npr--2019-09-05--Why The Measles Surge Could Open The Door To A Host Of Other Diseases

Why The Measles Surge Could Open The Door To A Host Of Other Diseases  With measles making a comeback in many upper-income countries including the United States and still rampant in some poorer nations such as Democratic Republic of Congo and Madagascar, a leading measles expert is warning of a danger beyond the spread of the disease itself: There's mounting evidence that when a person is infected with measles, the virus also wipes out the immune system's memory of how to fight off all sorts of other life-threatening infections – ranging from gastro-intestinal bugs that cause diarrhea to respiratory viruses that trigger pneumonia.  "All of the sudden you end up having not just more outbreaks of measles, but you might have more outbreaks of rubella or flu or any number of other diseases," says Dr. Michael Mina, a Harvard professor who has authored some of the most ground-breaking research into this so-called "immune-amnesia" effect from measles.  Mina says he plans to sound the alarm this weekend at a conference of vaccine researchers in Bilbao, Spain. In the poorest countries, he says, children could be at substantially greater risk of death.  For instance, say a two-year-old girl comes down with a particularly nasty case of flu – complete with a bout of pneumonia — but survives. In the process, her immune system learns how to produce antibodies against that particular virus. The next time the girl comes in contact with it, those antibodies would recognize the pathogen and quash it immediately.  But then imagine that, at age four, that same girl comes down with a case of measles that erases her immune system's record of how to produce antibodies against the flu strain she previously contracted. So if she encounters that particular flu virus again, she's back to square one – likely to come down with pneumonia all over again.  And just because she managed to survive the first time doesn't mean she'll survive again, adds Mina: "Every time we don't die from an infection we can basically think of it as, we got lucky." So by subjecting a child to the same infection a second time, "measles is basically making you play the lottery again."  Of course, in wealthier countries, children are far less likely to die of infections because they have access to better health care. But, says Mina, they're still subjected to other downsides, such as taking antibiotics that can trigger an adverse reaction or mess with the balance of bacteria in their gut.  Also, as more and more children lose immunity to diseases they fought off at a young age, those diseases could start raging through the wider population — not just children but the elderly and adults would be at risk. "We could see an increase in the transmission of all these pathogens that shouldn't be spreading past a certain age because normally kids are immune," says Mina.  Mina is careful to note that the notion that measles produces immune amnesia is still a hypothesis.  "But it's a hypothesis with really good data," he says.  For instance, back in the early 1960s, when the measles vaccine was first introduced on a mass scale in many countries, scientists observed that shortly afterward there was a massive drop in childhood deaths from not just measles but many other infections.  But it wasn't until 2015 that Mina and his collaborators were able to do a comprehensive statistical analysis of data reaching back to the 1940s. They found spikes in deaths from other childhood infections were directly predicted by measles outbreaks. And the effect lasted two to three years beyond the measles outbreak.  Since the publication of that finding — in the journal Science — researchers have found additional evidence for the immune amnesia hypothesis.  In 2018 a team led by Rik L. de Swart of Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands, found that children infected with measles in the United Kingdom were significantly more likely to suffer other infections requiring prescription of antibiotics in the two to five years following the measles infection.  Meanwhile, after decades of decline, measles cases have risen precipitously in recent years — due to a combination of hesitancy by parents in wealthier countries to vaccinate their children and a breakdown in the health infrastructure in less well-off nations. There have been massive outbreaks often involving tens of thousands of children in Brazil, India, the Philippines and Ukraine.  Last month the World Health Organization announced that four European countries – Albania, the Czech Republic, Greece and the U.K. – had all lost their previous measles-free status due to local outbreaks. This spring the number of cases in the United States topped 1,000 for the first time in more than two-and-half decades. And globally the total number of cases rose by 300 percent in the first quarter of 2019 compared to the same period in 2018.  Mina says if the immune amnesia hypothesis is correct, it's only a matter of time before the recent surge in measles infections produces a concurrent surge in other diseases. But he's urging public health officials not to wait to find out: If someone has been infected with measles, he says, "I think we should consider giving them all their childhood vaccines all over again."


npr--2019-10-31--Measles Virus May Wipe Out Immune Protection For Other Diseases

Measles Virus May Wipe Out Immune Protection For Other Diseases  This year saw the largest outbreak of measles in the U.S. since 1994, with 1,250 cases reported as of Oct. 3, largely driven by families choosing not to vaccinate their kids. Worldwide, the disease has resurfaced in areas that had been declared measles-free.  Some families choosing not to vaccinate argue that measles is just a pesky childhood illness to be endured. But two new studies illustrate how skipping the measles vaccine carries a double risk. Not only does it leave a child vulnerable to a highly contagious disease, but also, for individuals who survive an initial measles attack, the virus increases their vulnerability to all kinds of other infections for months — possibly even years — after they recover.  The research begins to explain something surprising that happened when the measles vaccine was introduced in the U.S. in the 1960s. Rates of childhood deaths from other diseases fell precipitously. The same thing happened as the vaccine was introduced around the world.  But what is it about the measles vaccine that seems to provide protection from more than just measles? The new studies published this week in the journals Science and Science Immunology provide substance to what has been the leading theory: Measles can damage the immune system by erasing the body's memory of previously encountered antigens.  One of the key features of our immune system is that it keeps track of the infectious agents we've encountered and uses that memory to prevent reinfection. But after someone gets the measles, their immune system appears to forget some of what it has encountered, studies suggest. It's an effect researchers refer to as "immune amnesia."  Previous evidence for immune amnesia has been based on mathematical models and population-level studies according to Dr. Michael Mina, assistant professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the primary author of the study released this week in Science. The new studies are the first to show "any of the real biology that helps explain the population-level effects," he says.  "Understanding how this happens has really been a burning question," says Dr. Duane Wesemann of Harvard Medical School. Wesemann authored an article in Science Immunology explaining the significance of both studies; he was not involved in either. "These two papers complement each other in an interesting way, and they both provide clues to help answer how measles causes immune damage."  The two studies used blood samples collected from 77 unvaccinated children in an Orthodox Protestant community in the Netherlands, before and after the children contracted the measles virus during a local outbreak. Parents in that community do not vaccinate on religious grounds but were willing to participate in a research study about the virus. The studies each investigated different branches of the immune system, and both found evidence to support the immune amnesia hypothesis.  "Even coming into this with a pre-existing hypothesis, the findings that we've made here are much more striking than we could have expected," says Mina.  The Science Immunology study released Thursday investigated whether the character of the immune system changed after measles exposure. The researchers sequenced the genes of immune memory cells and found that after recovering from measles, the children's immune system had a different landscape of certain types of cells.  "The immune cells that normally would recognize new pathogens — they become restricted in their ability to respond" after recovering from measles, says Velislava Petrova of the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the lead author of the Science Immunology paper.  "What was interesting is that we can recover our normal cell counts, but we're still immunosuppressed," she says.  To confirm that the decrease in cell diversity would translate into a weaker immune response, Petrova's team conducted an experiment in ferrets. They vaccinated a group of ferrets for the flu, exposed some of them to a measleslike virus, then tested to see whether the flu vaccine still worked. As expected, they found that the ferrets that had had measles were more susceptible to the flu than the control group.  The Science paper looked at the diversity of antibodies in the bloodstream using a new technique called VirScan. "This method allows you to — just from a drop of blood — detect your whole history of viral infection, looking at thousands of antibodies and their targets at one time," says Stephen Elledge of Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, who was the study's principal investigator.  What they found was that after measles, previously healthy kids lost on average about half — and as much as 73% — of their overall antibody diversity. Or, as Mina puts it, "measles seems to be punching holes in the immune memory."  "The real takeaway is that underneath the surface, measles is much more than a rash, and it's much more than just an acute viral infection. It's got these very long-term, stealthlike detrimental effects that are extraordinarily difficult to measure," says Mina. "We've been able to show that the effects are vast and impact almost all pathogens that somebody has seen."  Wesemann highlights the Science paper's finding that people who had gotten the measles vaccine showed increased immune strength. "You get the best of both worlds with the vaccine," Wesemann says. "You get the robust immunity against measles virus without having to be infected with it, but it doesn't cause the immune damage that the real measles virus causes."  "The measles vaccine is really a superhero," he says.  Elledge says that for parents who may be wavering on the edge of a vaccine decision, they can think of the measles vaccine "like a seat belt for your immune system."  "We know that seat belts protect against head injuries that can cause amnesia. The measles virus is like an accident too — it can give you immune amnesia. Think of the measles like an accident you can prevent in a parallel way," he says.


sottnet--2019-10-14--The disease that kills by stealing sleep - fatal familial insomnia

