Meningococcal disease – Togo
Since 1 January 2017, 201 suspected cases of meningitis with 17 deaths were reported by 19 health districts. In week 2, the district of Akebou which is part of the Plateau Region issued an alert after four cases of meningitis were reported. In week 4, the epidemic threshold was reached with nine cases and an attack rate of 12.4 per 100 000 inhabitants. From 2 January to 12 February 2017, 48 suspected meningitis cases with three deaths were reported (case fatality rate of 6.3%). Of these, 14 specimens were confirmed as Neisseria meningitidis serogroup W by PCR. (Source: WHO Disease Outbreaks)
Source: WHO Disease Outbreaks - February 23, 2017 Category: Infectious Diseases Tags: news Source Type: news
Lab notes: It's life, Jim, but not as we know it
Things took a turn for the mythological this week with the creation ofa human-pig hybrid, or chimera. It marks the first time that embryos combining two large, distantly-related species have been produced and is a big step towards being able to generate human hearts, livers and kidneys for transplant. And as if pig-humans (or human-pigs, or ... whatever) weren ’t enough, researchers havemodifiedE coli microbes to carry an expanded genetic code. Apparently this will ultimately allow them to be programmed, but also paves the way for the creation and exploitation of entirely new life forms. Given that human interactions wit...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - January 27, 2017 Category: Science Authors: Tash Reith-Banks Tags: Science Source Type: news
Appetite loss as a potential predictor of suicidal ideation and self-harm in adolescents: A school-based study - Kitagawa Y, Ando S, Yamasaki S, Foo JC, Okazaki Y, Shimodera S, Nishida A, Togo F, Sasaki T.
Suicide is a leading cause of death in adolescents, but detection of its risk is often challenging. Many mental illnesses share the common symptom of appetite loss and it is also known that people who suffer from these illnesses are at greater risk of suic... (Source: SafetyLit)
Source: SafetyLit - December 27, 2016 Category: Global & Universal Tags: Age: Adolescents Source Type: news
Quality Improvement Approach Increases Use of Contraceptives among Postabortion Care Clients in Togo
November 08, 2016Five health facilities in Togo drastically improved family planning services for and increased use among clients seeking care for postabortion complications, thanks to IntraHealth International ’s signature quality-improvement approach:Optimizing Performance and Quality. These results were published this fall inGlobal Health Science and Practice.Before the intervention, only 31% of postabortion care (PAC) clients received family planning counseling, and, of those who did, 37% accepted a contraceptive. During the intervention period, 91% of clients received counseling, and 60% of those women opted to use ...
Source: IntraHealth International - November 15, 2016 Category: Global & Universal Authors: intrahealth Source Type: news
Quality Improvement Approach Increases Use of Contraceptives among Postabortion Care Clients in Togo
Five health facilities in Togo drastically improved family planning services for and increased use among clients seeking care for postabortion complications, thanks to IntraHealth International’s signature quality-improvement approach:Optimizing Performance and Quality. These results were published this fall inGlobal Health Science and Practice.Before the intervention, only 31% of postabortion care (PAC) clients received family planning counseling, and, of those who did, 37% accepted a contraceptive. During the intervention period, 91% of clients received counseling, and 60% of those women opted to use a contraceptiv...
Source: IntraHealth International - November 8, 2016 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news
Traveling To Southeast Asia? Here's What You Need To Know About Zika Virus
The Zika virus epidemic in Latin America and the Caribbean has infected potentially millions of people and is pegged as the cause of congenital Zika syndrome, a birth defect affecting thousands of children in the region. It can cause brain damage, seizures, deafness, blindness and other neurological and physiological problems.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued travel advisories for 59 countries and territories throughout the world, including neighborhoods in Miami where the Zika virus continues to spread locally. Most of these areas are in Latin America and the Caribbean, while eight...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - November 1, 2016 Category: Science Source Type: news
Traveling To Southeast Asia? Here's What You Need To Know About Zika Virus
The Zika virus epidemic in Latin America and the Caribbean has infected potentially millions of people and is pegged as the cause of congenital Zika syndrome, a birth defect affecting thousands of children in the region. It can cause brain damage, seizures, deafness, blindness and other neurological and physiological problems.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued travel advisories for 59 countries and territories throughout the world, including neighborhoods in Miami where the Zika virus continues to spread locally. Most of these areas are in Latin America and the Caribbean, while eight...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - November 1, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Epidemiological data and forensic aspects of road traffic fatalities in Lom é, Togo - Tchin D, Atsi W, Tchaa TH, Essossinam K, Edèm JY, Amégbor KK, Gado NK.
