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Showing posts with the label DRC

Ebola, HIV, Measles And Violence in DRC: Lessons for KP-led Organizations

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DRC Woes: Ebola, Measles and Violence The Ebola outbreak has spread to a third province in the DRC. A story by Tim Cooks of the Global Health Network (GHN) 2 new cases, including 1 death, were recorded in South Kivu, more than 700 kilometers south of the outbreak’s source, according to Reuters . A 24-year-old woman died on Thursday after visiting Beni in North Kivu, STAT reports via AP . Her 7-month-old child is being treated. The woman had been vaccinated after being identified last month as a “high-risk contact” of someone infected with Ebola, Reuters reports. There have been more than 2,800 cases recorded since the outbreak began more than a year ago, according to a report in the H5N1 blog . Adding to DRC’s woes: Measles has infected more than 145,000 people and killed more than 2,700, Médecins Sans Frontières reports today. The organization warns of “an alarming lack of a response” to the country’s worst measles epidemic in nearly a decade.  Armed groups ...

"Ebola is curable," Confirmed Award Winning Infectious Diseases Researcher, Professor Muyembe Jean-Jacques of DRC

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The Independent , AFP and Reuters run an article about two Goma cases who were cured of Ebola. "DR Congo's point man on Ebola voiced delight on Tuesday after researchers announced that two prototype drugs boost chances of surviving the dreaded disease. Jean-Jacques Muyembe, newly appointed by President Felix Tshisekedi to coordinate the year-long campaign against Ebola, said that out of four confirmed cases in the eastern city of Goma, "two have been cured" after 11 days of treatment. Expressing his "great joy," Professor Muyembe said, "This is a strong message for us that Ebola is curable. Today, the drugs are there." On Monday, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) said two drugs, out of four being tested among Ebola patients in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, had significantly boosted survival rates. The two drugs, known by their lab names as REGN-EB3 and mAb114, belong to a class of treatments called monoclonal ...