A brief bout of insomnia can be maddening. You know what it feels like. We all do. Lying awake chasing feverish thoughts from our minds while the slow tick of passing minutes compounds sleep-stealing anxiety.For most of us, these episodes are a brief interruption to our sleep schedules. Others experience more persistent insomnia, but at a level that's often manageable.Medical reports of the disease first surfaced in the 1980s , after an Italian man named Silvano presented himself to neurologists with a dire prediction: He was going to die soon, and he knew how it would happen.It was no hyperbole — Silvano's two sisters had recently died from a strange disease that robbed them of their ability to sleep. He had just experienced the same symptoms that kicked off his siblings' spirals into fatal insomnia.The hallmark of FFI is contained in the name. What starts as difficulty sleeping gradually progresses to a complete inability to fall asleep. Sleeping medications don't seem to help much — even with a pharmaceutical push, the brain cannot cross the threshold into sleep.Silvano's pronouncement turned out to be true; he was soon dead. As writer D.T. Max chronicles in his book The Family That Couldn't Sleep: A Medical Mystery, subsequent studies of Silvano and his family members revealed crucial similarities to a seemingly unrelated disorder: Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.CJD is characterized by memory problems, personality changes and involuntary movements, among other things, and it is eventually fatal. The disease shows up later in life, typically in a person's 50s or later. It's caused by a quirk of biology known as a prion, a misfolded protein, and that's what eventually tipped Silvano's doctors off to the nature of his family's curse.Prions occur when a normal protein in our bodies gets folded into an unintended shape. All proteins get folded in our bodies, in complex, origami-like ways that we still don't fully understand. The folds are crucial to a protein's ability to function normally inside our cells, but a misfolded protein can be deadly. This is because prions can cause the proteins around them to become misfolded as well, spreading destruction in a wave of misshapen molecules. In this way, a prion can infect a person's body like a virus, despite having no DNA, no life, to speak of.Fatal familial insomnia is caused by a prion version of the PrP protein — a protein found throughout our bodies, though its functions aren't well understood. The disease most often arises due to two genetic mutations to the PRNP gene, though cases of FFI can occur in those without the mutations as well. Though the disease's mechanisms are still little-understood, it seems that prions build up in a region of the brain called the thalamus, which helps regulate our sleep-wake cycle, among other things.FFI usually begins with mild insomnia, mild dementia and muscle spasms. Sufferers may also notice themselves sweating profusely, and their pupils may shrink to pinpricks. As the disease progresses, the afflicted lose all ability to sleep and may experience rapid weight loss. They begin to live in a trance-like state, seemingly caught between sleep and waking, though it offers no respite. Dementia and panic attacks steadily worsen, and the patient eventually slips away. The average survival time is 18 months.There is no known cure for FFI, and few palliative treatments exist.While some researchers are forging ahead in a search for a cure, at the moment, the little hope that exists for those diagnosed with the disease comes from a man known only in the medical literature as "DH."The subject was 52 years old when he contracted FFI, which had already killed his father and three other family members. A naturopath with a doctorate and an evidently fierce will to live, he set out on a voyage of self-preservation . DH at first downed an impressive daily regimen of vitamins, including niacin, antioxidants, brewer's yeast, tryptophan and melatonin, a cocktail that reportedly allowed him to sleep five or six hours most nights.But after five months, the vitamins stopped working their magic, and he moved to more potent solutions. He tried ketamine, nitrous oxide, choloroform and combinations of various prescription sleep medications. They worked, but not for long. He then turned to stimulants, aiming to improve the quality of his waking hours. Taken several times a day, the drugs left him feeling refreshed, and even allowed him to sleep for several hours as they wore off, he reported. Later experiments with a sensory-deprivation chamber also appeared to allow him to sleep briefly.But, by this time, more than a year into his diagnosis, DH's body was beginning to wear down, likely a consequence of his disease and his pharmaceutical attempts to thwart it. Though he continued to struggle on, touring the country in a motor home driven during bouts of stimulant-induced clarity and writing a book, he eventually succumbed to cardiac arrest 26 months after contracting FFI.It's not entirely clear what eventually kills those with FFI. While it's likely that insomnia plays a large role in the disease's effects, the prions that accumulate in the brain also lead to other symptoms: sweating, dementia, rapid weight loss and more. It might be that the disease itself is otherwise fatal and the lack of sleep simply hastens its progress.Attempts to find a cure have so far been unsuccessful, as with all prion diseases. Immunotherapy, in which the body's immune system is tuned to attack a particular target, may be an option, though tests are ongoing.Another potential method comes from a pair of researchers with a unique motivation. Sonia Vallabh lost her mother to FFI — subsequent genetic testing revealed she too carried the mutations. Though she hasn't yet begun to show symptoms, it's likely she will someday.So Vallabh gave up her career as a lawyer and, with her husband, Eric Minikel, went back to school. Today, they jointly run a lab at MIT's and Harvard's Broad Institute. They are pursuing research into a type of molecule known as an ASO that can prevent RNA molecules — which help translate DNA into proteins — from working, according to Wired . Targeting an ASO to the specific gene that causes FFI might prevent any prions from being created. Following successful experiments in mice, they are now hoping to begin human trials.Though the path for any new treatment is long and fraught with difficulty, their approach could one day offer a means of protecting against prions. Vallabh and many like her whose fate hangs on the folds of a protein might finally have a fighting chance.


sputnik--2019-04-18--Doctors Cure Bubble Boy Disease Using Edited HIV Genes

Doctors Cure ‘Bubble Boy’ Disease Using Edited HIV Genes

The revolutionary new gene therapy was developed in tandem between St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, and the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Benioff Children's Hospital, and the results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Thursday. Second Ever Patient May Have Been Cured of HIV - Reports  Based on a study of eight children that began when they were infants, the doctors found that by editing a portion of the patients' blood stem cells and adding a genetically modified HIV virus, seven of them were able to develop normal immune systems that could fight infections and even receive vaccines, something they hadn't been able to do previously. The procedure took between six and 24 months to be fully effective.  The children were all born with severe combined immunodeficiency syndrome (SCID), a genetic defect in which the bone marrow, which is the body's blood cell factory, fails to produce functional immune system cells able to combat infections. It affects 1 in 200,000 newborns, almost exclusively males. Most infants born with SCID will die within a year or two of their birth.  "This therapy has cured the patients," Ewelina Mamcarz, of the St. Jude Department of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, said in a Wednesday press release. She noted that more observation is necessary, though.  "These patients are toddlers now, who are responding to vaccinations and have immune systems to make all immune cells they need for protection from infections as they explore the world and live normal lives." Mamcarz noted. "This is a first for patients with SCID-X1." Changed Man With 'Space Genes': Alterations in US Astronaut's Body Startled NASA  "While longer follow-up is needed to assess any late effects of treatment, these results suggest most patients treated with this gene therapy will develop a complete durable immune response without side effects," co-author Mort Cowan, a UCSF professor of pediatrics and principal investigator of the trial at the university, noted in the statement.  The nickname "bubble boy" comes from one 1970s Texas family's solution to the disease: keep their son in a protective plastic bubble to protect him from coming into contact with things that might infect him. The boy died at the age of 12 during a bone marrow transplant — then a risky procedure, AP reported.  Doctors had long believed that gene editing held the solution for the problem, but early attempts had a dangerous side-effect: because destroying part of the defective bone marrow is necessary, patients tended to develop leukemia, a cancer of the bone marrow. New Antibody Therapy an ‘Important, Early Step’ Toward Twice-Yearly HIV Treatment  It's deeply ironic, then, that salvation from this illness should come in the form of HIV, the virus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a disease that kills by weakening the body's immune system so that once-minor infections become deadly.  When news of the medical triumph hit Wall Street, stocks in the tiny biotechnology company that's licensed the treatment, Mustang Bio Inc., spiked by 360 percent. Having closed the previous day at $2.66 per share, by 9:40 a.m. shares were selling at $9.74 each. However, when this article went to publication, that enthusiasm had somewhat worn off, declining to about $5.64 per share.  "The data are extraordinary for every single patient," Chief Executive Officer Manny Litchman told the Washington Post Thursday. "It's that compelling nature of the data, in particular for those who don't have a matched sibling donor, that we believe will convince the FDA to do this [approve the treatment]. There is precedent in other rare diseases. We don't think it's crazy at all… We need to be bold, we think it's important to be bold for these kids who need this therapy."


thedailycaller--2019-11-12--California’s Potentially Apocalyptic Disease Problem Is Growing

