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Health Team Fights Ebola Outbreak That Has Killed 14 in Uganda

The New York Times - by Josh Kron - July 28, 2012

KAMPALA, Uganda — An outbreak of the rare and deadly Ebola virus has killed 14 people in midwestern Uganda, many in the past week, the Ugandan government said Saturday.

A team of health experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization and the Ugandan government has been sent to the area, roughly three hours from Uganda’s capital, Kampala, to begin emergency response measures, according to a government statement.

The strain of the virus, which in recent years has killed at a rate often above 70 percent of those infected, has been identified as Ebola Sudan, one of the virus’s more common strains.

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The 'Chemputer' That Could Print Out Any Drug

Chemistry professor Lee Cronin with the 'chemputer' he has adapted from a 3D printer. Photograph: Murdo Macleod

When Lee Cronin learned about the concept of 3D printers, he had a brilliant idea: why not turn such a device into a universal chemistry set that could make its own drugs?

guardian.co.uk - by Tim Adams - July 21, 2012

Professor Lee Cronin is a likably impatient presence, a one-man catalyst. "I just want to get stuff done fast," he says. And: "I am a control freak in rehab." Cronin, 39, is the leader of a world-class team of 45 researchers at Glasgow University, primarily making complex molecules. But that is not the extent of his ambition.

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Lee Cronin - The Cronin Group - University of Glasgow, U.K.
http://www.chem.gla.ac.uk/cronin/

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How Climate Change is Increasing Cholera Outbreaks in Northern Europe

Rising temperatures: The Baltic Sea represents the 'fastest warming marine eco-system examined so far anywhere on earth'

(SEE LINK TO STUDY BELOW)

 

  • Vibrio bacteria, which is normally found growing in warm and tropical waters, now thrives in the Baltic Sea
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  • Bacteria strains will multiply as seas warm, predict researchers
  • The bacteria causes illnesses from cholera to gastroenteritis

    dailymail.co.uk - by Claire Bates - July 23, 2012

    Climate change could be driving an increase in illnesses such as cholera and gastroenteritis in northern Europe, scientists have warned.

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    A rise in temperatures in the Baltic Sea has triggered the growth of the water-borne bacteria Vibrio.

    An international team examined sea surface temperature records and satellite data in the Baltic, as well as statistics on Vibrio cases in the region.

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    Pakistan's Escalating Vaccine Tensions

    cfr.org - Laurie Garrett - July 18th, 2012

    Last year the CIA deployed a Pakistani physician to execute a phony hepatitis vaccine campaign in Abbottabad, hoping to extract blood samples from the children living inside a compound, thought to house Osama bin Laden and his family. Because of the vaccine deception, multiple imams and Taliban leaders have declared that vaccines are CIA plots. The ruse may also be responsible for what appears to have been an assassination attempt against a World Health Organization immunization convoy that injured two people on July 17.

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    Calculating the global health consequences of the Fukushima nuclear disaster

    submitted by Luis Kun

    homelandsecuritynewswire.com - July 18th, 2012

    Radiation from Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster may eventually cause approximately 130 deaths and 180 cases of cancer, mostly in Japan, Stanford researchers have calculated. The estimates have large uncertainty ranges, but contrast with previous claims that the radioactive release would likely cause no severe health effects. The numbers are in addition to the roughly 600 deaths caused by the evacuation of the area surrounding the nuclear plant directly after the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and meltdown.

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    How Doctors Without Borders is mapping the world’s epidemics

    Cholera cases in MSF facilitiesImage: Cholera cases in MSF facilities

    dailydot.com - David Holmes - March 9th, 2012

    Five years ago, Ivan Gayton would spend months at a time in the African bush with no connection to the outside world except for a satellite phone or a high-frequency radio.

    But today, the head of Doctors Without Borders in Nigeria spends 75 percent of his time on a computer or a cell phone, even when working in rural Africa. And while the sense of adventure may be diminished, Gayton says the new technologies have had an “astonishing” effect on his organization’s effectiveness.

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    Patient Outcomes and Environmental Monitoring System (POEMS)

             

    GHRF, and Nepal and Bhutan affiliated NGOs, along with Ministries of Health and Agriculture are partnering to utilize mobile and information technology tools to warehouse health and environmental data together to allow multi-level assessments and cross-correlation of outcomes to assess health and environmental impact. 

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    LED Research Shines New Light on Ultraviolet Disinfection Technology

    submitted by Lou Elin Dwyer

    medcitynews.com - by Frank Vinluan - May 14, 2012

    LED lighting isn’t just for illuminating rooms and roads. Someday it could be used to sterilize surgical tools or purify water.

    At the right wavelength, ultraviolet light kills microorganisms on surfaces and in water. But the effort to develop new UV disinfection devices that utilize LEDs has been hampered by the semiconductors used to make LEDs.

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    Video - The Atlanta Summit on Sustaining U.S. Leadership in Global Health & Water

    csis.org - May 21, 2012

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    World Health Organization (WHO) - World Health Statistics 2012

     

    World Health Organization (WHO) - who.int

    World Health Statistics 2012 contains WHO’s annual compilation of health-related data for its 194 Member States, and includes a summary of the progress made towards achieving the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and associated targets.

    This year, it also includes highlight summaries on the topics of noncommunicable diseases, universal health coverage and civil registration coverage.

    CLICK HERE - World Health Statistics 2012

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