Africa

WIRED     Essay by David Burris                                                                                        Dec. 14, 2014

...Deadly and infectious viruses such as Ebola are an inevitable and unavoidable fact of nature. In other words, they are examples of a Hard Trend. And they demand new innovations in order to combat them.

...the deadly force of Ebola is the kind of imminent threat that inspires human minds to new heights. It teaches us that Hard Trends come at us fast and provide the catalyst to overcome inertia and bring about technological innovations.

NIAID/Flickr

Communication is key to mobilizing populations in countries affected by Ebola. In order to treat the sick and prevent the spread of the disease, healthcare workers need to be able to coordinate with people on the frontline and know where to send supplies. At the moment, telecommunications technologies are not keeping pace with the intense demands that Ebola creates.

MILITARYNEWS.COM  by Richard Sisk                            Dec. 3, 2014

The U.S. military was scaling back its efforts against Ebola in Liberia amid encouraging signs of progress against the epidemic, Army Gen. David Rodriguez said Wednesday.

U.S. personnel construct the Monrovia Medical Unit site in Monrovia, Liberia. The MMU is being constructed in the event any medical workers in the area catch Ebola while assisting in Operation United Assistance. Craig Philbrick/Army

The military initially planned to construct 17 treatment centers of 100 beds each in Liberia, but will now set up 10 centers for virus victims. The first three centers will have 100 beds, but the remaining seven will have 50 beds, Rodriguez, head of U.S. Africa Command, said at a Pentagon briefing.

Rodriguez also said the military was looking at possibly easing the 30-day quarantine period for troops returning from West Africa. However, he stressed that no decisions had been made.

BLOOMBERG--By Andrew Pollack and Doni Bloomfield                                                                  Dec.4, 2014

ATLANTA-- An American health worker who may have been exposed to the Ebola virus arrived at an Atlanta hospital today for possible treatment after being evacuated by air from West Africa, where the outbreak is at its worst.

The health worker, who hasn’t been publicly identified, was admitted this morning at Emory University Hospital, which has successfully treated four other Ebola patients, the hospital said in an e-mail.

“Emory cannot share more details out of respect for patient privacy and in accordance with the patient’s wishes,” the hospital said. Phoenix Air, a medical charter company, flew the patient from West Africa, according to the statement. Earlier this week, Emory was named one of 35 U.S. hospitals designated to treat Ebola patients.

Emory didn’t say in what country the health worker may have been exposed.
Read complete story.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-04/health-care-worker-who-may-have-ebola-headed-to-u-s-.html

THE NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE                                                                                 Dec. 3, 2014
By Edward Cox, M.D., M.P.H., Luciana Borio, M.D., and Robert Temple, M.D.

...Studying investigational therapies for EVD presents scientific, practical, and ethical challenges. Not surprisingly, there has been substantial debate about the best and most appropriate study approaches.2,3 It is generally agreed that a trial with a concurrent control group, in which patients are randomly assigned to receive the test drug plus the best available supportive care (BASC) or to BASC alone, would be the most efficient and reliable way to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of candidate products.

 Some people in the health care community, however, have argued against such trials, urging instead use of a historical control — that is, making investigational drugs as widely available as their supply allows and then comparing mortality rates among treated patients with rates that would have been expected absent the drugs, on the basis of past experience with EVD.