The poor sanitary conditions of the City of Los Angeles have already caused the return of typhus, a disease now rarely seen in the first world, but which impacted police and a city attorney this year. Some have even warned that that most iconic of medieval-sounding afflictions, the plague, which like typhus is transmitted through fleas, could return to Los Angeles for the first time since 1924.  It’s not as crazy as it sounds: the bacteria of Yersinia pestis are spotted every couple of years both outside Los Angeles and in LA County itself. It may only be a matter of time before the infection jumps from squirrels to the city’s prodigious rat population, and from there to the many people living on the street.  “Our homeless crisis is increasingly becoming a public-health crisis,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said in his State of the State speech in February. California’s growing problem of the massive number of homeless within their cities is well known. Some estimates put the number of homeless as high as almost 130,000, with over 50,000 of them in Los Angeles. That would make California the state with the most homeless.  People disagree which of the many causes of this societal epidemic is most important, however, it is undeniable that with that many people living on the street, sanitation issues get worse. The lack of proper waste disposal is such an issue in some parts of California that apps have been developed where you can record where human waste has been spotted in a city, in order to avoid it. Piles of garbage and waste encourage the growth of flea-bearing rodents, specifically rats and mice, and when those are present in large numbers, disease tends to follow.  Many diseases have seen a Renaissance of sorts within California’s cities. These diseases include, Hepatitis A, Syphilis, Typhus, and tuberculosis. California Governor Gavin Newsom said in his State of the State speech, “Typhus … A medieval disease. In California. In 2019.”  In 2018, according to the California Department of Public Health, there was a record number of Typhus cases in LA county, 124 to be exact, up from 13 in 2008. The disease did not just stay confined to the homeless population. City workers and police officers have contracted the disease, including City attorney Elizabeth Greenwood who told local station KCAL9 that she thought she “was going to die.” Los Angeles police officers are particularly at risk for infection due to the large amount of time they spend interacting with LA’s transient population. As an LA cop noted, “About 60% of our calls every day are about transients and problems that they cause.”  In response to this outbreak Mayor Garcetti announced a massive cleanup of Skid Row, but this proved ineffective as it did nothing to reduce the number of homeless. Soon the streets were as dirty as they were before the cleanup. Some said that this actually exacerbated the problem, as it pushed rats and rodents from their shelters in the streets, into local businesses and houses. Additionally, Los Angeles is one of the few major cities that does not have a rodent control program.  Hepatitis A is another disease that has been running rampant through the streets of LA. Hepatitis A is a highly contagious liver disease and spreads through people ingesting the virus. LA county declared an outbreak in 2017. The Atlantic states, “There were 948 cases of hepatitis A in 2017 and 178 in 2018 and 2019, the state public-health department said. Twenty-one people have died as a result of the 2017–18 outbreak.”  There is also concern that the plague is making a comeback within American borders. Dr. Drew Pinsky told Laura Ingraham on Fox News’ “Ingraham Angle” earlier this year that “We have complete breakdown of the basic needs of civilization in Los Angeles right now,” and “I’m hearing from experts that bubonic plague is likely, it’s already here, it will get onto the rat fleas.” (RELATED: CDC Reports Another Big Jump In Measles Cases)  The plague is another disease that is spread by the fleas that are frequently carried by rats and other rodents, making Los Angeles a prime location for an outbreak. In addition, while not common, cases of bubonic plague are not unheard of in the American west, which gets, on average, seven cases per year as of 2015. An infectious disease expert told the NY Post that Bubonic plague was a possibility within LA due to the presence of rats.  According to the Department of Public Health in LA, “The most important wild rodents that can carry the disease are squirrels (especially ground squirrels), chipmunks, woodrats, mice and marmots.” If the plague makes the jump from these wild rodents, to rats and other flea bearing animals within the city, it could potentially spread like wildfire and overwhelm the county health service, due to it being highly contagious, and because it is airborne, it can be spread through coughing.  Los Angeles has experienced an outbreak of the plague before. Back in 1924 the plague laid siege to the city for two weeks and managed to kill 30 people in that time. Patient zero was infected when he disposed of a decaying rat that he found underneath his house, and within a week, his entire family had died. The city responded by quarantining multiple blocks and launching a city wide rat extermination program. During the extermination program, infected squirrels were found in multiple neighborhoods around the city.  There is evidence that the plague is present in the areas surrounding LA, in 2013 the county closed multiple hiking trails due to plague being found in a ground squirrel, and warned hikers to use insect repellent and to avoid contact with rodents, either personally or by their pets.  Governor Gavin Newsom has vowed to help fix California’s homeless epidemic. Specifically, he promised to, “Expand social services, healthcare (including mental health), bridge housing, and permanent supportive housing.” He has devoted millions of dollars towards fighting homeless, in fact, the state’s budget has allocated 650 million towards various low cost housing and shelter projects. According to Politifact, his anti-homeless measures “represent a large step forward on his promise to expand homeless services. They are evidence that he’s not only proposed solutions but is following through on them.”  It remains to be seen if these measures will help prevent not only the current spread of disease, but also help avoid a much worse epidemic.


thedcclothesline--2019-01-22--The Measles Vaccine Has Killed 63 Times as Many People as the Measles Disease in the Last 15 Years

(Natural News) It was the year 1900, and out of every 100,000 humans, only 13 died from the Measles. Forty years later, that number of deaths went down significantly to less than one person in every 100,000, and on down to barely anyone (0.2 in 100,000) dying from Measles twenty years later in 1960. Just three years after that, in 1963, the so-called Measles vaccine was invented, and “miraculously” it was declared that the immunization wiped out this huge threat to mankind. Amazing.  Besides the lies and propaganda that were spread about this “holy grail” of preventative medicine, nobody knew the real horror story that was about to unfold – more people would soon start dying from the Measles vaccine than would ever pass from contracting the disease naturally. To this day, the mass media, the CDC, and the vaccine industry science shills all hide these facts from the public, in order to sell millions of dangerous vaccines and keep people in the dark about the hazards of Western medicine. It’s time for everyone to learn the risk – the real risk.  Not sure how many Americans still know how to do arithmetic, but 127 deaths seems exorbitantly more severe than 2 deaths, so which risk is greater, getting Measles or getting the Measles virus injected with a needle, along with known neurotoxins, into your muscle tissue?  In the following short video, a university-affiliated M.D. named Dr. Moss explains how the vaccine for Measles is much more deadly and much more of a risk than simply contracting the disease – a disease that a normal-functioning human immune system beats down rather easily.  Just take a look at the numbers and make an informed decision yourself, instead of doing everything the CDC tells you to do, especially since the CDC is a for-profit company that’s in the vaccine business.  To add insult to injury, the two people that died from Measles had other illnesses that contributed to their deaths, so nobody really knows if it was the Measles that killed them. Another reason to question getting the toxic jab: Are we considering death from a toxic vaccine a “side effect” or is it just a “complication?” Dr. Moss has an even more important query for all to consider: “So if the real goal of vaccines is to protect children, and not pharmaceutical profits, why is this vaccine still on the market?” “Learn the Risk” organization advises Americans to protect your children; don’t inject them.  Our nation is sicker than ever before in history, yet spends more on healthcare than any other country. How’s that? The combination of chemicals found in today’s vaccines and prescription medications will blow your mind. First off, U.S. babies get jacked up with a cocktail of known carcinogens right from birth, so their immune systems are severely compromised from the get go. It’s a set-up so pediatricians can begin “managing symptoms” of deep-rooted gut problems and central nervous system malfunctions caused by those so-called precious vaccines.  The brainwash began with the Polio vaccine. Statistics were skewed to convince the world that the Polio jab would save millions of people from becoming crippled by the disease. The fact is that infantile paralysis from Polio is rare, but the highly corrupt CDC and a rogue doctor named Jonas Salk convinced the world otherwise when they declared the faulty Polio vaccine to be the “greatest medical discovery of the century.”  Then, shortly after millions of children were shot up with the haphazard concoction, those same inoculated children began contracting polio. Every day, more and more cases were reported, including satellite cases where siblings and parents of the inoculated children were contracting the disease, even as the child given the vaccine wasn’t suffering. Today that common phenomenon is termed “shedding.”  The Polio vaccine, including the oral kind, was an epic failure, but hardly a soul knew the truth. The vaccinated children became the epidemic of carriers, but Western Medicine propaganda and the lying mass media claimed otherwise. Then, in 1955, according to TruthWiki, “The American Public Health Service announced that there had been 149 confirmed cases of poliomyelitis among the vaccinated, including six deaths. In most of the cases, paralysis began in the limb which was injected. The number of cases was far greater than if no injections were given at all. Polio had struck in areas where there had been no cases reported for over nine months. The vaccine was suspended pending a full inquiry by the National Institute of Health (NIH).”  By the way, the Measles vaccine isn’t the only deadly immunization that’s killing off humans, just take a look at GSK’s 6-in-1 combo Infanrix Hexa vaccine that’s already exterminated 36 babies, as documented at Vaccines.news.


thedcclothesline--2019-04-07--Muslims infected with Kuru a disease of cannibals

Muslims infected with Kuru, a disease of cannibals

From the archives: November 13, 2013. Due to the age of this article, some links may be broken. A video that was hosted on YouTube has been removed.  You’ve heard of Mad Cow Disease, the scientific name of which is bovine spongiform encephalopathy — a type of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs).  TSE is an incurable fatal disease that affects the brain and nervous system of many animals, including humans. Autopsies of infected brain tissue show a myriad of tiny holes in the cortex, giving it a sponge-like appearance — hence spongiform.  (See below)  The disorder causes impairment of brain and bodily functions, including memory changes, personality changes, and problems with movement (shaking, trembling) that worsen over time.  Like all TSEs, the bovine variant is transmitted via prions (a type of protein) instead of via bacteria or viruses. The prions come from the tissue of a TSE-infected cow which was ingested by another cow. The corporate meat industry actually mix cow tissue in the food that’s fed to cows. Yuck!  When humans eat TSE-infected beef, they develop a type of TSE called Creutzfeldt–Jakob Disease.  But there is another form of human TSE called Kuru that is caused by humans ingesting TSE-infected human tissue. In other words, Kuru is the result of cannibalism.  Kuru was first identified in 1961 among the Fore tribe in Papua New Guinea. Research suggested that the epidemic may have originated around 1900 from a single individual who lived on the edge of Fore territory and who is thought to have spontaneously developed some form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. From that infected individual, Kuru spread easily and rapidly in the Fore people due to their endocannibalistic funeral practices, in which relatives consumed the bodies of their dead, especially the brain tissue where prions are concentrated,  to return the “life force” of the deceased to the hamlet. By the mid-1960s, Kuru was in decline among the Fore due to Australian colonial law forbidding cannibalism, as well as the efforts of local Christian missionaries. But cases continued to appear for several more decades because the mean incubation (asymptomatic) phase of the disease is 14 years after initial exposure, although cases were reported with latencies of 40 years or more. The clinical (symptomatic) phase of the disease lasts an average of 12 months, before the infected person dies.  The last sufferer in Papua New Guinea died in 2005. Little did the world know that Kuru would make its reappearance thousands of miles from Papua New Guinea — among Muslim “rebels” in civil war-torn Syria.  In April of this year, Time magazine obtained a video that had been smuggled out of Syria by a “rebel fighter.” Aryn Baker writes for Time magazine, May 12, 2013:  In the video a man who is believed to be a rebel commander named Khalid al-Hamad, who goes by the nom de guerre Abu Sakkar, bends over the government soldier, knife in hand. With his right hand he moves what appears to be the dead man’s heart onto a flat piece of wood or metal lying across the body. With his left hand he pulls what appears to be a lung across the open cavity in the man’s chest. According to two of Abu Sakkar’s fellow rebels, who said they were present at the scene, Abu Sakkar had cut the organs out of the man’s body. The man believed to be Abu Sakkar then works his knife through the flesh of the dead man’s torso before he stands to face the camera, holding an organ in each hand. “I swear we will eat from your hearts and livers, you dogs of Bashar,” he says, referring to supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Off camera, a small crowd can be heard calling out “Allahu akbar” — God is great. Then the man raises one of the bloodied organs to his lips and starts to tear off a chunk with his teeth.  Two TIME reporters first saw the video in April in the presence of several of Abu Sakkar’s fighters and supporters, including his brother. They all said the video was authentic. We later obtained a copy. […] These 27 seconds of footage provide a glimpse at how brutal the Syrian war has become….  Walid Theodore Shoebat, a former member of the radical Muslim Brotherhood but now a truth-telling peace activist, writes in his blog that Kuru has been found in 8 to 20 people in war-torn Syria, and the only way it could have come about, doctors confirmed, is through cannibalism and the consumption of human brain,as first reported by Arabian news source Zaman al-Wasal and substantiated by Orient News Television.  Two of the infected were sent from Syria to a hospital in Ghazi Antab in Turkey for further examination, then transferred to another hospital in Germany. One of the two was confirmed to have eaten human flesh, and he eventually died.  Shoebat has written extensively on Islamic cannibalism, which can be found here, here, here, and here.  The asymptomatic incubation phase of Kuru is between 5 to 20 years following initial exposure, with the average being 12 years. But the Syrian civil war began in 2011. This suggests that the Kuru of the infected Syrian men would have been transmitted BEFORE the civil war.  Such is the Religion of Peace!  StMA is the Editor of Consortium of Defense Analysts.  COMMUNITY LINKS: Visit Our Sister Site for Articles Not Seen Here | Browse our Store for Conservative Gifts & Apparel | Join Our Free Speech Social Media Network  Subcsribe for new articles direct to your inbox


