Guinea

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS                                     NOV. 17, 2014

BERLIN  The World Health Organization has released a 17-page manual detailing how to safely bury people who have died from Ebola.

The U.N. agency said Friday the guidelines are part of an effort to reduce the likelihood of people contracting Ebola from corpses.

WHO Ebola expert Pierre Formenty says at least one in five infections occur during burials.

The guidelines give step-by-step advice to health workers for both Christian and Muslim burials.

See complete article
http://news.yahoo.com/un-releases-manual-safe-ebola-burials-154352654.html

See WHO manual

http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/137379/1/WHO_EVD_GUIDANCE_Burials_14.2_eng.pdf?ua=1

http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/ebola/safe-burial-protocol/en/

                                                                     Nov. 6, 2014

...a WHO-coordinated retrospective study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, provides evidence that supportive care, especially rehydration and correction of metabolic abnormalities, may contribute to patient survival.

The study analysed clinical data on 37 confirmed Ebola patients admitted for treatment at hospitals in Conakry, Guinea’s capital and most densely populated city.

The cases occurred during the first month of West Africa’s first outbreak of Ebola virus disease. Fourteen of the patients were heath care workers. The majority (12) acquired their infection in a health care setting.

The majority (65%) of patients were male, countering assumptions that women, who are more likely to provide home care for patients and prepare bodies for funerals and burials, are more frequently exposed and infected.

To replace fluids lost through severe diarrhoea, 36 patients (97%) received oral rehydration solution. Additional intravenous fluid resuscitation was given to 28 (76%) patients.

Read complete press release

World Health Organisation doubts feasibility of placebo-controlled trials in west Africa, but FDA favours ‘gold standard’

THE GUARDIAN                                                                                                           Nov. 6, 2014
By Sarah Bosley

Scientists involved in trials of experimental drug treatments for the Ebola epidemic in west Africa should not be compelled to withhold them from some patients, says the World Health Organisation, despite objections from the US that it is the only way to be sure they work.

Vials of the experimental VSE-EBOV vaccine for Ebola. Photograph: Mathilde Missioneiro/AP

UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME                                              Nov. 5, 2014

New York  -- The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is impairing the ability of governments to raise revenues, increasing their exposure to domestic and foreign debts and may make them more dependent on aid, according to the latest study (PDF) on the socio-economic impact of the crisis carried out by the UN development agency.

Investments in kick-starting economies and long-term development urgently needed

“We need to make sure that the Ebola outbreak does not lead to socio-economic collapse,” said Abdoulaye Mar Dieye, the Director of the Regional Bureau for Africa at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). “This crisis is already taking a toll on budgets and reducing the governments’ policy leeway to make much-needed investments in critical areas such as health and education for their citizens.” He added that the effects of the Ebola crisis will last long after the epidemic is brought under control.