We collected 190 forensic records from the only pathology laboratory in Lom é, over the period from January 2010 to December 2014. The sex ratio (M/F) was 4.4 and the decedents' average age 33.4 years. In 43.2% of cases, the accident resulted from a collis... (Source: SafetyLit)
Source: SafetyLit - October 7, 2016 Category: Global & Universal Tags: Engineering, Physics, Structural Soundness and Failure Source Type: news
Fatigue and sleep among employees with prospective increase in work time control: a 1-year observational study with objective assessment - Kubo T, Takahashi M, Liu X, Ikeda H, Togo F, Shimazu A, Tanaka K, Kamata N, Kubo Y, Uesugi J.
OBJECTIVES: This observational study aimed to determine how 1-year changes in work time control (WTC) have an impact upon objectively measured fatigue and sleep among employees. METHODS: Thirty-nine employees were divided into two groups according ... (Source: SafetyLit)
Source: SafetyLit - September 14, 2016 Category: Global & Universal Tags: Distraction, Fatigue, Chronobiology, Vigilance, Workload Source Type: news
Through The Challenge Initiative, IntraHealth will Improve Access to Contraception in Cities across West Africa
IntraHealth International is proud to announce its participation in The Challenge Initiative(TCI), a new three-year urban reproductive health program funded by the Bill& Melinda Gates Foundation.According to the United Nations,66% of people around the world will be living in urban areas by 2050—2.5 billion more people than today.Ninety percent of this increase will be in cities in Asia and Africa. Despite increasing urbanization, the poorest people living in cities rarely have adequate access to health information and services.TCI builds on the former Urban Reproductive Health Initiative (URHI), which the Gates F...
Source: IntraHealth International - September 13, 2016 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news
Togo slaughters 11,500 chickens after H5N1 bird flu outbreak
LOME (Reuters) - Togolese authorities said on Saturday they had slaughtered 11,500 chickens in response to an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu at two farms in the capital Lome and the town of Adetikope, about 25 km north of Lome. (Source: Reuters: Health)
Source: Reuters: Health - August 27, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: healthNews Source Type: news
Tarantula toxin untangles pain pathways
A toxin isolated from the Togo starburst tarantula provides new insights into pain mechanisms and could lead to new treatments for irritable bowel syndromeWith their large, hairy bodies and long legs, tarantulas are an arachnophobe’s worst nightmare. For pain researchers, however, these outsized spiders are a dream come true: Their venom contains a cocktail of toxins, each of which activates pain-sensing nerve fibres in different ways, and researchers in the United States have now identified one such toxin that will help them to better understand pain, and could also lead to treatments for the chronic pain associated wit...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - June 6, 2016 Category: Science Authors: Mo Costandi Tags: Science Neuroscience Source Type: news
Mosquito Nets or Fishing Nets?
Mosquito bed nets were enthusiastically championed by international NGOs as a low-cost strategy to treat malaria, and other diseases, such as dengue fever, that are also carried by mosquito.
But, following high-profile and expensive failures, bed nets programs have been criticized for failing the original vision. Anecdotes shared through the NGO community speak to their misuse; field workers describe their return to points of distribution only to find nets unused, or repurposed for some other activity, like fishing.
There are many theories as to why the nets are not more highly valued. The Guardian cite the uncomfortable ...
Source: EyeForPharma - March 30, 2016 Category: Pharmaceuticals Authors: Thomas Disley Source Type: news
Lassa Fever – Togo
As of 9 March 2016, the National IHR Focal Point of Togo notified WHO of the country’s first 2 cases of Lassa fever infection. (Source: WHO Disease Outbreaks)
Source: WHO Disease Outbreaks - March 23, 2016 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news