thedcclothesline--2019-04-20--CDC admits measles outbreak is caused by people from other countries who enter the United States and

CDC admits measles outbreak is caused by people from other countries who enter the United States and spread the disease

(Natural News) In the first four months of 2019, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have confirmed 555 cases of measles across 20 states. In comparison, there were 382 cases in all of 2018 and just 120 back in 2017. Five years ago, there were 667 confirmed cases, spurring media frenzy. In their latest report, the CDC admits that measles cases are actually coming from international travelers. “These outbreaks are linked to travelers who brought measles back from other countries such as Israel, Ukraine, and the Philippines, where large measles outbreaks are occurring,” says the CDC.  In early April, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency over a cluster of reported measles cases in the Orthodox Jewish community. The emergency order demanded that all un-vaccinated residents within four zip codes take a measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine. Violators face imprisonment and fines up to $1,000. The order includes children as young as six months, even though the MMR package insert states that the vaccine is not recommended for anyone under twelve months of age.  If Bill de Blasio insists on forcibly injecting six month old babies, (who do not have an adequate immune system to handle the MMR vaccine), then why doesn’t he stop all international travelers coming from outbreak-stricken areas such as Israel, Ukraine, and the Philippines? What about all the disease that pours over the Southern border? If the government insists on micromanaging viruses in the vast world, why do they target healthy, un-vaccinated children and ignore verifiable virus sources from other regions of the world? If stopping measles is so important, why not forbid international travel until the travelers have proven they have overcome infectious disease?  The bigger questions are: Should the government micromanage benign illnesses in the first place? Should governments have the power to track down people, coerce them with fines and threats of imprisonment, to inject them against their will, all based on the presumption that Merck’s vaccine works for everyone?  And the question that the CDC should ask themselves: Is vaccination really the answer in all this? Or at least, shouldn’t the parents decide for themselves if augmenting part of their child’s immune system and damaging their cell-mediated immunity is the right way to handle a benign illness like measles?  Measles infection is typically a benign illness that begins with a fever and ends with a rash. After natural infection, an individual gains lifelong immunity because their humoral antibody response and intra-cellular cytotoxic T-cell response have learned to target measles viruses both outside and inside the cells. Today, measles is over-hyped in the media and used as a selling point for MMR vaccinations (which only spur an allergic-style B-cell response in healthy individuals).  The MMR vaccine contains a live attenuated measles virus that is grown in WI-38 and MRC-5 cell strains, which are self-replicating culture mediums derived from 2-4 month old aborted fetal lung cells. After the virus is cultured and replicated in the aborted fetal cells, it is retrieved and processed for use in the combination vaccine. Upon injection, this antigen is intended to augment an immune response from the individual. An aluminum adjuvant is added to the vaccine to further incite an immune response, while adding to the vaccine’s toxicity. Upon injection, T-helper-2 cells respond to the artificial infection, increasing the body’s production of B-cell antibodies. The vaccine is intended to increase the humoral response, but the consequence of this science is rarely discussed. This augmentation causes an imbalance in how the human immune system deals with future viruses.  There are two principle parts to the immune system. The first is the humoral response, mediated by T-helper-2 cells which encourage B-cell antibody response for killing viruses outside of cells. The second part takes place in the cell. This part is mediated by T-helper-1 cells which communicate with cytotoxic T cells to kill viruses that are replicating within cells. When vaccines are used, the first part is spurred into hyper-action, but the second part is hardly used, weakened. With repeated use of vaccines, cell-mediated immunity weakens, encouraging viral mutations, and future infections of the cells.  The measles death rate dropped considerably before a vaccine was introduced, so it’s hard to say whether the vaccine was the savior even as measles fatality continued to fall after the vaccine was employed. If anything, people today should thank their ancestors for facing benign illnesses like measles, mumps, and rubella. According to studies on antibody levels in the vaccinated versus the un-vaccinated, naturally acquired immunity is more effective for preventing disease over the long haul, and this also helps build stronger herd immunity in a population. People today should also thank their mothers for passing on passive immunity through breast milk antibodies. Vitamin A has also been studied to shorten the duration and severity of measles infection. In a dose-dependent manner, vitamin A prevented measles complications, including croup, diarrhea, and death by pneumonia. If the government is going to micromanage disease, then they can mandate vitamin A and halt international travelers who are coming from outbreak-stricken areas.  Targeting smart people who don’t want to weaken their cell-mediated immune response does nothing to protect the public. The CDC, the media, and government mouthpieces are blinded by their own agenda.  COMMUNITY LINKS: Visit Our Sister Site for Articles Not Seen Here | Browse our Store for Conservative Gifts & Apparel | Join Our Free Speech Social Media Network  Subcsribe for new articles direct to your inbox


thesun--2019-01-14--I feared pain of smear test but its nothing compared to cancer ops says mum of twins who survived

I feared pain of smear test but it’s nothing compared to cancer ops, says mum of twins who survived the disease

