report Archives - Interagency Collaboration on Ebola

CLICK HERE - Report Archives - WHO

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Handwashing in W.African schools protects children, families from Ebola: UN

Wed, 2015-08-12 11:23 — mike kraft

REUTERS by Monica MacSwan Aug. 12, 2015

LONDON -- Handwashing and giving out soap in schools in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have helped to keep classrooms Ebola-free this year but schools need to remain vigilant after the summer holidays, the U.N. children's agency said on Wednesday.

UNICEF said there had been no reported cases of students or teachers contracting Ebola at a school this year in the three worst-hit countries in West Africa, where the virus has killed nearly 11,300 people since the outbreak began in late 2013.

In Liberia, where there have been as many as 4,800 deaths, two schools were decontaminated as a precaution after one student died in June and another became infected in July.

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How Will We Ensure the New Ebola Vaccine Reaches Those Most in Need?

Tue, 2015-08-11 12:47 — mike kraft

HUFFINGTON POST by Mandeep Dhaliwal, Director of UNDP’s HIV, Health and Development Group, Bureau of Policy and Programme Support Aug. 10, 2015

We have reasons to be optimistic about the news of a new tool in the fight against Ebola. As in the fight against HIV, science and solidarity have come together to save lives. The phase III trials on efficacy of the VSV-ZEBOV vaccine have yielded an impressive result in a relatively short time -- 100 percent effectiveness in those receiving the vaccine.

While scientists still need to figure out how long the protective effect of the vaccine lasts, and how effective it will be among the general population and with different strains of the virus, without a doubt this is an important tool for the protection of health and community workers and possibly the wider community. This will certainly help in the on-going efforts to achieve the target of zero new Ebola cases and in overall recovery efforts.

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