Health - Sierra Leone

Researchers from the University's Institute of Translational Medicine have conducted a study of Ebola survivors to describe the medical problems they continue to have after recovering from the acute disease. The results of which have been published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

This week it was widely reported that a British Nurse, Pauline Cafferkey, who was thought to have made a full recovery from Ebola, has been taken to a hospital for a third time due to what health officials described as delayed complications from the virus -- raising further questions about the long-term impact of the disease on survivors. Cafferkey is one of thousands of survivors who have reported suffering from issues that appear to be related to late effects of the virus.

Symptoms persisting

Ebola survivors left with brain problems

Most Ebola survivors continue to suffer from brain impairments months after their initial infection, a study in Liberia reveals.

The study shows that the Ebola virus “penetrates into the brain and causes lasting symptoms”, says neurologist Lauren Bowen from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) in the United States.

Bowen and her colleagues travelled to Liberia to examine a group of people who survived Ebola virus disease, at least six months after their initial infection, and then follow them up over time.

“A cohort study of this type is challenging to do, but is the most rigorous way to study the problems of Ebola survivors.”

Jimmy Whitworth, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom

9 March 2016 – Starting this month, a thousand people living with HIV in Côte d’Ivoire will receive additional health information through their mobile phones, the United Nations agency leading the world’s HIV/AIDS response announced today.

The four-month pilot project in Abidjan is part of a collaboration between the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the telecommunications operator Orange.

This project “will allow countries to benefit from state-of-the-art technology that is cost-effective and simple to use, to ensure they can provide the highest quality of services for people living with and affected by HIV,” Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS, said in a press release.

By using a web-based platform, Orange Mobile Training EveryWhere (M-Tew), healthcare workers will be able to communicate via text messages, calls and voice messages, with people enrolled in care.

The people involved in the pilot project are those most affected by HIV in Abidjan, according to the press release, including 300 sex workers and men who have sex with men.

DFID makes the right noises over Ebola lessons

The outbreak of Ebola that devastated West Africa is out of the media spotlight, and no doubt many of us have wondered what happened to all those debates over lessons to be learned. A panel discussion at the United Kingdom’s Parliament delved into this issue last week.   The event was organised by the Africa All Party Parliamentary Group to launch a report reviewing evidence submitted in response to an inquiry into the Ebola response last year, which included our Spotlight collection.

See more at: http://www.scidev.net/global/ebola/scidev-net-at-large/dfid-ebola-disease-lessons-West-Africa.html#sthash.u9tzVGfh.dpuf