A DECADE ago, half a million more women attended their smear tests than was usual.  The death in March 2009 of reality-TV star Jade Goody, aged just 27, gave women a stark wake-up call.  Yet we seem to have forgotten the vital importance of attending screening appointments.  The number of women going for smears has dropped alarmingly.  Sarah Egby knows better than anyone how costly it can be to ignore the crucial test. The mum of twins was diagnosed with cervical cancer having put off her smear test for seven years.  Sarah, 36, said a traumatic birth made her reluctant to book the potentially life-saving screening test. Now she wishes she had.  She says: “It was early in 2017 when I started having period pains, bloating and irregular bleeding.  “I hadn’t been for a smear for seven years. I’d given birth to the twins naturally. One was breech and it was very traumatic.  “I had third-degree tears and it put me off any more medical procedures down there, so I just didn’t go.  “It feels so silly now. A simple five-minute test could have saved months of agony and given me more time with the twins, Autumn and Vinny, who are now seven.  “My mum had to move in to help look after them.  “About two weeks’ before I finished treatment, my little girl got into bed with me and said, ‘Mummy, I want you to stop treatment now, as you’re just too poorly all the time’.  “Even now, when I think about that moment, I want to break down.”  Sarah is speaking out to support Fabulous Daily’s #CheersForSmears campaign.  We have teamed up with Jo’s Trust to make sure all women go for their smear tests, no matter what.  “I did go to the doctor a few times but they never mentioned a smear, so I didn’t either,” she says.  Sarah, who is from Farnborough, Hants, was referred for an internal ultrasound, which came back clear.  But three months later, she went back to her GP again.  Everything you need to know about cervical cancer ONE in three women is overdue a smear test, and the same number admit to being “too embarrassed” to have the check-up. But it could save your life. Imogen Pinnell, heath information officer at cervical cancer charity Jo’s Trust, says: “Many people are nervous about cervical screening and don’t find the test easy. “However it saves lives, and together with the HPV vaccine, will one day make cervical cancer a disease of the past.” To dispel anxieties, below Imogen answers some of the most commonly asked questions about the test. DO I need to go for a smear test? All women aged 25 to 64 with a cervix are invited for cervical screening. You are invited every three years until age 49, and every five years aged 50 to 64. Cervical cancer in women under 25 is extremely rare, but it’s important to be symptom-aware and see your GP if you are worried. The most common symptom is bleeding that is unusual for you, often between regular periods or after sex. It is important to get checked out by your doctor. I HAVEN’T had sex for a long time, do I still need to go? If you haven’t had sex for a long time, or if you’ve been with the same partner long-term, you still need to attend your appointment. Cervical cancer is usually caused by HPV, a really common virus. It can lie dormant or non-detectable in the body for many years, even decades, but if it develops at any stage it could go on to cause cancer. I KNOW the symptoms of cervical cancer, so why do I need to be screened? The smear test is for people who don’t have symptoms. It aims to prevent cervical cancer by finding changes to cells in the cervix before they develop. Many women who have an abnormal result do not have any symptoms at all. If you have symptoms, speak to your GP, as you may need a gynaecological (pelvic) examination instead. Most women do not find the test painful, but some find it uncomfortable. If you are feeling tense or anxious, or have a condition like vaginal dryness, it may be more uncomfortable. If you have any concerns, speak to your nurse before the test. You may have light bleeding (spotting) after the test, but this is common and should stop after a day. HOW do I prepare for an appointment? You don’t need to do anything at all. You don’t need to shave your legs, have a shower or go to the toilet before the test. But some people find it helpful to prepare in their own way, whether that’s by speaking with friends, or doing something relaxing beforehand. If you are on your period, the test sometimes gives an inconclusive result, so you may want to reschedule for the next earliest appointment. HOW exactly is the test done? A smear test takes a sample of cells from the cervix – this is part of the body that joins the top part of the vagina to the bottom of the womb. It is usually done by a female nurse at your GP surgery. The nurse will give you a private space to undress from the waist down, ask you to lie on an examination bed, and gently insert a small plastic tube (a speculum) into the vagina. A small, soft brush is then swept across the cervix to collect cells. These cells are sent to a lab to be tested. The results should arrive within two weeks. DO I still need a test if I’ve been through menopause? Yes. If you’ve ever been sexually active, it is important to continue screening until you are 65. Cervical screening may be more uncomfortable after menopause, so speak to your nurse before the test about any medicines they can prescribe to help. If you have had a hysterectomy where your uterus, including the cervix, was entirely removed, you don’t need cervical screening. It is recommended you do not have screening if you are or could be pregnant. If you are invited while you are expecting, wait until three months after your baby is born to have the test. If you have previously had an abnormal result, speak to your nurse or GP. I’M over 65, why am I not invited for cervical screening? Cervical cancer is extremely rare in older women who have a clear cervical screening history. If you have had abnormal results, you will still be invited until the cells go back to normal. MY result shows cell abnormalities. Do I have cancer? An abnormal result does not mean you have cancer. These abnormalities usually show changes to the cells of the cervix, not cancer. These changes can be monitored or treated, reducing your risk of developing cervical cancer later on.  “I was getting a lot of bleeding after intercourse,” she recalls.  “It started off as spotting but it got quite heavy. I knew I had to go back. I had twins to look after and I run my own hair salon, so I always felt like I was too busy.  “The doctor said I’d not had a smear in seven years and perhaps it was a good idea to have one.  “I waited two weeks for an appointment before having the test in November 2017. It was a few weeks before I got a call to say that my results were abnormal.”  Sarah was referred to Frimley Park Hospital, Hants, for LLETZ treatment to get rid of precancerous cells.  Doctors took a biopsy too — and two weeks later, they called Sarah with the worst possible news.  “They told me I had to go to hospital that day and to take someone with me,” she says.  “I took my fiance Lenny, 37, with me and they called us into a room. I noticed the Macmillan nurse. They sat us down and said they’d found cancerous cells.  “They couldn’t say what stage it was and they needed to do further tests. I found that time really hard.  “At the beginning of January, further tests showed I had stage-2B cervical cancer. It had spread from my cervix into surrounding tissue.”  Sarah had an operation to relocate her ovaries, which risks early menopause.  Then she was put on a course of treatment including radiotherapy, chemotherapy and brachytherapy, an internal form of radiotherapy. She also had a blood transfusion.  She says: “When I was going through it, I was really positive.  “I had six-year-old twins so there was no time for complaining. I always said when the treatment finished I wouldn’t worry about the little things.  “I was lucky, as I didn’t lose my hair. But the chemotherapy I had affects your heart, so for the last two or three weeks of treatment I was in a wheelchair. I had no energy.  “It was hard for the kids, as they couldn’t understand why Mummy couldn’t play. But we were very honest about what was going on.  “I ordered a book about what happens when Mummy has cancer.  “My mum Gill, 64, moved in to help me look after the kids and Lenny was by my side all the way. I couldn’t have got through all this without the support of my family.”  Sarah finished her treatment last April and scans showed her tumour had gone.  While she felt better physically, Sarah was then diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and was put on anti-depressants.  She says: “Once you get the all-clear, it’s hard. From December until the April, I was surrounded by doctors and nurses. I had friends and family constantly messaging to see how I was.  “Afterwards, I felt very anxious and lonely. When I went to bed at night, I’d overthink everything and replay what I’d been through.  “You feel guilty for feeling low because really I’m one of the lucky ones — I survived. But when I last saw my oncologist, he said, ‘You’ve been through all of this and haven’t cried, you haven’t moaned. It all has to come out sometime’.  “I’m having counselling now and hoping I’ll be able to put all this behind me.  “I had a CT scan after my treatment ended and my tumour had totally disappeared, though there was a tiny 12mm shadow still left in my uterus.  “The doctors are confident it’s just scar tissue from the radiotherapy but I have to go back for another scan in April this year to make sure it hasn’t grown.”  Sarah is back at work and plans to marry Lenny next year.  She says: “I’ve always gone to the gym, I’ve never smoked, I eat healthily and I take care of myself. People often say, ‘I can’t believe it happened to you’. But cancer can happen to anyone.  “A couple of weeks after I was diagnosed, I announced it on Facebook. I didn’t want sympathy — I just wanted advice from others who had been through it.  “The response I got was amazing. I still get women messaging me now to say they hadn’t been for a smear but booked one. One lady hadn’t been for 19 years.  “That’s why I’m keen to share my story. If you haven’t been, please don’t put it off. A smear is a five-minute test that could save your life.”


thesun--2019-02-25--Devastating plague dubbed Disease X could wipe out millions of HEALTHY people just like Spanish Flu

Devastating plague dubbed Disease X could wipe out millions of HEALTHY people… just like Spanish Flu that killed five per cent of world’s population

A DEADLY plague that scientists have dubbed Disease X could kill millions of HEALTHY people if it mimics past pandemics, experts warn.  The fatal illness will be the next widespread killer to wipe out populations across the globe - although it doesn't exist yet.  Scientists are working desperately to predict when and how a super-strength strain will come about in order to prepare against it.  And there are fears that if the disease evolves from a mutated form of influenza then healthy people could be MOST at risk.  This was the case in the devastating Spanish Flu outbreak in 1918 - when younger, fitter people made up most of the staggering death toll.  The virus wiped out as much as five per cent of the world's population - making it one of the worst disasters in human history.  As many as 100million people died from the Spanish Flu - more than two-and-a-half times the total number of military and civilian deaths from the First World War.  Studies have show most of the fatalities were among those under the age of 65.  The virus is thought to have used the body's own immune system to work against it.  This caused fatal "cytokine storms" in victims - an overproduction of immune cells that can overwhelm the body.  The stronger the immune system, the more devastating the effects of the Spanish Flu on an infected person.  If Disease X spawns from an influenza strain it could have a similarly devastating effect on younger populations.  Worryingly, influenza is easily spread through the air, can mutate quickly and some strains can pass between species - like bird flu.  Dr Jonathan Quick, chair of the Global Health Council, told Raconteur that people-to-people contact makes an outbreak more dangerous.  He said: “Our greatest fear is being blindsided by a new virus, most likely due to animal-human spillover, which then readily spreads from human to human, has at least a 5 to 10 per cent fatality rate, does not respond to existing medicines, and for which an effective vaccine and accurate diagnostic test cannot rapidly be developed.”  The World Health Organisation (WHO) warned last year that conditions are perfect for the emergence of Disease X.  In a statement, the Geneva-based organisation said: "Disease X represents the knowledge that a serious international epidemic could be caused by a pathogen currently unknown to cause human disease."  WHO science adviser John-Arne Rottingen said: "History tells us that it is likely the next big outbreak will be something we have not seen before.  "The point is to make sure we prepare and plan flexibly in terms of vaccines and diagnostic tests."


thesun--2019-03-22--HIV-positive man 37 plied 16-year-old girl with drugs until she agreed to unprotected sex leaving

HIV-positive man, 37, plied 16-year-old girl with drugs until she agreed to unprotected sex leaving her infected with the disease

A MAN with HIV infected a 16-year-old girl with the disease after plying her with drugs and having sex with her.  Noor Panjshiri, 37, picked the girl up in Dandenong, Melbourne, Australia, in June 2017 before driving her to his home along with another 14-year-old girl where he gave them both methamphetamine, the County Court heard.  Knowing he was infected with HIV, Panjshiri had sex with the older girl without telling her he had the virus, the Herald Sun reports.  She was diagnosed with HIV almost a month later after vomiting and feeling unwell.  A doctor said it is "highly plausible" the girl was infected around the end of June, when the pair had sex.  Panjshiri was found guilty on Friday of negligently causing serious injury and two counts of supplying a drug of dependence to a child at the County Court in Melbourne.  He denied having sex with the girl and claimed she had contracted HIV from someone else.  Also known as 'Chris', Panjshiri did not take his antiviral medication regularly and had a viral load at a "risky level", the court heard.  He was remanded and will be sentenced at a later date.  We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368 . You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.


thesun--2019-07-04--Cancer patients had their disease wiped out by the common cold

CANCER patients have had their disease wiped out by the common cold.  Scientists found a strain of the virus successfully targets and destroys tumour cells.  One bladder cancer patient had no trace of their disease a week after being treated with the bug.  Medics said they were “surprised” by the response, which could revolutionise how they tackle the illness.  Current bladder cancer treatments are not very effective and can be toxic.  The Surrey University trial involved 15 people in early stages of the illness.  They had a concentrated solution containing the coxsackievirus strain of cold flushed around their bladder for an hour.  A week later, medics found the bug had successfully infected the cancerous cells and caused them to die.  It also acted like a “burglar alarm”, alerting the body’s own immune system to attack the disease. Crucially, no one suffered any side-effects and healthy tissue was unaffected by the virus.  Larger trials on a range of cancers are planned.  Lead researcher Professor Hardev Pandha said: “It works by warming up the tumour and getting all the immune soldier cells recruited to the right place.”


