Nigeria records two new polio cases

Via The Guardian :

" Nigeria has for the first time gone eleven months without recording any incidence of type three Wild Polio Virus (WPV3), even as she continues to report type one WPV (WPV1) with two new cases last week.

Meanwhile, following reports of outbreak of cholera in some states in the country, the Lagos State Government has stressed the need for the public to observe and maintain adequate personal and environmental hygiene.

According to the latest edition of the Weekly Polio Update published yesterday by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), two new WPV cases were reported last week from two previously infected districts, one from Bauchi Local Council in Bauchi State and one from Bichi Council in Kano State. The total number of WPV cases for 2013 is now 49 (all WPV1s). The most recent WPV1 case in the country, from Kano, had onset of paralysis on September 10, 2013.

The GPEI report noted that no WPV3 has been detected in Nigeria since November 2012 and no new Circulating Vaccine Derived Polio Virus type two (cVDPV2) cases were reported in the past week."

Chad malaria cases hit emergency levels

Via The Guardian :

" A tenfold spike in malaria infections in south-east Chad, with many of the severest cases in young children, has triggered an emergency operation by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

The number of reported new cases rose from 1,228 in the first week of August to 14,021 by the end of the month at the charity's project in Am Timan, Salamat region. The estimated death toll is more than 50; the town has a population of 213,000.

At its outreach sites, the charity's teams said 73% of patients they have been treating were suffering from the mosquito-borne disease.

One in four deaths in Chad is attributed to malaria and it is the most common cause of death in children. MSF said it was not unusual for cases to peak during the rainy season, from July to November, but the increase was alarming.

Jason Mills, the charity's head of mission in the country, said the most likely explanation was a lack of protective bed nets combined with unusual rain patterns. Heavy rain left pools of stagnant water, which was exacerbated by further rain and a large number of mosquitoes, he added.

The rest of the country has also been inundated, particularly the south. The government plans to treat 800,000 cases this year, an increase of 25% on 2012, and has so far treated 450,000, disrupting medical supplies. Rain patterns were probably the cause, Mills said."

UK : Swine flu mother dies after coma

Article from The Guardian :

" A young woman with swine flu who was put in a coma to save her unborn child has died.

Leanne Gunnell, 22, from Gloucester, was misdiagnosed twice after falling ill last November. When doctors discovered serious lung damage, they put her in a coma and her baby, Faith, was delivered by Caesarean section at 28 weeks.

Two weeks ago, she suffered a brain haemorrhage and died in hospital on Friday."

Japan : Fukushima nuclear plant evacuated after radiation spikes

Via The Guardian, the situation looks grim as it unfolds :

" Workers battling to prevent nuclear meltdown at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant were temporarily evacuated on Wednesday morning after radiation levels became too dangerous for them to remain.

The withdrawal hampered efforts to secure safety at the atomic power plant and avert a major radiation leak. Staff returned to the plant after about an hour once radiation levels fell.

Its operator, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) said it was considering using helicopters to spray the crippled No 4 reactor with water and boric acid – a fire retardant – in an attempt to prevent more radiation leaks.

To compound problems, a fire broke out at the No 3 reactor, where a fuel storage pool had overheated and may have let off radioactive steam. Live TV footage showed a large cloud of light grey smoke rising above the plant.

The government's chief spokesman, Yukio Edano, said Japan was considering seeking help from the US military.

All six of the plants reactors are experiencing problems following last Friday's earthquake and tsunami, in which an estimated 10,000 people have died."

Belize : Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever claims 5-year-old

Via The Guardian :

" A 30-year-old Father, Ivan Cruz and his wife Ana Nelly Cruz are grieving the loss of their daughter 5-year-old Melissa Ruby Cruz. The child is believed to have died as a result of complications brought on by Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever. From the KHMH, Ivan Cruz spoke to the Guardian Newspaper on Wednesday July 14 and related the series of events that led to his daughter’s untimely passing.

Cruz says that sometime around 3:30 on the afternoon of Saturday July 10 his daughter, Melissa Ruby Cruz, was taken to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital seeking medical attention. She was admitted to the hospital where she received treatment including, I.V. drips, antibiotics, an x-ray and blood tests.

After receiving treatment, the child was released sometime around 2:30 on Sunday morning with prescription medications. Cruz says he thought that would have been the end of the ordeal; however, by 10:00 on Sunday night, the child began complaining of severe abdominal pains. She was treated at home with Tylenol and on Monday morning the child was taken to a clinic where doctors referred them back to the KHMH. By 12:00 she had been taken to the hospital where immediately upon arrival an emergency surgery was conducted on the child. Doctors realized that she had severe internal bleeding and efforts were made to stop the hemorrhage. "