Wednesday 28th October 2015- BBC News: TB ‘joins HIV as most deadly infection’

‘Tuberculosis now ranks alongside HIV as the world’s most deadly infectious disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.

Each accounted for between 1.1 million and 1.2 million deaths in 2014.

The WHO said the tuberculosis figures were unacceptable for a disease that could be cured.

Medecins Sans Frontieres said the statistics were “disheartening” and warned the world was “losing ground” on tackling resistant forms of TB.

The WHO’s Global Tuberculosis Report 2015 shows the huge strides that have been made in tackling TB, with the death rate being nearly halved since 1990.

And the number of infections has been falling by 1.5% a year since 2000.

Deaths from HIV/Aids have also been falling rapidly because of improved access to anti-retroviral drugs.

Dr Mario Raviglione, the WHO’s tuberculosis director, told the BBC News website: “Tuberculosis and HIV are now competing to be the number one cause of death from infectious disease in the world.

“Tuberculosis now ranks alongside HIV.”

Most new cases of TB are in China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria or Pakistan.’

See:

TB ‘joins HIV as most deadly infection’

Record Views!!!

WWWWOOOOOWWWW!!!

Today, 20th September 2015, my blog has received 1,477 views by 1,325 visitors- a definite record for me!

I am amazed- I thought it was just me and some crazy cat lady who looked at this blog!!!

Please ‘like’ my posts, and try out my polls that are dotted around. And don’t be afraid to leave some comments!

Thank you to all the interest! 🙂

Friday 21st August 2015- The Guardian: Historic New York City hotel located as source of Legionnaires’ disease outbreak

‘New York City’s historic Opera House Hotel, identified as the source of a deadly spate of Legionnaires’ disease, said it will go beyond newly imposed regulations in testing its cooling system even as officials declared an end to the outbreak.

City officials on Thursday announced an end to the outbreak, which killed 12 people and sickened 128 people. Of those, two had been guests of the South Bronx hotel, according to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Health officials matched the strain of Legionella bacteria found in the hotel cooling tower with the strain found in Legionnaires’ patients, the department said.

The hotel’s cooling tower and all other cooling towers in the affected area were disinfected, and no new patients have contracted Legionnaires’ since 3 August, city officials said. Health experts are still locating and testing all cooling towers in the city, they added.’

See:

Historic New York City hotel located as source of Legionnaires’ disease outbreak

Tuesday 30th June 2015- The Independent: Moroccan boy Yahya El Jabaly born with no nose, eyes, or functioning mouth given 18-hour life-changing surgery

‘A four-year-old Moroccan boy who was born with no nose or eyes, without a functioning mouth and missing parts of his skull, has been given life-changing surgery to reconstruct his face… He was unable to speak properly and the upper part of his skull at the place of his forehead had not been formed, leaving part of his brain only covered by skin.’

‘A four-year-old Moroccan boy who was born with no nose or eyes, without a functioning mouth and missing parts of his skull, has been given life-changing surgery to reconstruct his face.

Yayha El Jabaly was born in a village near Tangiers, but the bones in his face failed to form properly in the womb, leaving him with a hole in his face where his nose would have been, no eyes and an upper jaw turned upwards and outwards. He was unable to speak properly and the upper part of his skull at the place of his forehead had not been formed, leaving part of his brain only covered by skin.

Australia’s Channel 7 followed the story of Yayha after a Moroccan-born woman from Melbourne began helping the family, and unveiled the boy’s new face on its Sunday Night programme.

Yayha’s parents had tried to find a surgeon in Morocco that would help their son, but were repeatedly unsuccessful. When the family’s neighbour appealed for help on Facebook, Fatima Baraka, who was born close to Yayha’s village, began looking for a doctor in Australia who could perform the surgery.

Baraka travelled to Morocco to bring Yayha and his family to Australia, where the boy underwent 18-hour surgery at Melbourne Royal Children’s Hospital, performed by Professor Tony Holmes.’

