Health & WellnessS


Bizarro Earth

Sierra Leone, Liberia deploy troops to enforce quarantine as Ebola toll hits 887

Umaru Fofana and Clair MacDougall
Reuters
Tue, 05 Aug 2014 02:31 UTC
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© Reuters
Hundreds of troops deployed in Sierra Leone and Liberia on Monday to quarantine communities hit by the deadly Ebola virus, as the death toll from the worst-ever outbreak reached 887 and three new cases were reported in Nigeria.

With healthcare systems in the West Africa nations overrun by the epidemic, the African Development Bank and World Bank said they would immediately disburse $260 million to the three countries worst affected - Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.

The World Health Organization, which warned last week of catastrophic consequences if the disease were not controlled, reported 61 new deaths in the two days to Aug. 1 as the disease continues to spread.

The outbreak began in February in the forests of Guinea. The toll there continues to rise, but the epicenter has since shifted to neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone.
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Ambulance

Sierra Leone 'unable to contain' ebola outbreak, international doctor claims


RT
Tue, 05 Aug 2014 01:56 UTC
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© Reuters / Tami Chappell
As health officials scramble to respond to the recent Ebola outbreak in West Africa, one emergency coordinator is claiming that Sierra Leone is incapable of handling the situation.

Speaking to CNN on Tuesday, Doctors Without Borders coordinator Anja Wolz said the country needs international help if it is going to stop the situation from getting worse. Specifically, she called on the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to become involved.

"I think that the government and the ministry of health here in Sierra Leone is not able to deal with this outbreak. We need much more help from international organizations - as WHO, as CDC, as other organizations - to come to support the government," she said.

"Still we have unsafe burials; people who are doing the burial without disinfection of the body; still we have patients who are hiding themselves; still we have patients or contacts of patients who are running away because they are afraid."
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Health

5 minutes or 50 minutes of running makes no difference in health benefits

Jayalakshmi K
International Business Times
Tue, 29 Jul 2014 18:59 UTC
running
© Creative CommonsBenefits from 5 minutes of running is the same as that from exercising for longer.
You don't need to clock record speeds or run marathons to stay healthy. A new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology finds that running as little as five minutes a day will do. It gives you the same benefits of running or walking for longer. The key is to sustain the practice.

Running may in fact be a better exercise option than more moderate-intensity exercises for healthy but sedentary people since it produces similar, if not greater, mortality benefits in five to 10 minutes compared to 15 to 20 minutes per day of moderate-intensity activity. The research followed more than 55,137 adults between the ages of 18 and 100 over a period of 15 years, recording their daily activity, including running.

Compared with non-runners, the runners had a 30% lower risk of death from all causes and a 45% lower risk of death from heart disease or stroke. The benefits were the same irrespective of the distance, frequency or speed. Benefits were also the same regardless of sex, age, body mass index, health conditions, smoking status or alcohol use.
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Syringe

Two U.S. aid workers being given experimental Ebola drug treatment


RT
Tue, 05 Aug 2014 18:48 UTC
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© Reuters / Umaru FofanaGovernment health workers are seen during the administration of blood tests for the Ebola virus in Kenema, Sierra Leone
Two US aid workers have been getting an experimental anti-Ebola drug and their condition has dramatically improved. However, it's not clear yet if the recovery is due to the treatment that's never been tested on humans and appeared only earlier this year.

Nancy Writebol and Dr. Kent Brantly are currently at Atlanta's Emory University Hospital. They asked for the treatment while still being treated in Liberia: despite the drug not being approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, the current restriction is only valid on the US territory, Reuters reported.

The pair contracted the disease while working in Liberia. An FDA spokeswoman said she could neither confirm nor deny that the drug had been used on the two aid workers after their arrival in the US.

Writebol, 59, has been in isolation in Liberia since her diagnosis was confirmed last month. After taking the drug, she is able to walk with assistance and has regained her appetite, according to Bruce Johnson, president of the aid group Writebol is working for, SIM USA.
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Ambulance

Moroccan minister announces death of Liberian man from Ebola virus in Morocco


Heritage
Tue, 05 Aug 2014 17:30 UTC
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The Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr. Morris Dukuly, has disclosed that a Liberian has died of the deadly Ebola virus in Morocco.

The Ebola virus, which has no cure, has killed at least 129 people here, and claimed more than 670 lives across the region. A top Liberian doctor working at Liberia's largest hospital died recently, and two American aid workers have fallen ill, underscoring the dangers facing those charged with bringing the outbreak under control.

Also recently, an official of the Ministry of Finance identified as Patrick Sawyer died of the disease at a Lagos hospital.

As a means of containing further spread of the disease, President Johnson-Sirleaf set up a taskforce to help in the fight of the disease and ordered the closure of the country's three land borders.

