Health

A national exercise to test Britain's readiness for an Ebola outbreak will take place today. Government ministers will join dozens of medical professionals from hospitals, the ambulance service and Public Health England for the eight-hour exercise in locations across the country. Actors will simulate symptoms of the deadly virus to test the response of emergency services, while some staff will wear personal protective equipment. A simulated meeting of the Government's Cobra emergency committee will also be held, chaired by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt. The exercise was ordered by David Cameron as part of the UK's contingency plan against Ebola, which has killed more than 4,000 people in West Africa. It comes after the Prime Minister was forced to defend the decision to introduce enhanced screening for the virus at major airports and terminals, saying it had been taken on "medical advice". Questions have been raised about the checks, which are to take place at Heathrow, Gatwick and Eurostar rail terminals, with a spokesman for Gatwick saying that the airport had not been given any instructions about how the screening should be carried out. The move was also criticised by health experts, with one describing it as a "complete waste of time", while Labour MP Keith Vaz said the lack of precise information available about the screening was "shambolic".

Details

Ngwa Bertrand

11.Oct.2014

Hits: 2562

Write comment (0 Comments)

A Guinean man quarantined in Brazil out of fear that he was infected with Ebola does not have the deadly disease, health officials announced Saturday after medical test results came in. "The health ministry says that diagnostic testing on the patient suspected of being infected with the Ebola virus is negative," a government statement said. "He's in good condition, and does not have a fever," said the statement adding, however, that he remains in isolation. The 47-year-old man had arrived from Africa last month. He checked into a clinic in the town of Cascavel complaining of fever on Wednesday.

Details

Ngwa Bertrand

11.Oct.2014

Hits: 2333

Write comment (0 Comments)

Foreign Office (FCO) officials are investigating reports that a British national has died in Macedonia of suspected Ebola. If confirmed it would be the first death of a UK national from Ebola, although British nurse Will Pooley was cured of the deadly virus last month. The news came as Downing Street said enhanced screening for Ebola will be introduced at Heathrow and Gatwick Airports and Eurostar terminals following advice from the Chief Medical Officer. An FCO spokesman said: "We are aware of the reports and are urgently looking into them." Mr Pooley, from Suffolk, became the first Briton to contract the virus after working as a volunteer nurse in Sierra Leone, which is one of the worst-hit countries of the current outbreak. He was flown back to Britain on August 24 and recovered after being treated in an isolation unit at London's Royal Free Hospital. Meanwhile, new enhanced screening techniques will be introduced for passengers travelling from the main Ebola affected regions in west Africa - Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea - to give Britain an additional level of protection from the deadly virus.

 

Details

Ngwa Bertrand

10.Oct.2014

Hits: 2672

Write comment (0 Comments)

Concern is mounting across the world as the killer Ebola virus is spreading to other continents after claiming almost 4,000 lives in West Africa. More people across the globe are being diagnosed with the deadly Ebola infection, including two cases in the US, one in Spain, and a recent finding in Australia.A 50-year-old nurse in Australia has become the latest victim of the virus after she developed symptoms following a visit to Sierra Leone. Meanwhile in Europe, Germany admitted a third Ebola patient, a Sudanese doctor, for treatment after taking care of two World Health Organization (WHO) employees who were infected with the disease. In Spain, a nurse indentified as Teresa Romero by Spanish media fell ill earlier this week after caring for two elderly missionaries who lost their lives because of the fatal virus upon their return from West Africa. Authorities in the United States have began screening people at airports over the spillover of the virus.

 

Details

Ngwa Bertrand

09.Oct.2014

Hits: 2371

Write comment (0 Comments)

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the spread of the deadly Ebola virus across Europe is almost inevitable. The WHO's European director, Zsuzsanna Jakab, made the comments on Tuesday, just hours after Europe's first case of Ebola infection was confirmed in Spain. "Such imported cases and similar events as have happened in Spain will happen also in the future, most likely," Jakab told reporters, adding, "It is quite unavoidable... that such incidents will happen in the future because of the extensive travel both from Europe to the affected countries and the other way around." Jakab went on to say that European health workers were at the highest level of risk, but "the most important thing in our view is that Europe is still at low risk and that the western part of the European region particularly is the best prepared in the world to respond to viral hemorrhagic fevers including Ebola.” According to Spanish health officials, four other people, apart from Spanish nurse Teresa Romero, who are suspected of having contracted the virus, have been placed under quarantine in an attempt to prevent the spread of the virus. On Tuesday, Romero, who treated two Ebola victims at a Madrid hospital, became the first person to contract the deadly virus outside of West Africa where the epidemic claimed the lives of thousands.The Ebola death toll in West Africa has risen to over 3,400, with more than half of the victims in Liberia.

 

Details

Ngwa Bertrand

08.Oct.2014

Hits: 2613

Write comment (0 Comments)

Major NHS hospitals across UK have been put on standby, as health officials warn of a “real risk” that the deadly Ebola virus could spread to Britain. The Prime Minister will convene a meeting of the Government's Cobra emergency committee on Wednesday morning to discuss the growing threat to the UK from the spread of Ebola. It comes after a Spanish nurse became the first person to contract the disease outside Africa, and as the United States drew up plans to screen arrivals for the virus. On Tuesday, public health officials in this country ruled out such a move. Four major NHS hospitals in England have now been identified as units to take patients with Ebola if the need arises. Currently, just one unit has been established, in the Royal Free Hospital in north London, which treated William Pooley, a British nurse who contracted the virus in Sierra Leone in August.

Royal Liverpool University Hospital NHS foundation trust, Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals Foundation trust and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals foundation trust have now been identified as hospitals which could take Ebola patients if the virus reaches the UK. Thirty medical staff in Madrid are now being monitored for signs of the virus, with four people, including the nurse’s husband, placed in quarantine. Today, David Cameron will today chair an emergency meeting in Whitehall to discuss the growing threat to the UK. It comes after the World Health Organisation said more cases in Europe are now “quite unavoidable”. Ministers yesterday announced plans to send a humanitarian operation out to West Africa, to treat medics with the disease. Latest forecasts from US scientists warn of a 50 per cent chance that the virus could reach British shores within three weeks. Under NHS contingency plans, protective equipment will be sent to hospitals in Sheffield, Newcastle and Liverpool, if the need arises. Operational guidance from NHS England dated last month warns that there are only two high level containment beds available in the country - both in the Royal Free Hospital – with no isolation units available at all in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Universities and schools have also been sent advice warning them to look out for pupils showing signs of fever who have travelled from West Africa.

 

 

Details

Ngwa Bertrand

08.Oct.2014

Hits: 2301

Write comment (0 Comments)