thesun--2019-08-07--The 5 early warning signs of cervical cancer as Jade Goody documentary charts her battle with dise

The 5 early warning signs of cervical cancer – as Jade Goody documentary charts her battle with disease

JADE Goody was just 27 when she died of cervical cancer - just seven months after being diagnosed.  The mum-of-two feared something wasn't right for four years but by the time doctors realised it was too late.  It had spread to the outside of her uterus and reduced her chances of survival from 50 per cent to zero.  The first of a three-part series commemorating the Big Brother star and retelling her very public battle with cancer a decade on airs on Channel 4 tonight.  Jade Goody's story is unique because of how rare it is for women of her age to die from cervical cancer.  Docs had first found abnormal cells when she was given a smear test at 15 after contracting the human papilloma virus (HPV) before she was even sexually active.  The cells were removed, but two years later they had returned and she needed an operation to burn them off.  Following the birth of her second son in 2004, yet more abnormal cells were found but docs were against removed any more of her cervix in case it became too short to carry future pregnancies.  When Jade Goody received a letter telling her to come in to have abnormal cells removed for a fourth time, she ignored it through fear.  Speaking to Heat magazine at the time, she said: "When I heard I had more abnormal cells I thought, 'this is the fourth time I've been told I need to have the same operation now'.  "Once you have them burnt off they shouldn't come back, I was too scared."  But it was in 2008, while appearing on the Indian version of Big Brother that she was diagnosed with cervical cancer.  Despite Jade's very public battle, the number of women attending screenings has dropped to the lowest level since records began in 1995 - with nearly a third of women in the UK risking their lives by skipping their smear test.  Early diagnosis is key when it comes to any form of cancer as it can increase the chance of survival - and cervical cancer is one of them.  Catch it at the earliest stage - stage 1 - and you have the highest chance of surviving it.  But get diagnosed at stage 4, and you've only got a 5 per cent chance of surviving five years or longer.  That's why it's absolutely crucial that you know what changes to look out for and get them tested ASAP.  “Not all women diagnosed with cervical cancer have symptoms, which is why it’s really important to attend cervical screening (smear tests) when invited. But, whatever your age, it’s equally important to be aware of cervical cancer symptoms," Imogen Pinnell, health information manager at Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust told The Sun.  1. Abnormal bleeding (during or after sex, between periods and also post-menopause)period  The most common and earliest sign of cervical cancer tends to be irregular bleeding.  It happens when the cancer cells grow on the tissue below the cervix.  It's an especially alarming sign in postmenopausal women who no longer have periods. There's no age limit to developing cervical cancer.  Everyone's discharge is different, so it's a case of knowing what is normal for you.  If you find that the colour, smell and consistency has changed, then that's something you really need to have checked out.  When cancer lacks oxygen, it can cause an infection which leads to strange smelling discharge.  Pain during sex can be a sign of a number of different issues, but one is cervical cancer.  Because the disease often comes with no symptoms, pain during intercourse is one of the key indicators. It can be a sign that the cancer is spreading to surrounding tissues.  It could be down to you straining something in the gym, or it could be a warning sign that something's wrong with your reproductive organs.  Persistent pain - just one off twinges - in the lower back, pelvis or appendix can be a symptom of cervical cancer.  While effortless weight loss might sound like the answer to many of our prayers, it's never a good sign if it happens seemingly without cause.  A loss of appetite and unexplained weight loss tend to be signs that the body isn't working properly - it's trying to conserve energy. If you notice that you're not eating as you normally do, go to your GP.  If you experience any of these (do not wait for all of them to appear, just one is enough!), then make an appointment to talk to your GP immediately.  It doesn't matter if you've had a recent smear test or not - or if you're under 25 and haven't been offered one yet. Although it's rare, cervical cancer can strike earlier.  "Remember, cervical cancer is rare and all of these symptoms are often caused by something other than cancer," Imogen says.  "But, if you have any symptoms, it is important to get checked by your GP straight away."  Often, women don't have any symptoms early on and that's why it's so absolutely crucial that you go for a regular smear.  We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368 . You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.


thesun--2019-12-13--Teen girl dies from deadly ‘kissing disease’ that triggered a stroke

PLAGUED by a sore throat and a near-constant headache, Ariana Rae Delfs' parents assumed she just had a bad case of the flu.  And given their daughter had always been a fit and healthy 17-year-old, the last thing to cross their minds was that her life could be on the line.  However, just days later - Ariana died in their arms after suffering a deadly stroke - triggered by mononucleosis, which is often called the "kissing disease".  Heartbroken, Ariana's father Mark is now sharing her story to raise awareness for the devastating condition.  Mark said: "Ariana was tragically taken away from us after a short illness and will now live on forever in our hearts and minds.   "Her spirit, generosity and inner light will shine on others in the years to come."  Ariana's family's nightmare begun three weeks ago when she began experiencing a sore throat and a near-constant headache.  At first, her parents brushed off the symptoms - assuming she had a cold or the flu.  "She had cold symptoms. The persistent thing all the way through was a headache, she seemed to always have a headache," Mark said.  Ariana, a star student-athlete and artist, had been tested for several viruses, including the kissing disease, at her local GP but nothing was detected.  However, things escalated one evening last week - when the teen began throwing up constantly.  Her parents weren't "very nervous" so decided to wait until the next morning to take her to their local hospital.  It was there that Ariana's condition dramatically deteriorated - much to the horror of her parents.  At one point, Ariana tried to stand up to go the bathroom at the hospital, but told her parents she had no feeling in her legs.  Mark told WJAX: "She felt like her legs were just giving out."  Doctors believed she was suffering a stroke and had her airlifted to another hospital 35 miles away in Jacksonville.  Mark added: "Her words were very slurred at times.  "She was just talking gibberish, and the damage was already beginning at that point, which we just didn't know."  It was at the Jacksonville hospital where medics diagnosed Ariana with the Epstein-Barr virus - which causes the kissing disease.  However, by then, it was too late.  Medics gave Ariana's parents the life-shattering news that the stroke - triggered by mono - had left Ariana with irreparable brain damage.  And just three days later, Ariana passed away.  Mark said: "Here brain swelled to the point where it couldn't function and brain damage did occur.  "And we just made the decision that it was time to let her go."  Despite this, Ariana's family were given some comfort after learning her daughter had become an organ donor.  Mark added: "The doctor actually told us she was an organ donor and we were just, I can’t even describe it.  "We were just like, ‘Wow, that’s her. That sums her up right there'."  Mark is now urging parents to be vigilant when it comes to their child's health - especially when they first start showing symptoms.  He said: "In our case, it wasn't enough, but in somebody else's case it may save their life."  Ariana's parents have started a GoFundMe page in her memory to raise money for their daughter's favourite passions, including music and arts programmes for kids.  As of this morning, the total currently stands at £12,100.  You can donate on their fundraising page here.


thetelegraph--2019-07-04--More than 700 children confirmed HIV positive in Pakistan disease outbreak

More than 700 have children have now been found to be infected with HIV in a huge outbreak in southern Pakistan, making up more than 80 per cent of those who tested positive for the virus.  An outbreak of the virus in Sindh province prompted the World Health Organization to carry out a screening programme, which found 876 people to be infected with the virus - 82 per cent of whom were under the age of 15.  The outbreak, which was first discovered in April, has been described as unprecedented in Asia because of the large numbers of children affected.  The virus, which attacks the immune system and, if untreated, leads to AIDS, is thought to have been spread by unqualified “quack” doctors and sloppy hygiene at clinics.  Reusing needles and poor sterilisation of medical and dental instruments is common in the backstreet clinics which are often the only source of medical care for many Pakistanis.


thetelegraph--2019-08-21--Two British holidaymakers die of Legionnaires disease after staying at Bulgarian resort

Two British holidaymakers die of Legionnaires' disease after staying at Bulgarian resort

Two British holidaymakers have died from Legionnaires' disease shortly after staying at a Bulgarian hotel promoted by tour operator Jet2.  Brian Taylor, 75, and John Cowan, 43, were diagnosed with the severe form of pneumonia after visiting the Hotel Kalofer earlier this year.  Investigations were launched by Jet2 and lawyers acting for the victims' families after they were killed by the virus within weeks of returning to the UK.  Jet2 says that specialist tests on water samples from Hotel Kalofer have since come back negative for Legionella, the bacteria that causes the disease.  It has transferred all customers away from the hotel as a "precautionary measure" and says it will not sell any holidays there for the rest of this year and 2020.


thetelegraph--2019-09-20--Philippines confirms second polio case as outbreak declared two decades after disease was eradicated

An outbreak of polio has been declared in the Philippines, with cases confirmed in two children almost 20 years after the country eradicated the incurable childhood disease.  On Thursday, health officials reported that a three-year-old girl had contracted polio in the southern province of Lanao del Sur, announcing a massive vaccination drive in response.  Just one day later it emerged that a five-year-old boy had tested positive for the disease some 870 miles away in Laguna, south of the capital Manila.  The authorities said that traces of polio have also been detected in the sewage system in Manila and in waterways in the southern Davao region.  Polio is a devastating and highly infectious childhood virus which invades the nervous system and can lead to paralysis. The disease can only be prevented by an oral vaccine – there is still no known cure.  Until this week, the last known case of polio in the Philippines was in 1993 and in 2000 the World Health Organization declared the southeast Asian nation polio free.


thetelegraph--2019-10-31--Tick attack: everything you need to know about the steady march of tick-borne diseases