The Liberian leader also ordered that public gatherings be restricted and communities heavily affected by the Ebola outbreak be quarantined.
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Sherlock

Doctors in New York await test results of man admitted to hospital with Ebola symptoms

Tina Susman
LA Times
Mon, 04 Aug 2014 17:21 UTC
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It took about seven minutes for a man to be whisked into isolation at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital on Monday after he arrived at the emergency room with symptoms common to Ebola, health officials said as they awaited test results on the patient.

The man, who has not been identified, is at least the second person tested for possible Ebola in the last week in New York City. Last Wednesday, a patient was admitted to Bellevue Hospital and "immediately isolated with consideration for Ebola virus," the city's Health and Hospitals Corp. said in a statement.

"However, the patient is improving and ... this diagnosis is no longer being considered" following consultations with health officials, the statement said.

Officials at Mount Sinai said they hoped to get results on their facility's patient within 24 to 48 hours. They said there was no threat to anyone else in the hospital because of the rapid response from medical workers who had been alerted to the Ebola outbreak ravaging West Africa and trained in how to respond.
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Health

Tennessee doctor who recently returned from Africa voluntarily quarantines himself at home

Adam Tamburin
The Tennessean
Tue, 05 Aug 2014 17:15 UTC
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© APAccording to local reports in Liberia the sale of water buckets there has increased dramatically, because they are used by Liberian people to fill with disinfectant and to wash their hands to prevent the spread of the deadly Ebola virus.
An East Tennessee doctor who recently returned from treating Ebola patients in West Africa has voluntarily quarantined himself inside his home, and a local expert says it's an admirable move, but probably unnecessary.

Dr. Alan Jamison of Morristown - a city about three-and-a-half hours east of Nashville - recently returned from West Africa where he was working with Medical Teams International to treat Ebola patients. He is staying in his house, avoiding contact with the outside world until he is sure he does not have the virus.

Medical Teams International, an Oregon-based organization that dispatches groups of volunteers across the world to combat medical disasters, has been working in areas affected by the Ebola outbreak for several months.
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Health

Nigerian doctor diagnosed with Ebola virus

Faith Karimi and Ashley Fantz
CNN
Mon, 04 Aug 2014 17:07 UTC
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A Nigerian doctor has been diagnosed with Ebola nearly three weeks after a Liberian-American man with Ebola died after traveling to Lagos, Nigerian officials said Monday.

Nigerian Minister of Health Onyebuchi Chukwu told reporters that the infected physician had been treating Patrick Sawyer, a top government official in the Liberian Ministry of Finance who died of Ebola in a Nigerian hospital July 20.

Eight other people are being quarantined and three are awaiting Ebola test results, the health minister said.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization reports an outbreak of the virus in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria is believed to have infected 1,440 people and killed more than 826 this year.

The United States is planning to send 50 health experts to West Africa to help contain the outbreak.
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Black Magic

Flesh-eating bacteria kills 10 and hospitalizes 32 in Florida

Jeff Skrzypek
WFTS Tampa Bay
Tue, 05 Aug 2014 16:39 UTC
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ABC Action News has confirmed that there was a death in Sarasota County from the flesh-eating bacteria. The Sarasota Health Department apologized for not reporting it sooner.

New warnings issued Monday surrounding a bacteria found in the ocean that has already killed several people in Florida.

It is called Vibrio vulnificus, a cousin of the bacterium that causes Cholera and it thrives in warm saltwater. "Since it is naturally found in warm marine waters, people with open wounds can be exposed to Vibrio vulnificus through direct contact with seawater," the Florida Department of Health said in a statement.

The Florida Department of Health reports 32 people have contracted the bacteria and 10 have died from the strain. Last year, 41 people were infected and 11 died. Florida isn't the only state to report Vibrio vulnificus infections. Alabama, Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi have also recorded cases.
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Attention

Possible carrier of Ebola virus being monitored in Wales


RT
Tue, 05 Aug 2014 19:09 UTC
Wales_ebola
© Reuters / Wolfgang Rattay
Britain may be facing its first case of Ebola. A person in Wales is being monitored by health officials following a potential exposure to the virus.

Though the individual is not showing any concrete symptoms of the virus, the person has voluntarily limited their contact with others and will not be going to work, Public Health Wales (PHW) confirmed on Tuesday.

It is believed the individual may have been exposed to the virus in West Africa.

The recent outbreak of Ebola has so far killed 887 people across Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Nigeria. Over 1,600 separate cases of the virus have been detected throughout the region.

There are currently no confirmed incidences of the virus in Wales, or in the wider United Kingdom.

"We are alert to the possibility of Ebola cases in the UK given the outbreak in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea and we remain vigilant to unexplained illness in people who have traveled from the area," PHW told the Independent on Tuesday.

Measures are currently in place to protect public health in the event of an outbreak in the region, Public Health Wales added.

The potential Ebola carrier is not currently in hospital, according to a Public Health England (PHE) spokeswoman. But if the individual develops suspicious symptoms, the person will be quarantined in a local hospital and receive medical tests to discern whether he or she has contracted the deadly disease, the spokeswoman added.
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