British scientists say they have found a way to “jam” the genetic code of the common cold and stop the virus from being able to replicate inside the body.
If true, it could mean almost immediate cures to the common cold.
Scientists with the Universities of Leeds and York say they used a computer model to identify the viral genome that causes rhinoviruses. The molecules can be blocked at the genetic level and essentially stop the disease before it starts.
The breakthrough’s news was tempered by the fact the scientists would have to conduct animal testing before they can develop the drug that could deliver the necessary items to block the genetic code.
“We have understood for decades that the RNA carries the genetic messages that create viral proteins, but we didn’t know that, hidden within the stream of letters we use to denote the genetic information, is a second code governing virus assembly,” Dr Roman Tuma, Reader in Biophysics at the University of Leeds, told the London Daily Telegraph.
“It is like finding a secret message within an ordinary news report and then being able to crack the whole coding system behind it.”
Health officials fighting the outbreak of Ebola in Liberia have confirmed that a new wave of the virus has broken out near the Sierra Leone border.
Authorities say that dozens of new cases have been rushing into health centers and marks a huge setback to the nation, which had thought they were bringing the viral outbreak under control.
Assistant Health minister Tolbert Nyenswah said that the new cases could be connected to people traveling across the Sierra Leone border and returning home. Sierra Leone has passed Liberia for the total number of Ebola cases.
Liberia has reported close to 3,400 deaths from Ebola and over 8,000 cases. The World Health Organization says that Sierra Leone has now passed Liberia with 9,000 cases of the deadly virus.
Liberian officials did not say if they would take steps to block border crossings.
Government officials in Sierra Leone announced the country’s leading doctor died from Ebola Thursday just hours after the arrival of experimental drugs to treat him.
Dr. Victor Willoughby contracted the virus after working on a patient that came in complaining of pain in his organs. The patient, a senior banker in the nation, was later confirmed to have had Ebola after his death.
Sierra Leone Chief Medical Officer Brima Kargbo said that the experimental drug ZMapp was flown into the country in a frozen form but had not thawed when Dr. Willoughby’s health declined to the point of death.
His death makes the 11th doctor in Sierra Leone to die from Ebola during the massive outbreak out of 12 infected. In addition to the doctors, 109 of 142 health care workers infected with the virus have died.
“We’ve lost personal friends and colleagues we’ve worked with. It’s extremely depressing and frustrating. You can talk to someone today and tomorrow they are Ebola-infected,” Dr M’Baimba Baryoh said. “The tension, the depression, it’s a lot of pressure. You start having nightmares because of Ebola.”
The epidemic’s official death toll continues to rise toward a gruesome new mark, closing in on 7,000 total deaths. Officials admit that the death toll is likely much higher than the official count as many families in rural areas have buried victims without seeking government assistance.
Officials in Sierra Leone were forced to admit a major Ebola outbreak went largely unreported to international health officials after the World Health Organization found dozens of Ebola victims’ bodies stacked in a pile at a hospital.
The WHO says a response team has been sent into the Kono district are a reported spike in Ebola cases.
“They uncovered a grim scene,” the U.N. health agency said in a statement. “In 11 days, two teams buried 87 bodies, including a nurse, an ambulance driver, and a janitor drafted into removing bodies as they piled up.”
The WHO team found that Ebola had hit 8 of the 15 chiefdoms in the area and it had not been reported to officials.
“We are only seeing the ears of the hippo,” Dr. Amara Jambai, Sierra Leone’s Director of Disease Prevention and Control told Fox News.
Sierra Leone has seen a significant rise in reported cases of Ebola and has overtaken neighbor Liberia for total number of cases. Liberia, however, has 1,400 more deaths listed in the official death toll.
However, Sierra Leone officials admitted they had only been counting deaths of patients with laboratory confirmed cases of Ebola, so many had died without being tested and confirmed to have the virus.
On World Volunteer Day, December 5th, two doctors with international missions group SIM are heading to Africa to serve in hospitals treating patients with Ebola.
International Volunteer Day was established by the United Nations in 1985 as a way to encourage volunteerism around the globe. SIM International focuses on helping people around the world and Dr. Dan Crawford of SIM said he’s excited to help those in need in Africa.
“We feel like we are well prepared,” Dr. Crawford told USA Headline News. “You can’t be completely prepared until you are there, but we don’t really feel any great anxiety about the disease itself. We know we are in God’s hands wherever we are and there are dangers wherever you work. There is, however, anxiety about going to a new place.”
Dr. Crawford has spent 15 years volunteering monthly at a low-cost clinic in Portland, Oregon.
Dr. John Fankhauser will also be volunteering with SIM’s Ebola mission. Dr. Fankhauser had been practicing family medicine at the SIM ELWA Hospital in Monrovia, Liberia when the Ebola outbreak started.
He has personally been quarantined twice because of possible exposure to Ebola. He said it’s God’s call on our lives to help those in need and so he has no problem going back after his second quarantine. He trusts the Lord will plan his days and he trusts in Him.
Italy has confirmed their first case of Ebola.
Italian health officials say that a doctor who had been treating patients in Sierra Leone became contracted with the virus.
“The procedures for transfer of the Italian doctor who is positive for Ebola do not present any risk to the community,” Gianni Rezza, director of the Department of Infectious Disease at the Spallanzini clinic told the Corriere della Sera.
“We have been ready for this possibility and are already equipped to manage the situation. It is our moral duty to provide therapy and support to co nationals struck by Ebola: better here than in Sierra Leone. We can resolve this safely.”
The doctor, whose name has been withheld, was flown to Rome for treatment at the Lazzaro Spallanzani infectious diseases institute.
There are 26 Italian doctors with with the charity group Emergency in Sierra Leone.
The second Ebola victim treated in the United States has died.
Dr. Martin Salia died Monday morning while being treated at the Biocontainment Unit at Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. A hospital spokesman said that Dr. Salia died around 4 a.m. Monday.
Officials close to the case say that Dr. Salia was already critical when he arrived at the facility, including being in kidney and respiratory failure.
“Dr. Salia was extremely critical when he arrived here, and unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we weren’t able to save him,” said Dr. Phil Smith, medical director of the biocontainment unit. “We used every possible treatment available to give Dr. Salia every possible opportunity for survival. As we have learned, early treatment with these patients is essential. In Dr. Salia’s case, his disease was already extremely advanced by the time he came here for treatment.”
Salia’s wife said she was thankful the U.S. State Department worked to bring her husband to Nebraska to help him fight for his life.
“We are so appreciative of the opportunity for my husband to be treated here and believe he was in the best place possible,” Isatu Salia said.
A surgeon from Sierra Leone is being transported to Nebraska Medical Center to be treated for Ebola.
The doctor has legal permanent resident status in the United States. Officials at NMC would not confirm the Saturday arrival of the patient but admitted they would be evaluating a patient for admission.
The State Department said they had been working with the family of the surgeon.
“His wife, who resides in Maryland, has asked the State Department to investigate whether he is well enough to be transported back to the University of Nebraska Medical Center for treatment,” a State Department statement read.
Two patients, Dr. Rick Sacra and NBC cameraman Ashoka Mukpo, were successfully treated at the Nebraska facility.
It was not clear how the doctor was exposed to the virus.
A series of rallies and strikes took place across the United States Wednesday as nurses spoke out about what they feel are insufficient measures taken for their protection when dealing with Ebola.
National Nurses United, a California-based union, said that hospitals do not have enough hazardous materials outfits that leave no skin exposed to bodily fluids along with air purifying respirators to avoid accidental inhalation of particles.
“Inadequate preparedness for Ebola symbolizes the erosion of patient care standards generally,” National Nurses United spokesman Charles Idelson told Reuters on Tuesday.
Strikes began early in California on Tuesday with over 20,000 nurses taking part in the protests.
Over 100,000 joined the protests on Wednesday including a group that held a vigil outside the White House.
Two nurses who attended to Thomas Eric Duncan in Dallas became infected with the virus and hospital workers told media outlets there were times the nurses did not have adequate protection.
Officials in Sierra Leone say that churches may be the last Ebola free zones in the country.
Infection rates in Sierra Leone are continuing to rise despite the efforts of western agencies such as Doctors Without Borders and the United Nations.
“We will overcome Ebola through the blood of Christ, with His help, and with prayer,” Pastor Olatunji Oseni told his congregation at a church in Freetown according ot the Christian Post.
Sierra Leone has forbidden most public gatherings such as soccer matches, concerts, schools or movies but the faithful have been continuing to flood into churches despite the concerns over the killer virus.
A deacon at Winner’s Chapel told the Christian Post that some measures have ben taken to safeguard against Ebola such as elimination of shaking hands and hugging.
Meanwhile, the United Nations is reporting that their latest survey estimates 50 percent of the Ebola cases in Sierra Leone were not reported to officials and most of the patients who did not seek medical attention died from the virus.
