New Ebola cases may show effect of improved alerts
‘People couldn’t recognise it in time’
CANCUN, Mexico, May 27, (RTRS): The rapid reaction by the Democratic Republic of Congo to recent cases of Ebola showed lessons were learned from earlier outbreaks, a top global health official said on Friday, stressing the need to factor health into disaster risk plans.
Two cases of the virus have been confirmed by the World Health Organization in Congo’s remote northeastern Bas-Uele province since early May. Four people have died so far among the 43 suspected and confirmed cases.
With the improved activation of early alert systems and emergency teams in Congo, “hopefully we will not get into a full-blown outbreak like it was a few years before,” the secretary general of the International Red Cross and Red Cross
FORTALEZA, Also: Brazil:
Researchers in Brazil are experimenting with a new treatment for severe burns using the skin of tilapia fish, an unorthodox procedure they say can ease the pain of victims and cut medical costs.
Frozen animal skin and even human tissue have long been placed on burns to keep them moist and allow the transfer of collagen, a protein that promotes healing. Brazil’s public hospitals, however, lack human and animal skin supplies and the artificial alternatives easily available in Western countries. Instead, gauze bandage, which needs regular changing - often painfully - is the norm.
Tilapia is abundant in Brazil’s rivers and fish farms, which are expanding rapidly as demand grows for the mildly flavored freshwater fish.
Scientists at the Federal University of Ceara in northern Brazil have found that tilapia skin has moisture, collagen and disease resistance at levels comparable to human skin, and can aid in healing.
In China, researchers have tested tilapia skin on rodents to study its healing properties, but scientists in Brazil say their trials are the first on humans.
“The use of tilapia skin on burns is unprecedented,” said Odorico de Morais, a professor at Ceara University. “The fish skin is usually thrown away, so we are using this product to convert it into something of social benefit.”