Abstract
"Global concerns about an impending influenza pandemic escalated when highly pathogenic influenza A subtype H5N1 appeared in Nigeria in January 2006. The potential devastation from emergence of a pandemic strain in Africa has led to a sudden shift of public health focus to pandemic preparedness.
Preparedness and control activities must work within the already strained capacity of health infrastructure in Africa to respond to immense existing public health problems.
Massive attention and resources directed toward influenza could distort priorities and damage critical public health programs.
Responses to concerns about pandemic influenza should strengthen human and veterinary surveillance and laboratory capacity to help address a variety of health threats.
Experiences in Asia should provide bases for reassessing strategies for Africa and elsewhere.
Fowl depopulation strategies will need to be adapted for Africa.
Additionally, the role of avian vaccines [i.e., vaccines for the fowl] should be comprehensively evaluated and clearly defined."
"This slide presentation with streaming audio provides information to strengthen the diagnostic and treatment skills of clinicians working with children with latent TB infection (LTBI) or active TB disease. This course also includes extensive additional resource materials, including downloadable forms, tables, algorithms, and printable PowerPoint slides. ... (read more)
Spring of Life is the support arm of The ECWA AIDS Ministry (TEAM), with activities including home visiting, voluntary testing and counseling (VCT), and community-building activities. Here is a short (6 minute) video with pictures of the children in the Kids Club, as well as a few shots of the adults' Spring of Life club meeting. These support groups have played a big role in the lives of our clients, building a sense of community, caring, and teamwork, and helping eliminate the stigma of HIV. The pictures and footage here were shot in 2005. Nearly all the kids were living with HIV at the time, and most are still doing well, with many on antiretroviral therapy.
(Click on the player to start. If your connection is too slow for this video, see the low resolution version instead, or press pause on the player, wait until the video finishes loading, reaching 100%, then press play again).
"The HIV/AIDS cube is rapidly taking its place amongst leading educational tools. When an educator picks up the cube, their face lights up. They can’t help smiling as they flip over the sides: what is AIDS? how do you get it? How can you not get it? The size of a Rubik's cube, it is a clear simple tool that presents the facts about HIV/AIDS, how to prevent its contraction and spread, how to care for people living with HIV and AIDS. Once the cube has been demonstrated to someone, they never forget the messages of its pictures.
"Usable in any country, every country in west, east & southern Africa where it has been demonstrated so far has ordered copies. The HIV/AIDS cube is produced by E3, makers of the EvangeCube. It is available from SIM USA (contact
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) or directly from E3. The cube has a maximum price of US$7, with significant reductions for quantity orders. Also available: oversized demonstration cube; a pictoral PowerPoint, a evaluation sheet and a manual on HIV/AIDS.
These are our precious kids who came for Kids Club some time ago. The first Thursday of every month our HIV positive kids gather for games, snacks and a Bible story or craft. We really want to show them the love of Christ and pour into their lives. Many of the kids are orphans. Each of them is taking antiretroviral drugs, living a healthy life and going to school. The children always look forward to coming to Spring of Life for this event. It brings hope and encouragement to their lives. These faces are the next generation of Nigeria. We want them to know their Maker, the God of all creation. We pray that they may know their value in God's eyes, and of His unfailing love for them.
A study reported in this week's BMJ found that oral co-amoxiclav was as effective as parenteral ceftriaxone in the treatment of first-episode pyelonephritis in children. The randomized, controlled trial found that children did as well when given the oral antibiotic for the first three days as they did when given ceftriaxone. The accompanying editorial and summary of guidance for diagnosis and management of UTI in children support the strength of the results. The guidelines now suggest treatment with oral antibiotics in children aged 3 months and older with with acute pyelonephritis or upper urinary tract infection. ... continued
Yesterday, I was looking at a few issues of the Health Development CD-ROMs, distributed free by TALC. If you work in a developing world country and do not already receive these, you should really contact TALC
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) and request to be put on the list. TALC produces about one CD-ROM each year and each one is packed with useful resources: journal articles from BMJ, Lancet, and others; entire books; newsletters and so on.
You could access most of these directly from the Internet, but there are some advantages to the CD-ROMs.
You do not need an Internet connection at all.
You do not need to struggle with long download times if you do have a connection.
The editors have already selected a set of resources that are quite relevant to developing world settings.
Among what I found on these recent CD-ROMs was Community Eye Health Journal. It's an excellent resource and available free on the Internet as well as on the TALC CDs. If you are involved in primary care, healthcare planning, general hospital, or eye care, you should check the site.
Women with a short cervix at mid-gestation are known to be at high risk for premature delivery. The authors randomized 250 women with short cervix (less than 15 mm) to receive placebo or progesterone treatment from the 24th through the 33rd week of gestation. The progesterone was given as "200-mg capsules of micronized progesterone (Utrogestan, Besins International Belgium)" vaginally each night.
Women treated with progesterone had a statistically significant 44% reduction in premature delivery (before 34 weeks). Thirty-six percent of the placebo-treated women, but only 21% of the ones in the progesterone group, delivered prematurely. This translates to 15 premature deliveries avoided for 100 women treated.
Only 1.6% of the 24,620 women screened fell into the short-cervix group, so this treatment is not something that would apply to everyone, but it certainly appears very promising for this high-risk group.
Comfort is a five month old girl admitted to Evangel from 6 to 11 July with a diagnosis of congestive heart failure.
She was born by NSVD at 9 months gestation but weighed only 2 kg by the mother’s recollection. From the time of birth, the mother thought she was having noisy breathing. She also had a rash on the face. The mother also felt that Comfort was not gaining weight well.
(Click on photos for larger versions). continued ...
These are our precious kids who came for Kids Club some time ago. The first Thursday of every month our HIV positive kids gather for games, snacks and a Bible story or craft. We really want to show them the love of Christ and pour into their lives. Many of the kids are orphans. Each of them is taking antiretroviral drugs, living a healthy life and going to school. The children always look forward to coming to Spring of Life for this event. It brings hope and encouragement to their lives. These faces are the next generation of Nigeria. We want them to know their Maker, the God of all creation. We pray that they may know their value in God's eyes, and of His unfailing love for them.