Disaster Response

What providers can learn from infectious disease outbreaks

Wed, 2015-01-07 15:56 — mike kraft

FIERCEHEALTHCARE by Leslie Small Jan. 5. 2015

(Two items. Scroll down.)

With the Ebola crisis far from over as a new year begins, both this current threat to global health as well as past infectious disease outbreaks carry important lessons for critical care providers, according to an article in the American Journal of Critical Care.

Because new pathogens are so unpredictable, "outbreaks reinforce the importance of critical care knowledge, skill and teamwork in uncertain situations," wrote Cindy L. Munro, R.N., Ph.D., and Richard H. Savel, M.D, both editors of the AJCC. "The recent Ebola outbreak reminds us that hand-washing, personal protective equipment and pristine technique are essential."

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Solutions

Read more about What providers can learn from infectious disease outbreaks
Log in or register to post comments

How Ebola Roared Back

Mon, 2014-12-29 23:51 — mike kraft

In-depth report and analysis of the evolution of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa

By KEVIN SACK, SHERI FINK, PAM BELLUCK and ADAM NOSSITER DEC. 29, 2014

For a fleeting moment last spring, the epidemic sweeping West Africa might have been stopped. But the opportunity to control the virus, which has now caused more than 7,800 deaths, was lost....

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Problem

Situation Report

Read more about How Ebola Roared Back
Log in or register to post comments

Ebola’s lessons, painfully learned at great cost in dollars and human lives

Mon, 2014-12-29 15:49 — mike kraft

In-Depth report on lessons to be learned from the Ebola crisis

THE WASHINGTON POST by By Lena H. Sun, Brady Dennis and Joel Achenbach Dec. 29, 2014

A year after it began, the Ebola epidemic in West Africa continues to be unpredictable, forcing governments and aid groups to improvise strategies as they chase a virus that is unencumbered by borders or bureaucracy.

The people fighting Ebola are coming up with lists of lessons learned — not only for the current battle, which has killed more than 7,500 people and is far from over, but also for future outbreaks of deadly contagions.

Alice Jallabah, head of a bushmeat seller group, holds dried bushmeat in Monrovia. (Zoom Dosso/AFP/Getty Images)

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Solutions

Read more about Ebola’s lessons, painfully learned at great cost in dollars and human lives
Log in or register to post comments

Year in Review: Efforts to stop Ebola are gaining ground, but the fight isn't won

Sun, 2014-12-28 15:56 — mike kraft

Ebola: Year in Review of 2014 developments
LOS ANGELES TIMES by Alexandra Zavis Dec. 28, 2014

...As 2015 approaches, there is reason to hope that what at first was a plodding international response is finally catching up with the virus. In Liberia, where just a few months ago bodies were left in the streets for days and patients were turned away from treatment facilities because there weren't enough beds or personnel, the number of cases has been dropping rapidly. There are also signs that the disease may be slowing in Sierra Leone, which has overtaken Liberia as the country with the biggest caseload.

Liberian children are encouraged to wash their hands at the Women in Peace Building Program in Monrovia. Ahmed Jallanzo / European Pressphoto Agency.

...Although the tactics being used have stemmed smaller Ebola outbreaks, some experts are beginning to question whether this one has spread too far to be fully contained without a vaccine or cure.

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Situation Report

Read more about Year in Review: Efforts to stop Ebola are gaining ground, but the fight isn't won
Log in or register to post comments

Lessons from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa

Fri, 2014-12-26 15:36 — mike kraft

Editorial Lessons learned from the Ebola outbreak

THE WASHINGTON POST Dec. 26, 2014

The Outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa this year came as a surprise. Perhaps no one could have predicted that such a terrible scenario would unfold. But over the past decade, there have been four major outbreaks of infectious disease caused by a virus: severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS; swine flu; Middle East respiratory syndrome; and now Ebola. Each has taken populations by surprise. Next time, the world should not be gobsmacked. It is possible to be better prepared, be more aware of the potential threats and not start from zero every time the alarm goes off.

...It would be smart to begin thinking of a more agile and effective organization or system for responding to such dire threats, one that could bring together a capability for surveillance, early warning and rapid response; and that would be wired into the pharmaceutical industry.

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Solutions

Read more about Lessons from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa
Log in or register to post comments

German Ebola treatment center officially opened in Liberia

Wed, 2014-12-24 01:22 — mike kraft

DW Dec 23, 2014

MONROVIA-- Liberia has hailed the official opening of its first German Ebola treatment center. The ceremony took place one day after global health officials announced that the Ebola death toll had passed 7,500.

The German-Liberia Ebola treatment Center was officially opened by Liberia's Assistant Minister for Health, Tolbert Nyenswah and the German ambassador to Liberia, Ralph Timmermann.

The center has an initial capacity of 50 beds. "There are three different wards - one for suspected cases, another for probable cases and yet another for confirmed cases," Christian Schuh, outgoing head of the German Red Cross told DW at the ceremony in the center in Paynesville on the outskirts of the capital Monrovia on Tuesday.

There are also facilities and space for nurses, doctors, pharmacies, training and teaching....

Timmermann said Germany had so far raised $150 million (123 million euros) to help fight Ebola in the three worst affected countries, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Solutions

Read more about German Ebola treatment center officially opened in Liberia
Log in or register to post comments

U.S. to Complete Ebola Treatment Units in Liberia by End of December

Tue, 2014-12-23 02:51 — mike kraft

WALL STREET JOURNAL by Junian E. Barnes and Felicia Schwartz Dec. 22, 2014
WASHINGTON—The U.S. will complete the last of its Ebola treatment units in Liberia by the end of December, setting the stage for the military to decide next month whether to send some service members home or send them to another West African country, the top U.S. commander in Liberia said Monday.

The U.S. will decide by mid-January whether to redeploy troops to Sierra Leone or Guinea or simply further shrink the size of the military mission in Liberia, Maj. Gen. Gary Volesky, the commander of the military’s Ebola task force, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

The military task force has been involved in the building of 14 treatment units, in addition to the treatment unit completed before the 101st Airborne Division arrived. ...

Read complete story

http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-to-complete-ebola-treatment-units-in-liberia-by-end-of-december-1419285448

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Situation Report

Read more about U.S. to Complete Ebola Treatment Units in Liberia by End of December
Log in or register to post comments

Ebola: limitations of correcting misinformation

Fri, 2014-12-19 21:56 — mike kraft

THE LANCET Dec.18, 2014
Communication and social mobilisation strategies to raise awareness about Ebola virus disease and the risk factors for its transmission are central elements in the response to the current Ebola outbreak in west Africa.1 A principle underpinning these efforts is to change risky "behaviour" related to "traditional" practices and "misinformation".

Populations at risk of contracting Ebola virus disease have been exhorted to “put aside, tradition, culture and whatever family rites they have and do the right thing”....Such messages follow logically from clinical and epidemiological framings of contagion.

They pay little attention, however, to the historical, political, economic, and social contexts in which they are delivered....

Read the complete article.

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2814%2962382-5/fulltext

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags: