A deadly viral illness is exploding in West Africa. Researchers are scrambling to figure out why
Reporting for this story was supported by the Pulitzer Center.
Irrua, Nigeria, and Kenema, Sierra Leone—
Sitting on a bench outside the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (ISTH) in Edo state in southwestern Nigeria in September 2023, Muhammed Luqman Dagana recounted his ordeal earlier in the year with Lassa fever, a deadly hemorrhagic disease of West Africa. At first the 33-year-old wasn’t alarmed—his fever, headache, body aches, and cough were innocuous enough. A doctor at his local clinic gave him antibiotics for typhoid fever and antimalarial drugs. But his symptoms persisted, so he tried anoth...
Source: ScienceNOW - February 22, 2024 Category: Science Source Type: news
Single Dose of New Typhoid Vaccine Protects Kids Long-Term
FRIDAY, Jan. 26, 2024 -- While largely eliminated in more affluent nations, typhoid remains a deadly scourge in developing countries, killing more than 110,000 children every year.
Children in endemic areas -- mainly sub-Saharan Africa and... (Source: Drugs.com - Daily MedNews)
Source: Drugs.com - Daily MedNews - January 26, 2024 Category: General Medicine Source Type: news
When Should We Consider A Rickettsial Disease?
Discussion
Rickettsioses are “small, obligate intracellular, gram-negative, aerobic coccobacillary α-proeobacteria” from the genuses Rickettsia, Anaplasma, Coxiella, Ehrlichia, and Orientia genuses. Often they cause limited health problems but can cause severe disease and death. They present with a fever and other non-specific signs and symptoms, usually with a rash and lymphadenopathy. Other problems can include:
Cardiac – endocarditis, myocarditis, pericarditis
Gastrointestinal – abdominal pain, acute abdomen, cholecystitis, hepatitis, pancreatitis
Heme/Lymph – hemophagocytosis, lymph...
Source: PediatricEducation.org - December 18, 2023 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Pediatric Education Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: news
How Old Do You Have to Be To Receive Yellow Fever Vaccine?
Discussion
In the United States, Yellow Fever (YF) is rare and usually due to traveler’s coming to the US from Africa (34 countries) or South America (13 countries, see maps here) This wasn’t always true. There were numerous outbreaks in the past few centuries. However, after the Spanish-American War, a YF commission was sent to Cuba that proved YF was mosquito-borne and 1 year later major improvement was seen due to a multi-pronged mosquito control program.
“In May 1900, the U.S. Army,…formed the U.S. Army Yellow Fever Commission to gather data in Cuba that might inspire improvements in the publi...
Source: PediatricEducation.org - October 9, 2023 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Pediatric Education Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: news
A Shot in the Arm Can Prevent Cervical Cancer
Afshan Bhurgri, a cancer survivor, advises women to listen to their bodies and be aware of the symptoms of cervical cancer. Credit: Zofeen Ebrahim/IPSBy Zofeen EbrahimKARACHI, Jul 26 2023 (IPS) “Listen to your body, and if there is anything strange happening, do not ignore it,” is the advice of 57-year-old Afshan Bhurgri, a cancer survivor.
Eight years ago, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer at a time when she was “in a good place” in life. Her kids were grown up, and she had more time to herself. A fitness freak, the schoolteacher’s daily routine included going to the gym daily. “I joined a creative writin...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - July 26, 2023 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Zofeen Ebrahim Tags: Asia-Pacific Development & Aid Editors' Choice Featured Gender Headlines Health Human Rights Humanitarian Emergencies Sustainable Development Goals TerraViva United Nations Women's Health Education Cannot Wait (ECW) IPS UN Bureau Source Type: news
Africa: Vaccination is the Best Bet Against Drug-Resistant Superbugs - Experts
[IPS] Karachi -- Childhood vaccination, complemented with clean drinking water and improved hygiene practices, are the key to eradication of typhoid XDR, not indiscriminate use of antibiotics, say Pakistan health experts. (Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine)
Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine - July 6, 2023 Category: African Health Tags: Africa Health and Medicine Source Type: news
Vaccination Is the Best Bet Against Drug-Resistant Superbugs — Experts
Experts encourage parents to vaccinate their children against typhoid to ensure that the child has access to clean drinking water. Credit: Zofeen Ebrahim/IPS By Zofeen EbrahimKARACHI, Jul 6 2023 (IPS) The first thing you notice about eight-month-old Manahil Zeeshan is how tiny she looks on the adult-size hospital bed at the government-run Sindh Institute of Child Health and Neonatology (SICHN) in Korangi, a neighbourhood in Karachi.
Her right foot is taped with a cannula, and she whimpers incessantly. “I have been in and out of the hospital for the last seven days,” said Uzma Mohammad, Zeeshan’s mom, with worry lines...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - July 6, 2023 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Zofeen Ebrahim Tags: Africa Civil Society Development & Aid Editors' Choice Featured Headlines Health Humanitarian Emergencies Inequality Poverty & SDGs TerraViva United Nations IPS UN Bureau IPS UN Bureau Report Pakistan Source Type: news
Malawi: Ministry of Health Upbeat to Surpass 9 Million Children in Vaccination Campaign
[Nyasa Times] Officials from Ministry of Health are upbeat they will surpass the nine million children target for the integrated mass immunisation campaign against typhoid, Polio, measles and rubella. (Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine)
Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine - May 22, 2023 Category: African Health Source Type: news
Malawi: Malawi Rolls Out Nationwide Typhoid Vaccination Campaign
[VOA] Blantyre, Malawi -- Malawi has launched a nationwide rollout of the newest typhoid vaccine for children under 15. (Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine)
Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine - May 15, 2023 Category: African Health Source Type: news
Typhoid Fever Surveillance, Incidence Estimates, and Progress Toward Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine Introduction - Worldwide, 2018-2022
This report describes high typhoid incidence in South-East Asian, Easter Mediterranean, and African regions. (Source: CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report)
Source: CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report - February 16, 2023 Category: American Health Tags: MMWR Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report Typhoid Fever Vaccination Vaccines Source Type: news
Small victories: South Africa is struggling to improve kids ’ health decades after apartheid’s demise
KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA—
By her country’s standards at the time, there was nothing too unusual about how Nosipho Mshengu arrived in the world. She was born on the side of the road on 20 September 1993, as her mother tried to get from Mafakatini, a rural village in South Africa where there was then no health facility, to a Roman Catholic clinic an hour away. The bus she awaited was nowhere in sight when time ran out, and Mshengu made her entry then and there.
This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center.
A little more than 14 years later, Mshengu was pregnant herself. Her labor story...
Source: ScienceNOW - November 22, 2022 Category: Science Source Type: news
How COVID-19 Vaccines May Affect Periods
When clinical trials began testing the various COVID-19 vaccines, one question participants weren’t asked about was whether they experienced any changes to their menstrual cycles or unexpected bleeding after getting vaccinated.
Soon after the vaccines were rolled out to the public, however, people began talking to their doctors about what they were experiencing. Many had noticed that their periods had become heavier than normal. Initially, some clinicians were dismissive, write the authors of a new survey on the topic published in the journal Science Advances. “In media coverage, medical doctors and public heal...
Source: TIME: Health - July 18, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Kyla Mandel Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 healthscienceclimate Source Type: news
Malawi: Study Shows Effectiveness of One-Shot Typhoid Vaccine
[RFI] A single dose of typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV) is safe and 84 percent effective in protecting against typhoid in Malawi, a recent study has found, raising hopes that thousands of children who die from the disease each year can be saved. (Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine)
Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine - October 18, 2021 Category: African Health Source Type: news
An Innovative Washington Law Aims to Get Foreign-Trained Doctors Back in Hospitals
Growing up in Somalia’s capital of Mogadishu, where people sometimes die of preventable or treatable illnesses like diarrhea, typhoid and malaria, taught Abdifitah Mohamed a painful lesson: adequate health care is indispensable. In 1996, Mohamed’s mother died of septicemia after spending nine months hospitalized for a gunshot wound. Her death, Mohamed says, inspired him to go to medical school, and for about four years he worked to treat the sick and injured in Somalia, Sudan and Kenya.
But Mohamed hasn’t been able to work as a doctor since 2015, when he left for the United States, where his wife emigrate...
Source: TIME: Health - October 11, 2021 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tara Law Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 healthscienceclimate Source Type: news
