April 19, 2016

Results of the Wellcome Trust funded trial of the experimental anti-Ebola drug TKM-130803 have been published today (April 19) in PLOS Medicine. Using a novel approach designed to get rapid indications of a drug's effectiveness, the trial showed that at the dose given the drug did not improve survival compared to historic controls.

TKM-130803 interferes with the production of two essential Ebola virus proteins and has been shown to improve survival when given to monkeys experimentally infected with Ebola virus. Scientists from the University of Oxford and Sierra Leone worked with the humanitarian organisation GOAL Global, the World Health Organisation, and collaborators from a number of other institutions to test whether TKM-130803 could improve survival in adults with Ebola infection.

The researchers used a new approach to generate early evidence of effectiveness or ineffectiveness. This method can be used as a tool to screen potential therapies and determine the need for further studies (including randomised controlled trials) during an epidemic. The approach meant that the study was quickly able to reach a pre-defined point to stop the trial.

ambafrance-gn.org

Translation to English via Google Translate . . .

New cases of Ebola hemorrhagic fever have been reported in the prefecture of N'Zérékoré in Forest Guinea.

Any movement in this area is not recommended except for participation in pre-approved medical missions.

epidemiological situation in the April 16, 2016

- No new confirmed case to April 16.

- Since February 29 (1st suspected case): 10 probable and confirmed cases (seven confirmed and 3 probable).

- 8 deaths (probable and confirmed cases). No health staff is concerned

1. Health monitoring of the Embassy of France

- Continuous Embassy of France to follow in real time the evolution of the situation in conjunction with the Guinean Ministry of Health, WHO and NGOs on the ground, its European partners, and in Paris with the Crisis Centre of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

2. Tips and Recommendations

- To limit the minimum necessary traveling in areas where the epidemic is active.

- Do not eat bushmeat.

- Wash hands frequently.

- Do not touch prolonged sick with a high fever or gastroenteritis.

- When a person has on the temperature, how to deal remains: malaria research, medical and surveillance to monitor the disease.

Image: A map of the combined global status of Zika virus.

who.int - April 14th 2016

Zika virus, Microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome

From 1 January 2007 to 13 April 2016, Zika virus transmission was documented in a total of 64 countries and territories.

Mosquito-borne transmission:

Image: A photograph of a mosquito on human skin.

time.com - April 15th 2016 -  Alexandra Sifferlin

One thing that’s especially confounding about Zika is that as soon as something about the virus is understood, it comes under question.

Until recently, experts believed Zika was a relatively benign virus spread by mosquitoes. But now that it’s been linked to more than 1,000 microcephaly cases, scientists have taken a closer look, recently declaring it “scarier than we initially thought,” as one U.S. health official put it this week.

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)

WHO, partners and affected countries are stepping up planning for how to use an Ebola vaccine in response to an outbreak.

By Beny Sam
Thursday April 14, 2016

With all the efforts made by our ministry of water resources, the bulk of our compatriots are still thirsting for water. In Africa, many communities go without electricity for ages, but they cannot afford to go without water. If the United Nations perhaps knew March month is the driest month in most West African countries, may be they would have shifted the World Water commemoration from a day in March.  Why I see the date disturbing is that when our Ministry each year mobilizes resources to mark the World Water Day, I see it as a biting irony since that is the time Sierra Leoneans forage all over the place to have a drop of water to utilize for various purposes.

Thursday April 14, 2016

Africa Health Budget Network (AHBN) yesterday launched a new campaign dubbed #ValueOurHealth at Kona Lodge, King Street in Freetown which is a prelude to the Global launch tomorrow.
#ValueOurHealth campaign which theme is ‘open and participatory budgets lead to more and better health spending for women and children’ is calling on all governments in Sub-Saharan Africa to take urgent action to increase access to budget information and to provide more opportunity for public engagement in the budgeting process.

The Ministry of Health and Sanitation in collaboration with the Nurses and Mid Wives Board, has condemned the establishment of illegal nursing and midwifery schools around the country.
According to a release from the board, illegal nursing and midwifery schools pose a threat not only to the image of the noble profession, but also to the innocent unsuspecting public.
The release further states that nursing and midwifery is a profession that deals with people who need properly established institutions with sets of rules and systems governing the profession.

Malian health authorities say they are searching for two women who left Guinea after having had contact with a recent Ebola case.

Dr. Keni Diarra, head doctor at the health center in Kenieba in the Kayes region, said Wednesday the two Guinean women came to Mali Sunday. He said they are suspected to be in Hamdallaye, a village in Kayes.

The World Health Organization says there have been eight cases of Ebola and seven deaths since late February in Guinea, flare-ups that came months after the nation was declared Ebola-free.

In Mali eight people were infected with Ebola and six of them died in 2014 before it was declared free from transmissions in January 2015.

More than 11,300 people, mostly in West Africa, have died from Ebola since December 2013.

By Ade Campbell
Wednesday April 13, 2016

POSTED BY: PUBLISHER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER KABS KANU APRIL 13, 2016

By Edna Smalle
Wednesday April 13, 2016

A recent statistical update presented boy the Sierra Leone Legal Aid Board  on  their activities covering  1st September 2015 to 11th March 2016, shows that crime rate in the country is prevalent among youths.

Twelve (12) medical doctors from Saving Lives Initiatives in the United States of American  including two Sierra Leoneans, one Orthopedic and General surgeons 

Date:April 12, 2016Source:University of Liverpool

Researchers from the University of Liverpool and the King's Sierra Leone Partnership are to present new findings into post-Ebola syndrome at a major European conference this week.

The Matron at the Connaught Hospital, Isatu Kamara on Tuesday revealed to this medium that the hospital needs more doctors in specialised areas.
She made this statement in an exclusive interview in her office at the Connaught Hospital in Freetown.In responding to the recent development at the hospital, Matron Kamara said