Health News – Page 14

3 Months After Ebola Infection the Semen of Survivors Remains Infectious

Written on December 16, 2014. Posted in Breaking News, Health News, Science News, World News.

Geneva – The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends men who have survived the Ebola infection should abstain from sex for at least three months or to use condoms. Some studies have shown that seminal fluid could contain the Ebola virus possibly up to three months, the UN agency said on Friday. But there is no need to isolate former Ebola patients, according to the WHO.

Ebola: A Day in the Life of a Chlorine Sprayer

Written on December 16, 2014. Posted in Breaking News, Health News, Treatments.

The phone rings. There is a dead body in the neighborhood and, as with every death in the city of Monrovia at the moment, Ebola is the suspected cause. The body of an Ebola victim is extremely contagious, so it must be collected, and the home and belongings of the victim disinfected. This task falls to B. Sunday Williams, a Liberian chlorine sprayer, and his colleagues in the Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) outreach team...

CDC disease detective explains why ambulance chasing is crucial to tracking Ebola

Written on December 16, 2014. Posted in Breaking News, Health News, World News.

(CDC) Ambulance chasing is a discouraged practice in the US – but in Liberia it’s exactly what Neil, a CDC disease detective in the Center for Global Health, had to do as part of his efforts to stop the spread of Ebola at its source. “We would follow ambulances that were called to pick up suspected Ebola cases. We would keep our distance and observe how they collected patients, and would make corrections to any lapse in infection control. As soon...

For Ebola Patients in Sierra Leone, Survival Takes More Than Medicine

Written on December 16, 2014. Posted in Breaking News, Health News, Treatments, World News.

BO, Sierra Leone—Morning rounds have just begun at an Ebola treatment center here in the city of Bo, in central Sierra Leone. The patients who are able shuffle out of a tent towards two layers of chain-link fence that separate them from the outside—2 meters minimum distance. Some clutch bottles of water, bright orange soda, or foil-wrapped nutritional bars. A woman in an orange printed wrap skirt lags behind the others, struggling to slide a sandal...

Potential Ebola Vaccines, Treatments – Improved Mouse Model Will Accelerate Research

Written on December 16, 2014. Posted in Health News, Science News, World News.

CHAPEL HILL, NC – In the war against Ebola, one important hurdle has just been cleared – by a mouse. Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and colleagues have developed the first genetic strain of mice that can be infected with Ebola and display symptoms similar to those that humans experience. This work, published in the current issue of Science, will significantly improve basic research on Ebola vaccines and treatments,...

Liberia treating Ebola patients with serum made from blood of survivors

Written on December 15, 2014. Posted in Breaking News, Government News, Health News, World News.

Liberia has begun treating Ebola patients with serum therapy – a treatment made from the blood of recovered survivors. Doctors hope the experimental treatment could help combat the virus that has been sweeping West Africa and killing thousands of people. Up to 13 December, 6,841 people had been reported as having died from the disease. The total number of reported cases is more than 18,000. If a person has successfully fought off the infection,...

This is what an Ebola curfew looks like

Written on December 15, 2014. Posted in Breaking News, Government News, Health News, World News.

Killian Doherty, an Irish architect working for the Architectural Field Office (AFO), has been in Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, for much of the Ebola epidemic. He documented the curfews in some dramatic photographs Emptied of people, it is even more clear that the city’s infrastructure is extremely dated … Freetown, Sierra Leone during the recent curfew. All photographs by Killian Docherty Sierra Leone has been severely affected...

Ebola stricken countries could see debt forgiveness

Written on December 15, 2014. Posted in Breaking News, Government News, Health News, World News.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — A U.N. commission is asking for more debt cancellations for the three West African nations hardest hit by the Ebola virus. The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa said Monday that it is crucial that the current Ebola health crisis not be a catalyst for financial distress in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. Carlos Lopez, a U.N. under secretary-general and the executive secretary of the U.N. Economic Commission...

Cuban Docs Most Under-Appreciated in the Fight Against Ebola

Written on December 13, 2014. Posted in Breaking News, Business News, Health News, Travel, World News.

Time magazine named the Ebola fighters as their person of the year, and while Americans came to know Dr. Jerry Brown, Dr. Kent Brantly and others by name … there is one group of those fighters who have gone largely unrecognized. Cuban doctors. They make less than $75 a month, but they are still Cuba‘s most valuable export. “I am proud of you all, this is my team,” Dr. Juan Carlos told his team as they gathered around a prep...

Ebola’s Lasting Impact On The U.S. Health Care System

Written on December 13, 2014. Posted in Breaking News, Business News, Health News, USA News.

Huffington Post- One of the biggest humanitarian tragedies in 2014 has been the Ebola epidemic, which to date has infected 17,942 people and killed 6,388. The epidemic continues in West Africa, and there is no doubt it will impact the governments, economies and people of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea for years to come. But while Ebola has affected the U.S. in a much smaller way, the handful of cases that arrived here may also have an enduring...