Blood sucking parasites that hide amid the undergrowth are on the rise worldwide – and so too are the illnesses that ticks carry.  Just this week a potentially deadly brain disease, tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBE), was found for the first time in Britain. Experts believe the pathogen, which is common in central and eastern Europe, was brought to the UK by migrating birds.  The discovery follows reports that cases of Lyme disease – perhaps the most well known infection transmitted by ticks – could be three times higher in Britain than previously thought, with some 8,000 cases annually.  Concern about the march of disease-ridden arthropods is not confined to the UK.  Across the pond, former US Senator, Kay Hagan, died this week from a rare form of encephalitis caused by the Powassan virus. It is thought she picked up the infection, which causes brain inflammation, from a tick while hiking in 2016.  And according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, reports of tick-borne illnesses have more than doubled in the US in the last 13 years, from 22,000 to 48,000.


veteranstoday--2019-02-04--From A to Zika Understanding Emerging Diseases

From A to Zika: Understanding Emerging Diseases

By National Institutes of Health/News in Health  West Nile virus. Lyme disease. Zika. Dengue fever. Eye-catching headlines warn us about new diseases seemingly every year. But how much of a danger do these diseases really pose? What can you do to reduce the risk from new diseases in your community?  Emerging diseases are caused by microbes, usually bacteria or viruses, that haven’t infected people before or that already infect people but have moved to new places.  “New diseases emerge all the time from the animal world,” explains Dr. David Morens, an infectious disease expert at NIH.  Part of the reason is that the genes in bacteria and viruses are always changing. These gene changes, called mutations, help microbes survive and spread. Some make it possible for bacteria or viruses that once only infected animals to infect people.  Bacteria and viruses often get from animals to people by way of insects and parasites. The most common of these are mosquitoes and ticks. NIH is funding research into where and how new diseases might arise, as well as ways to prevent and treat them.  The modern world has changed how animals, insects, and people encounter each other, says Dr. Desiree LaBeaud, an NIH-funded emerging disease researcher at Stanford University.  “Deforestation increases the chances that humans come in contact with forest-dwelling creatures and insects,” she explains. As people move further into undeveloped areas, they become more likely to encounter animals and insects that carry microbes they haven’t been exposed to before.  More people moving to large cities also plays a role in the spread of disease, adds Dr. Scott Weaver, who studies emerging diseases at the University of Texas Medical Branch. When millions of people live close to each other—and close to mosquitoes that like to live in cities—diseases can move quickly.  Changes in the environment can also contribute. Most microbes—and the insects that carry them—can only live within a narrow range of conditions. “What happens when you have a warming planet is that these infections are going to shift geographically into new areas,” LaBeaud says.  Compounding all this, Weaver says, is trade and the ease of global travel. “Airplanes don’t have to carry mosquitoes with them; they just need one person who’s been infected to introduce a disease to a new location.”  Weaver and his colleagues are studying all of these factors to better understand what areas might be at risk for new disease outbreaks. They also want to understand which new diseases may become local threats.  “There’s a lot of chance involved in when and where these diseases spread around the globe,” he says. “The focus of our work is understanding why outbreaks happen when they do.”  On the surface, the numbers look alarming. Between 2004 and 2016, nine new diseases that are spread by mosquitoes and ticks were found in the U.S.  The number of people exposed to these diseases is also rising. For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a record number of tickborne-disease cases nationwide in 2017: almost 60,000.  But new insect-borne diseases are still less frequent than some other better-known diseases. In comparison, experts estimate that over a million people get the flu every year in the U.S.  Most people who catch a disease carried by mosquitoes or ticks fight off the invaders quickly.  “A large proportion of people who are infected with mosquito-borne viruses don’t actually reach the clinic, because they don’t have any symptoms or their symptoms are mild,” LaBeaud says.  It’s still important to know what new diseases are in your area. Many of these diseases have vague symptoms, such as fever, a rash, body aches, or feeling very tired. People and their doctors may not always suspect exposure to an insect-borne disease.  Different new diseases tend to cluster in certain areas. Most cases of Lyme disease occur in the Northeast and upper Midwest. Dengue fever has been seen in warm areas such as Florida and Texas.  “If people educate themselves about what’s a risk in their particular region, there’s a lot that they can do to protect themselves,” Weaver says. See the Wise Choices box for tips on how to avoid mosquito and tick bites.  Your local public health office can give you information about what new diseases are found in your area.  Depending on where you travel, you may come into contact with diseases that are rare in the U.S. Before you travel, talk to your doctor about getting vaccinated. It will help keep you safe and healthy. It will also help make sure that you don’t bring any serious diseases home to your family, friends, and community.  NIH is funding research into vaccines for several emerging diseases. One study has already begun testing a vaccine for West Nile virus. NIH is also funding vaccine research for Zika and Ebola.  For people worried about emerging diseases, Morens notes, one vaccine already exists. It’s the flu shot.  “The flu is a continually emerging virus, because it’s always mutating,” he explains.  And because the flu is always changing, people need a flu shot every year. The flu shot you get one year will not help protect you the next year.  Although things like Zika grab the headlines, flu kills thousands of people in the U.S. each year—from 3,000 to 79,000 yearly over the past few decades.  “In terms of emerging infectious diseases, it’s one of the major killers worldwide,” Morens says. “It’s not something to sneeze at, no pun intended.”


drudgereport--2019-01-20--Ebola in Congo moving toward major city

Ebola in Congo moving toward major city...

At least 680 people have been infected with the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It’s the second-largest Ebola outbreak in history, with 414 deaths so far, and the first Ebola outbreak in an active war zone, DRC’s eastern North Kivu and Ituri provinces.  But it could get worse: Health officials this week are concerned that Ebola appears to be spreading in the direction of Goma, a major population center in DRC.  Just this week, DRC’s health ministry confirmed four cases of the deadly virus in Kayina, a town in North Kivu, where fighting among rebel and militia groups has repeatedly interrupted the painstaking work of health workers who are responding to the outbreak.  Kayina happens to be halfway between Butembo, currently one of the outbreak’s most worrisome hotspots, and Goma, where a million people live.  So far, the outbreak has not affected DRC’s biggest cities. But Ebola in Kayina “raises the alarm” for Ebola reaching Goma, Peter Salama, the head of the new Health Emergencies Program at the World Health Organization, told Vox on Friday.  Goma is a major transportation hub, with roads and highways that lead to Rwanda. “These are crossroad cities and market towns,” Salama added. People there are constantly on the move doing business, and also because of the insecurity in North Kivu. Ebola in Goma is a nightmare scenario WHO and DRC’s health ministry are scrambling to prevent.  Together, they’ve deployed a rapid response team, including a vaccination team, to Kayina. And if the virus moves on to Goma, Salama says Ebola responders are ready. They’ve already mobilized teams there, set up a lab, and prepared health centers where sick people can be cared for in isolation.  But as Ebola expert Laurie Garrett wrote in Foreign Policy this week, Ebola in Goma could also trigger a rare global public health emergency declaration by WHO, escalating the severity of an already dangerous outbreak.  When Ebola strikes, it’s like the worst and most humiliating flu you could imagine. People get the sweats, along with body aches and pains. Then they start vomiting and having uncontrollable diarrhea. They experience dehydration. These symptoms can appear anywhere between two and 21 days after exposure to the virus. Sometimes patients go into shock. In rare cases, they bleed.  The virus is spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids, like vomit, urine, or blood, of someone who is already sick and has symptoms. The sicker people get, and the closer to the death, the more contagious they become. (That’s why caring for the very ill and attending funerals are especially dangerous.)  Because we have no cure for Ebola, health workers use traditional public health measures: finding, treating, and isolating the sick, and breaking the chains of transmission so the virus stops spreading.  They mount vigorous public health awareness campaigns to remind people to wash their hands; that touching and kissing friends and neighbors is a potential health risk; and that burial practices need to be modified to minimize the risk of Ebola spreading at funerals.  They also employ a strategy called “contact tracing”: finding all the contacts of people who are sick, and following up with them for 21 days — the period during which Ebola incubates.  In this outbreak, there’s also an additional tool: an effective experimental vaccine. Since the outbreak was declared in August, more than 61,000 people have been vaccinated. But while the vaccine has tempered Ebola’s spread, it hasn’t overcome the social and political chaos in DRC, which has been called the world’s most neglected crisis.  “The brutality of the conflict is shocking,” Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, “the national and international neglect outrageous.”  On December 30, after years of delays, voters went to the polls to elect a new president. In the days leading up to the election, tensions in North Kivu “ratcheted up,” Salama said. Protesters stormed Doctors Without Borders treatment centers in Beni, a recent outbreak hotspot, shutting them down for several days.  In January, the country’s electoral commission announced interim election results suggesting opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi had likely won the election. But leaked data and external analyses show there are irregularities with the voter count that point toward election fraud.  “All the outside observers — the African Union, the European Union, the Catholic Church — say the results of the election have been rigged,” and the people actually voted in Martin Fayalu for president, said Severine Autesserre, a political science professor at Barnard College, and author of the book The Trouble with the Congo. When the final results are announced in the coming days, more protests and riots are likely to follow.  But though the political instability isn’t making the Ebola response any easier, the war in Congo’s eastern provinces is a far bigger challenge. The 25-year-long conflict has displaced more than a million people, and made the already dangerous work of an Ebola response even more deadly, Autesserre said.  Between August and November, Beni had experienced more than 20 violent attacks, which put the outbreak response there on pause for days at a time. That meant cases had gone uncounted, and Ebola continued to spread.  But there’s also some more encouraging news, according to Salama: The outbreak of more than 200 people in Beni, a North Kivu town marred by decades of violence, has been brought under control.  “Many people would have been extremely skeptical that the outbreak in Beni could be controlled as quickly given force of infection we were seeing in November and December, and the fact that we’ve had nothing but volatility and insecurity since then,” Salama said. “But the fact that Beni has had only one confirmed case in two weeks is giving us a lot of hope and optimism.”  As of Friday, the two biggest hotspots in the outbreak were Butembo, with 51 cases, and a neighboring city, Katwa, with 119 cases. But the outbreak is geographically dispersed. There are active Ebola cases in 12 of the country’s “health zones,” the districts around which the DRC’s health system is organized. Because of the insecurity and difficulty reaching people, only 30 to 40 percent are coming from known contact lists, Salama said. That means the virus might already be in places no one’s discovered yet.


drudgereport--2019-02-05--Fears deadliest ever Ebola will infect MILLIONS

Fears 'deadliest ever' Ebola will infect MILLIONS...