See:

Moroccan boy Yahya El Jabaly born with no nose, eyes, or functioning mouth given 18-hour life-changing surgery

 

Wednesday 8th April 2015- World Health Organisation: Avian influenza A(H5N1) in Egypt

‘The Ministry of Health and Population of Egypt has notified WHO of additional laboratory-confirmed human cases of avian influenza A(H5N1) during the last few weeks. With this additional number, the total number of cases reported during the month of March 2015 now stands at 30 cases, including 4 deaths. This increase in reported human cases has been observed since the beginning of November last year.’

‘Since it was first reported in March 2006, a total of 336 cases of avian influenza A(H5N1) infections in humans have been reported, including 114 related deaths (case-fatality rate =34%)

Table 1. Cumulative number of laboratory-confirmed human cases of avian influenza A(H5N1) reported to WHO, 2006-2015

Year	Cases	Deaths
2006	18	10
2007	25	9
2008	8	4
2009	39	4
2010	28	13
2011	40	15
2012	11	5
2013	4	3
2014	38	18
2015 (end of 31 March 2015	125	33
Total	336	114

Total number of cases includes number of deaths
WHO reports only laboratory-confirmed cases.’

See:

Avian influenza A(H5N1) in Egypt

Friday 24th March 2014- BBC News: Deaf woman Joanne Milne hears for [the] first time

‘The moment a 39-year-old woman heard for the first time, thanks to cochlear implants, has been captured on video.

Joanne Milne burst into tears when she heard a nurse reading out the days of the week.

Ms Milne, from Gateshead, was born deaf and during her 20s she also began to lose her sight due to the rare medical condition Usher syndrome.

She said she was delighted by the results of the “life-changing” procedure to fit implants.’

‘Ms Milne said: “The switch-on was the most emotional and overwhelming experience of my life and I’m still in shock now.

“The first day everybody sounded robotic and I have to learn to recognise what these sounds are as I build a sound library in my brain.’

Related Articles:

Deaf woman Joanne Milne hears for first time

Profoundly deaf woman hears for first time- The Telegraph

Watch the moment deaf woman Joanne Milne is overwhelmed as she hears for the first time after having cochlear implants switched on- The Independent

Monday 24th March 2014- The Daily Telegraph: Aborted babies incinerated to heat UK hospitals

‘At least 15,500 foetal remains were incinerated by 27 NHS trusts over the last two years alone’, some as clinical waste but horrifically some of the energy was also used to heat the hospitals themselves. ‘One of the country’s leading hospitals, Addenbrooke’s in Cambridge, incinerated 797 babies below 13 weeks gestation at their own ‘waste to energy’ plant. The mothers were told the remains had been ‘cremated’.

I could not believe it when I saw this article. This is disgusting. I cannot accept that this has happened, and that thousands of families have no idea what has happened to their deceased loved ones behind the scenes in hospitals. I cannot believe it has taken so long for this to be stopped, but thank god it now has. ‘Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS Medical Director, has written to all NHS trusts to tell them the practice must stop’.

See:

• Aborted babies incinerated to heat UK hospitals

Friday 7th March 2014- BBC News: Warning over hospital superbug linked to 16 deaths

‘Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC) is causing increasing concern and a rising number of cases.

Some 1,241 patients were affected within the Central Manchester University Hospitals trust area from 2009 to 2013, the figures show.’

‘The figures, revealed in a Freedom of Information request by the BBC, found 62 patients so far have suffered blood poisoning – with 14 confirmed deaths within 30 days of infection – at Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Two further deaths have occurred in the current year, the hospital trust confirmed.’

‘KPC, which causes urinary tract infections and pneumonia in sick patients, is resistant to carbapenems, the last major group of antibiotics to work against multidrug-resistant bacteria.

The trust said the chemical, an enzyme, that KPC uses to render antibiotics ineffective had now entered other bacteria, including E. coli and Enterobacter.

“This trust has and continues to make strenuous efforts to control and reduce this infection. We continue to work very closely with Public Health England at both a local and national level to develop solutions for the long-term management of patients,” it said.’

See:

Warning over hospital superbug linked to 16 deaths

Superbug kills 16 people in Manchester NHS hospital trust– The Independent

Superbug kills 16 in Manchester hospitals– The Guardian