Communication

Mobile-phone records are an invaluable tool to combat Ebola. They should be made available to researchers

Sun, 2014-10-26 16:21 — mike kraft

THE ECONOMIST Oct. 25, 2014

With at least 4,500 people dead, public-health authorities in west Africa and worldwide are struggling to contain Ebola. Borders have been closed, air passengers screened, schools suspended. But a promising tool for epidemiologists lies unused: mobile cell phone data.

When people make mobile-phone calls, the network generates a call data record (CDR) containing such information as the phone numbers of the caller and receiver, the time of the call and the tower that handled it—which gives a rough indication of the device’s location. This information provides researchers with an insight into mobility patterns...

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Ebola Advice From Atlanta and Nebraska Doctors Fails to Ease Fears

Wed, 2014-10-15 15:21 — mike kraft

EMORY AND NEBRASKA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTERS SHARE DETAILS OF THEIR PROCEDURES WITH OTHER HOSPITALS

TIME MAGAZINE Oct. 14, 2014

By Alexandra Sifferlin

Physicians who are treating patients with the Ebola virus at Emory University Hospital and the University of Nebraska Medical Center shared their advice and protocols with worried hospitals and health care providers over a phone conference on Tuesday. Whether the conference really quelled these fears, however, was not exactly clear.

The intent of the conference, which was organized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), was to answer health care questions related to admitting and treating a patient with Ebola. There’s growing concern among health officials that hospitals without specialized isolation units and with little experience treating serious communicable diseases may not be fully prepared to treat the disease....

Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, seen in August 2014. Jessica McGowan—Getty Images

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The Problem With Ebola In The Media

Sat, 2014-10-11 16:55 — mike kraft

MEDIA AND SOCIAL MEDIA THREE PERSPECTIVES

FORBES Oc. 11, 2014

By Alic G. Walton

The Ebola situation in West Africa is clearly not good. The death toll is rising, and people continue to become infected.....

But the reality is that for people in America and other places outside of West Africa, the risk is still quite low. Caution is important, obviously, and airports and hospitals are taking measures to screen people and protect the public.

The real issue is a different one: Our fear of Ebola has become many times worse than the problem.

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http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2014/10/11/the-problem-with-ebola-in-the-media/

Mobile Phones, Social Media Aiding Ebola Fight

U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT Oct. 20, 2014

By Tim Risen

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CDC Develops Ebola Modeling Tool While WHO Trains Health Workers

Thu, 2014-10-09 23:56 — mike kraft

HOMELAND SECURITY TODAY Oct. 9, 2014

By Kylie Bull, Managing Editor

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has developed a dynamic modeling tool called Ebola Response that allows for estimations of projected cases over time in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The Ebola Response modeling tool can construct scenarios to illustrate how control and prevention interventions can slow and eventually stop the Ebola epidemic. Importantly, it can help public health and other planners make more informed decisions about emergency response resources to help bring the outbreak under control. The new tool allows input of data reflective of the current situation on the ground in affected countries and communities.

The Ebola Response modeling tool is intended to help local governments and international responders generate short-term estimates of the Ebola situations in countries, districts and villages. The tool, in the form of a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, is to be made freely available online.

Meanwhile, in Liberia, the World Health Organization (WHO) has established a new training program for health workers on Ebola care.

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Mobile Technology Key to Containing Ebola in West Africa

Thu, 2014-10-09 14:08 — mike kraft

VOICE OF AMERICA

BY Kim Lewis October 09, 2014

Description of the use of contract tracing and a mobile data collection and messaging software tool that expedites vital information to people in Africa and other regions of the world, in crisis situations.

Workers inside a call center, where people can phone to state their concerns about the Ebola virus, in the city of Monrovia, Liberia, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014

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http://www.voanews.com/content/ebola-mobile-technology-contacts-tracing-magpi/2477835.html

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Dallas Hospital says software flaw led to initial release of Ebola patent

Fri, 2014-10-03 13:58 — mike kraft

Update with additional information and text of the hospital statement (scroll down).

5 NBC News Chicago

Oct 3, 2014 • Updated at 7:53 AM CDT

The Dallas Hospital that sent Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan home said a software flaw, and not human error, caused doctors to miss the diagnosis, NBC News is reporting.

The electronic health records (EHR) system that the hospital uses has a separate workflow for physicians and nurses. The travel history of the patient was located in the nursing portion of the workflow within the EHR, but not in the physician's workflow.

“As result of this discovery, Texas Health Dallas has relocated the travel history documentation to a portion of the EHR that is part of both workflows," the hospital said.

Link to story

Source: http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/national-international/Texas-Hospital-Software-Blame-Ebola-Patients-Misdiagnosis-277988141.html#ixzz3F5cyR89B

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Scrutiny in Texas to Detect Whether Ebola Spread

Thu, 2014-10-02 13:32 — mike kraft

UPDATE

Officials: ‘About 100′ people may have had contact with the Texas Ebola patient

WASHINGTON POST OCTOBER 2, 2014 10:03 AM

Texas health officials said Thursday that there are "about 100" people who may have had contact with Thomas Eric Duncan, the man who is being treated in a Dallas-area hospital for Ebola.

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The Resilience Dividend by Judith Rodin

Thu, 2014-07-17 03:44 — Elhadj Drame

Published on Jul 10, 2014

Cities have always had to contend with things like natural disaster, economic and infrastructure collapse, and widespread illness. But globalization, climate change and rapid urbanization are making this moment in history different, and the stresses facing cities all the more complex. So how can cities survive, adapt, and grow, no matter what shocks might lie ahead? Join the Rockefeller Foundation's Judith Rodin for a look at what she calls "the resilience dividend" — investments that can minimize the disruptive effects of strain on a city, while simultaneously creating jobs, social cohesion, and equity.

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