The First Attempt to Digitize Ebola Health Records

Ebola treatment in West Africa is going digital. Keeping detailed patient records during the Ebola outbreak can be a nightmare. Currently, health care workers use very basic methods, ranging from scanning files to writing on white boards to calling results across rooms to simple memorization. But the International Rescue Committee (IRC), a crisis organization, is about to change that by bringing in electronic health records to its new Ebola treatment...

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WHO ‘wasted precious time’ over Ebola

The Belgian microbiologist who co-discovered the Ebola virus has accused the World Health Organization of dithering in reacting to the deadly epidemic and accused the international community of “hysteria.” Peter Piot said that while an initial delay in confirming the outbreak could be expected, there was no excuse for waiting a further five months before acknowledging the extent of the crisis… (read more)

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Ebola stigma hindering medical response, says Red Cross

Stigma against travellers from Ebola-infected countries is hindering the fight against the disease, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) says. The head of the IFRC, Mr Elhadj As Sy, warned that travel bans were preventing his organisation’s medical workers from dealing with the outbreak. He urged governments to avoid acting out of fear and misinformation… (read more)

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NBC’s Dr. Nancy Snyderman Apologizes For Violating Ebola Quarantine

NBC News’ chief medical editor, Dr. Nancy Snyderman, apologized Wednesday morning for violating her voluntary Ebola quarantine, asserting that she had broken the trust of many Americans. “Good people can make mistakes,” she said in an interview with “Today” co-host Matt Lauer. “I stepped outside the boundaries of what I promised to do and what the public expected of me, and for that I’m sorry.” (read...

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Ebola costs Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone $2 billion: World Bank

WASHINGTON/MONROVIA – The World Bank on Tuesday pledged further assistance to Liberia, the country worst hit by Ebola, and revealed that the epidemic would cost more than $2 billion across the region, causing once-booming economies to slow down or shrink. The report comes as the World Bank Group’s president, Jim Yong Kim, begins a two-day visit to West Africa to discuss ways of addressing the outbreak, which has already killed more...

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Ebola crisis: Appeal to reopen schools

Schools need to rapidly reopen in three Ebola-hit West African states as some five million children are being denied an education, a campaign group says. Education had become “one of the first casualties of the crisis” in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, it added. The “most marginalised” would bear the brunt of the crisis for generations to come if “safe schools” were not reopened, the group said. Ebola was...

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Obama urges Congress to approve $6 billion for Ebola fight

(Reuters) – President Barack Obama urged Congress on Tuesday to approve $6.18 billion to help fight the Ebola outbreak, reminding them that even though the story has faded from the headlines, the battle against the virus is far from over. “Every hotspot is an ember that if not contained can become a new fire, so we cannot let down our guard even for a minute,” Obama said. “And we can’t just fight this epidemic. We...

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Mass. General treating possible Ebola patient

BOSTON — Massachusetts General Hospital has admitted a patient who is under investigation for Ebola and will evaluate that patient. According to a memo to hospital staff, someone who was “undergoing routine monitoring by the Boston Public Health Commission,” and was also “under investigation for Ebola virus disease,” was admitted to the hospital at 2 p.m. Tuesday afternoon… (read more)

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General Health Systems Damaged by Ebola in West Africa

GENEVA – The World Health Organization reports the spread of Ebola is having a damaging impact on the delivery of health services for people suffering from other illnesses in the three severely affected Ebola countries in West Africa. And it says one of the root causes of the rapid spread of Ebola in the region is linked to the weakness in the health systems of the three heavily infected countries. Ebola has killed about 6,000 people. But...

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