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In pursuit of next-generation Ebola stockpile vaccines

REUTERS   by Kate Kell and Ben Herschler                                                                        Feb. 1. 2015
LONDON --As West Africa's devastating Ebola outbreak begins to dwindle, scientists are looking beyond the endgame at the kind of next-generation vaccines needed for a vital stockpile to hit another epidemic hard and fast.

 

Research assistant Georgina Bowyer works on a vaccine for Ebola at The Jenner Institute in Oxford, southern England January 16, 2015. Credit: Reuters/Eddie Keogh

Determined not to lose scientific momentum that could make the world's first effective Ebola interventions a reality, researchers say the shots, as well as being proven to work, must be cheap, easy to handle in Africa and able to hit multiple virus strains.

That may mean shifting focus from the stripped-down, fast-tracked vaccine development ideas that have dominated the past six months, but it mustn't mean the field gets bogged down in complexities.

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British Ebola patient recovering, no longer critical, says hospital

REUTERS                                                                                    Jan. 12, 2015

LONDON- A British nurse diagnosed with Ebola last month is recovering and is no longer in a critical condition, the London hospital treating her said in a statement on Monday.

Pauline Cafferkey, a 39-year-old nurse who normally works at a Scottish health center, became the first person to be diagnosed with the disease in Britain after contracting it in Sierra Leone where she was volunteering at an Ebola clinic.

"Pauline Cafferkey is showing signs of improvement and is no longer critically ill," the statement from the Royal Free Hospital said. "She remains in isolation as she receives specialist care for the Ebola virus."

Cafferkey is being treated with blood plasma from an Ebola survivor and an unnamed experimental anti-viral drug, the hospital has said.

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http://news.yahoo.com/british-ebola-patient-recovering-no-longer-critical-says-141357956.html;_ylt=AwrBEiLsF7RUKgYAww_QtDMD

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J&J, Bavarian Nordic start clinical tests in Ebola vaccine race

REUTERS     by Ben Hirschler                              Jan. 6, 2015
LONDON --Johnson & Johnson has started clinical trials of its experimental Ebola vaccine, which uses a booster from Denmark's Bavarian Nordic, making it the third such shot to enter human testing.

The initiation of the Phase I study in Britain, which had been expected about now, marks further progress in the race to develop a vaccine against a disease that has killed more than 8,000 people in West Africa since last year.

Two other experimental vaccines, one from GlaxoSmithKline and a rival from NewLink and Merck, are already in clinical development. However, the J&J vaccine offers a different approach, since it involves two separate injections.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/06/us-health-ebola-vaccine-j-j-idUSKBN0KF0HH20150106

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Ebola: as ZMapp stocks run out doctors turn to alternative treatments

THE GUARDIAN by                                 Jan, 5, 2015
LONDON --Even at the Royal Free hospital in London, the lead UK specialist centre for Ebola, doctors have limited options for treating their patients. In the end, survival may depend more on the strength of an individual’s immune system than anything medical science is currently able to do.

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Ebola in the UK: Infected nurse Pauline Cafferkey in 'critical' stage of treatment

THE INDEPENDENT by Kashmira    Gander            Jan. 1, 2015

Pauline Cafferkey, the British nurse who contracted Ebola in Sierra Leone, is entering a “critical” stage of her recovery.

The nurse from Glasgow is being treated with an experimental anti-viral drug and blood from a survivor of the virus inside a quarantine tent at the Royal Free Hospital in north London, her doctor has said.

Dr Michael Jacobs said Ms Cafferkey was being treated with convalescent plasma taken from the blood of a recovered patient and an experimental anti-viral drug which is “not proven to work”.

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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/ebola-in-the-uk-infected-nurse-pauline-cafferkey-in-critical-stage-of-treatment-9952904.html

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Ebola screening to be reviewed after doctor attacks ‘inadequate’ measures

THE GUARDIAN  by and              Dec. 31, 2014
LONDON--Public HealthEngland has vowed to review its Ebola screening measures after they were branded “utterly illogical” by an NHS doctor who returned from Africa with the Scottish nurse who has contracted the virus.

Public Health England said it would review its procedures, but defended its guidance as being in line with other organisations who have sent volunteers to Ebola-affected countries. Photograph: Amer Ghazzal/Rex

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NHS Ebola staff ‘insulted’ by UK travel ban

Volunteers’ anger at restrictions imposed on their return home from west Africa

THE GUARDIAN by Tracy Mcveigh                                                                                   Dec. 21, 2014

As the latest of the six British-built Ebola treatment centres in west Africa admitted its first three patients this weekend, some of the volunteer NHS staff working there over Christmas said they felt insulted by a draconian ramping up of the protocols they have been told they will have to follow when they return to the UK.

 

A British health worker puts on protective clothes at a Red Cross clinic in eastern Sierra Leone. Photograph: Baz Ratner/Reuters

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Ebola outbreak could be 'definitive humanitarian disaster of our generation', warns Oxfam

THE INDEPENDENT                                                  OCT. 18, 2014

LONDON ---Ebola is poised to become the “definitive humanitarian disaster of our generation", Oxfam has warned, with more troops, funding and medical aid urgently needed to tackle the outbreak.

In an "extremely rare" move, the charity is calling for military intervention to provide logistical support across West Africa.

It says the world has less than two months to counter the spread of the deadly virus, which means addressing a "crippling shortfall" in military personnel.

Oxfam’s call for more troops comes after UN chief Ban Ki-Moon criticised countries he said were able to provide financial support to the crisis for not doing so.
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UK Floods: Prime Minister Says Money No Object in Relief Effort

      

David Cameron: "Whatever money is needed, we will spend it."

bbc.co.uk - February 11, 2014

The prime minister says money will be no object as flood relief efforts continue across swathes of the UK.

David Cameron warned the severe weather was not over, saying: "Things could get worse before they get better."

Speaking at a Downing Street press conference after returning from the flood-stricken South West, Mr Cameron said: "Money is no object in this relief effort. Whatever money is needed, we will spend it."

He said recovering from the floods could take time, telling reporters: "It will be a long haul and it will require a stepped up national effort, with the whole country pulling together.

He vowed lessons would be learned, adding: "We will deal with the floods and we will build a more resilient country for the future."

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(CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW FOR UK FLOODING PICTURES)

http://www.businessinsider.com/uk-flooding-pictures-2014-2

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UK - Met Office - Most Exceptional Periods of Winter Rainfall in at Least 248 Years

metoffice.gov.uk - February 6, 2014

Regional statistics suggest this is one of the most exceptional periods of winter rainfall in at least 248 years
https://twitter.com/metoffice/statuses/431417739367165952

UK’s exceptional weather in context
http://metofficenews.wordpress.com/2014/02/06/uks-exceptional-weather-in-context/

Met Office
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/

 

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