Latest Ebola
News: WHO approves use of experimental Ebola drugs
The
World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the death toll in West African
Ebola-hit countries to reach 1,013. After emergence of issues regarding use of
experimental drugs for Ebola and their rightful beneficiaries, the WHO’s Ethics
Committee held a meeting on Tuesday to analyse the issues.
In
the statement released following the meeting, WHO’s Ethics Committee declared
that considering the scale of the outbreak, fatality rate due to Ebola
infection and the emergency of the situation, it is ethical to use experimental
drugs against the Ebola virus.
The
announcement came after Liberia’s President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, asked the
US for the drug to fight the virus. Washington Tuesday announced to provide
Liberia with experimental serum ZMapp, which has been used with success on two
US aid workers infected with Ebola in Liberia and repatriated to the US. The
White House and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the request
for the serum to treat Liberian doctors currently infected with the Ebola
virus.
A US government representative is
expected to bring the drug into the country later this week. The WHO also
reported that Liberia registered the highest number of new infections and
deaths between Aug 7 and 9, when 29 patients lost their lives and 45 new
infections were recorded.
Source: www.thehealthsite.com
13.08.2014
Ebola in India: Hyderabad airport
deploys four medical teams to screen passengers
Screening
for Ebola at international airports all over the country is getting stronger.
Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) at Shamsabad, suburb of Hyderabad,
sets ups four teams of doctors to screen travellers coming from West Africa
Ebola-hit countries.
According
to Jupaka Mahesh, Senior Regional Director (Regional Office for Health and
Family Welfare) and Airport Health Organisation Chief , the teams are working
round-the-clock to ensure careful examination of suspected Ebola cases by
checking their travel history and symptoms. He mentioned that any
passenger detected with warning Ebola symptoms like fever, headache, vomiting,
diarrhea, joint and muscle aches, among others, would be kept in the isolation
ward at Gandhi Government Hospital here where a nodal doctor has been
posted.
The
screening started ten days ago and as of now 150 passengers from Western
African region have been screened. There has been no case of the disease yet,
confirmed one of the senior doctors. The medical teams are also informing
passengers about the outbreak through awareness campaign at the RGIA coming
from the West African countries after the World Health Organisation (WHO)
declared the epidemic an international health emergency.
Source: www.thehealthsite.com
13.08.2014
Don’t let the shadow of your past eclipse the brightness of
your future
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