The group of medics put their names to a letter in the Lancet yesterday calling for “high-level political, financial, and technical support to address the Ebola outbreak that started last May” in the Congo.  The current outbreak – first declared just six months ago – is already the world’s second-biggest having killed nearly 1,000 since it began.  And now there are fresh fears the epidemic is set to intensify amid warnings the spread is taking the disease closer to Goma city and has already arrived in the city of Butemba, which is home to millions of people.  The United Nations has scrambled emergency medical teams in Goma to deal with a possibly devastating outbreak in the city, with 2,000 emergency workers stationed there ready to deal with patients.


drudgereport--2019-04-03--Ebola outbreak spreading fast

Ebola outbreak spreading fast...

GENEVA (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ebola outbreak is spreading at its fastest rate yet, eight months after it was first detected, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.  Each of the past two weeks has registered a record number of new cases, marking a sharp setback for efforts to respond to the second biggest outbreak ever, as militia violence and community resistance have impeded access to affected areas.  Less than three weeks ago, the WHO said the outbreak of the hemorrhagic fever was largely contained and could be stopped by September, noting that weekly case numbers had halved from earlier in the year to about 25.  But the number of cases hit a record 57 the following week, and then jumped to 72 last week, said WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier. Previous spikes of around 50 cases per week were documented in late January and mid-November.  More alarmingly, more than half of the Ebola deaths last week occurred outside of treatment centers, according to Congo health ministry data, meaning there is a much greater chance they transmitted the virus to those around them.  “People are becoming infected without access to response measures,” Lindmeier told Reuters.  The current outbreak is believed to have killed 676 people and infected 406 others. Another 331 patients have recovered.  In the past two months, five Ebola centers have been attacked, some by armed militiamen. That led French medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) to suspend its activities in two of the most affected areas.  Another challenge has been a mistrust of first responders. A survey conducted last September by medical journal The Lancet found that a quarter of people sampled in two Ebola hotspots did not believe the disease was real.  Lindmeier said new approaches to community outreach were showing signs of progress and that some previously hostile local residents had recently agreed to grant health workers access.  One treatment center that closed in February after being torched by unknown assailants reopened last week.  More than 11,000 people died in West Africa’s 2013-16 Ebola outbreak. Since then, health authorities have worked to speed up their responses and deployed an experimental vaccine and treatments, both of which have been considered effective.


drudgereport--2019-04-30--HELL Record 26 Ebola deaths in DRCongo in single day

HELL: Record 26 Ebola deaths in DRCongo in single day...

The DR Congo declared a tenth outbreak of Ebola in 40 years last August  Twenty-six people died of Ebola in a single day in the Democratic Republic of Congo's North Kivu province, the highest daily toll since its outbreak nearly nine months ago, the health ministry said Tuesday.  The current outbreak is the second deadliest on record, after the epidemic that struck West Africa in 2014-2016 and killed more than 11,300 people.  The health ministry it had counted 957 deaths in the country, of which 891 were confirmed cases and 66 suspected ones.  "There were 26 deaths from confirmed cases" on Sunday, April 28, in the northeastern North Kivu province, the ministry said in a statement.  It said of the total deaths of 957, 33 were health workers who had succumbed to the disease.  The DR Congo declared a tenth outbreak of Ebola in 40 years last August in North Kivu before the virus spread into the neighbouring Ituri region.  The epicentre was first located in the rural area of Mangina, but then switched to the town of Beni.  Local organisations say the number of Ebola deaths is rising.  Adding to the logistical hitches are a string of assaults on teams fighting the disease.  A Cameroonian doctor working for the World Health Organization (WHO), Richard Valery Mouzoko Kiboung, was shot dead on April 19.  "We will not be intimidated... we will finish our work," said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a visit to Nord-Kivu on Monday.  "Your security is our priority. We will do everything to protect you," he added.


drudgereport--2019-07-22--World at risk of Ebola plane plague spreading on flights

World at risk of Ebola 'plane plague' spreading on flights...

EBOLA could be spread to anywhere in the world on a plane, after WHO declared the disease a global emergency.  Ebola was declared a global emergency after the first fatal case was reported in a city of one million inhabitants. Citizens of Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, are living in fear after the deadly disease arrived on their doorstep. Government officials have urged world leaders to send aid as they combat the crisis. Olivia Ajira Kwinja, World Vision’s Humanitarian and Emergency Affairs Manager in the DRC, told Daily Star Online the disease needed to be tackled at a local level to stop it.  But she also gave a terrifying warning about how far the disease could spread. She told us: "We are looking to stop this disease because we know what it can produce. "But there is always the chance of someone getting on a plane." Mortality rates for people contracting Ebola are 50%, making it one of the deadliest diseases in the world. The current outbreak has spread countries in Africa, but if an infected person were to get on a plane, it could even spread continents.  Harvard health scholar Dr Ashish Jha previously told us the chance of Ebola moving continents increases as the disease gets worse in the DRC. He said: "While there’s an outbreak happening there’s always the chance the somebody could get on a plane and transmit the disease. "As the disease gets worse in the DRC, the greater the chance is of that happening.  "It’s the same for the US, and that goes for China and India too.


drudgereport--2019-07-28--Ebola outbreak unstoppable as victims refuse treatment fearing govt behind disease

Ebola outbreak unstoppable as victims refuse treatment fearing govt 'behind disease'...

Ebola is sweeping through central Africa with the current outbreak becoming the second worst in history.  Experts even believe it could equal or surpass the worst on record, where 11,323 people died from December 2013 to January 2016.  WHO has called for the world’s superpowers to do more to help combat the disease, with 1,743 people killed.  But an aid worker on the frontline told Daily Star Online more needs to be done to fight the disease at a local level in the Democratic Republic of Congo.


drudgereport--2019-10-31--Ebola outbreak feared in Bahamas as nation put on 'high alert'...

There are fears the deadly Ebola virus could make its way to the Bahamas after officials put the country on high alert.  It comes after the island nation’s health department issued a “high alert” for the virus’s potential arrival in the form of international visitors.  After the Bahamas endured Hurricane Dorian in September, doctors and support workers from abroad have flooded in to assist local teams.  But, this has led the Bahamas Ministry of Health to keep a close watch on the visitors’ travel history, making sure to know whether they have been to places where Ebola is present.  Minister of Health Dr Duane Sands told Eyewitness News: “We’ve been in a process of doing a number of sensitisation training sessions with customs, airport, immigration and health personnel.  “If you have been in an area where there is an Ebola outbreak, such as central Africa, red flags go off.  “When you combine (screening) with travel history, that’s when a person may be infectious.”  He added: “But if they have a combination of symptoms and fever and travel history, then yes, we will act.”  The fears stem from the current situation in central Africa where Ebola has devastated widespread areas.  There have been a total of 3,268 Ebola cases recorded in Central African countries with the death rate being at 67%, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).  It has led the organisation to classify the outbreak as a global emergency.  Fears of a potential Ebola outbreak have even spread to nations such as Japan where a strain was imported in a bid to prevent cases from happening during next year’s Tokyo Olympics.  The government is now looking at possible countermeasures in the event of an outbreak sparked by the massive tourist influx.  They have imported Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, South American haemorrhagic fever, Marburg disease, and Lassa fever.  It is the first time these deadly viral agents have been introduced into Japan.


eveningstandard--2019-01-04--Ebola suspected in Sweden with man isolated over fears he has deadly virus

A man has been isolated in Sweden amid fears he has contracted the deadly Ebola virus.  Officials stated the unnamed patient had been tested with results set to be available later on Friday.  The news first came from Region Uppsala, which oversees several hospitals and medical clinics north of Stockholm.  Its statement said it was so far "only a matter of suspicion," adding "other diseases are quite possible."  The authorities said the hospital in Enkoping, where the patient was first admitted, had its emergency clinic shut down.  This was before he was transferred to Sweden's Uppsala University Hospital.  The hospital in Enkoping added the staff who treated the patient were "cared for".  "The patient came in Friday morning and reportedly was vomiting blood which may be a symptom of Ebola infection," hospital spokesman Mikael Kohler told local newspaper Upsala Nya Tidning.  He was not immediately available for further comment.  The chief medical officer of the Uppsala University Hospital said the man and was exhibiting classic symptoms of haemorrhagic fever, including vomiting blood.  The medical officer added that the man had recently been in Burundi, East Africa, for around three weeks.  Symptoms of the highly contagious and often fatal virus can take up to three weeks to appear.  There is no known Ebola outbreak in Burundi, however it borders the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has been fighting an outbreak for almost six months.  Ebola has killed 356 of the 585 people known to have been infected.  The epidemic in a volatile part of Congo is the second worst ever, according to the World Health Organisation, while the largest outbreak was one in 2013-2016 in West Africa, where more than 28,000 cases were confirmed.  The haemorrhagic fever's virus is spread through contact with the bodily fluids of those infected.