Ebola Virus Disease News and Research

Latest Ebola Virus Disease News and Research

WHO holds meeting to discuss on how to fast track testing, deployment of Ebola vaccines

WHO convened a meeting with high-ranking government representatives from Ebola-affected countries and development partners, civil society, regulatory agencies, vaccine manufacturers and funding agencies yesterday to discuss and agree on how to fast track testing and deployment of vaccines in sufficient numbers to impact the Ebola epidemic.

26 Oct 2014

Safety and protocol measures for humanitarian volunteers in the Ebola epidemic

Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness Journal has released a novel, informative article that speaks to volunteers within the Ebola epidemic. The article, contributed by a consortium of Boston-based hospitals, is entitled Sign Me Up: Rules of the Road for Humanitarian Volunteers during the Ebola Outbreak.

25 Oct 2014

Minnesota hospitals, health systems develop coordinated strategy to care for Ebola patients

The Minnesota Hospital Association announced today that hospitals and health systems from around the state have developed a coordinated strategy to care for Ebola patients in Minnesota. Under the plan, all hospitals in the state will continue to be prepared to detect, isolate and initially care for suspected Ebola patients.

25 Oct 2014

US hospitals lack infection prevention staff, resources to fight Ebola

Only 6 percent of U.S. hospitals are well-prepared to receive a patient with the Ebola virus, according to a survey of infection prevention experts at U.S. hospitals conducted October 10-15 by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).

24 Oct 2014

Viewpoints: Fund CHIP; media overdrive on Ebola; slowdown in Medicare costs

In what may be a hopelessly quixotic effort, supporters of the federal Children's Health Insurance Program are trying to persuade Congress to renew its funding almost a year in advance -; and in a lame-duck session. Nevertheless, lawmakers ought to heed that call. The program plugs a troubling gap between Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act's subsidized plans, and states need to know whether they can count on federal funding or whether they will have to spend far more dollars of their own (10/21).

24 Oct 2014

Longer looks: Obamacare in the midterm campaign; watching Ebola mutate; lessons on dying

According to Kantar Media, a firm that tracks political advertising, health care is the main subject of campaign ads, especially Republican ones. Obamacare is unpopular-;over half of Americans disapprove of it. Republicans talk about it constantly on the campaign trail, though not as intemperately as they did during their own party's primaries. Democrats scarcely mention it (10/18).

24 Oct 2014

Passengers from West Africa to start 3-week Ebola screening

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has announced that any person flying into the USA from Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea will soon have to undergo daily Ebola monitoring for several weeks after their arrival.

23 Oct 2014

Public worries about Ebola increase faster than cases

A Pew Research Center survey finds 41 percent of Americans say they worry they or someone in their families will be "exposed" to the Ebola virus, up from 32 percent two weeks ago. Public confidence in the government's ability to combat the disease has also dropped, finds a Gallup poll. Meanwhile, GOP doctors in the House of Representatives seek a temporary travel ban for West African countries affected by Ebola.

23 Oct 2014

Human trial of second investigational Ebola vaccine candidate under way

Human testing of a second investigational Ebola vaccine candidate is under way at the National Institutes of Health's Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

23 Oct 2014

Hospitals' purchase of doctors' practices boosts costs, study finds

Hospital ownership of physician groups increased patient care costs by as much as 20 percent, according to the UC Berkeley study. Meanwhile, another study by Harvard researchers finds that switching to for-profit status may boost hospitals' financial health but has no effect on quality of care.

23 Oct 2014

Helping children understand Ebola

It dominates the headlines and is striking fear and panic in many communities around the world, Ebola. The constant barrage of information and so much unknown can be especially difficult for children, making it all the more important for parents to help their kids feel safe and to have a dialogue with them at the appropriate developmental level.

23 Oct 2014

ADI develops ELISA test kits for detection of Ebola viral protein antibodies

San Antonio, Texas-based Biotech Company Alpha Diagnostic Int'l has developed and released several convenient, rapid, and sensitive ELISA test kits for the detection of major Ebola viral protein antibodies (Glycoprotein, GP; Nucleoprotein, NP, and Viral Protein 40 or VP40).

23 Oct 2014

Hill Republicans refine their strategy on foreign travelers as CDC tightens Ebola guidelines

The GOP is now pressing to suspend visas for some travelers since the administration has so far rejected calls for a flight ban. Also Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention beefed-up its guidelines to protect health care workers.

22 Oct 2014

Hospitals demand TRU-D SmartUVC device to be added to Ebola protocols

Following the tragic infections of two hospital staff and subsequent tracking of hundreds of people related to Ebola, hospitals around the country are requiring TRU-D SmartUVC, a portable automated UVC disinfection robot which accurately measures required dosage, be added to Ebola protocols.

21 Oct 2014

Viewpoints: Health care opponent's legal strategy; the challenge for this open enrollment

In 2011 after the first appeals circuit struck down the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate, the White House asked the Supreme Court to take the case as soon as possible and "put these challenges to rest."

21 Oct 2014

ACA knowledge gap greatest among uninsured

Most of the uninsured know little about the online insurance marketplaces, or that financial help is available for those with low incomes, finds a poll.

21 Oct 2014

Views on Ebola: America needs to 'calm down'; political criticism is off base

A Texas university refuses to accept students from Nigeria, where there were a couple dozen Ebola cases before the disease was quickly stopped.

21 Oct 2014

Views on Ebola: Blame misplaced; conspiracy theories abound; 'nasty' politicization

Anybody who has been following the travails of our dysfunctional health-care system can find plenty of reasons to criticize American hospitals.

21 Oct 2014

Administration's handling of Ebola casts shadow on Democrats' House and Senate hopes

A Politico poll underscores that Ebola is causing real political danger for some Democrats. It's playing big, for instance, in North Carolina's Senate race.

21 Oct 2014

Pentagon plans 30-person team to tackle Ebola in U.S.

The defense department announced Sunday that it would create a team to assist U.S. doctors responding to new Ebola cases, while the government issued more stringent guidelines for protective garb for health care workers treating Ebola patients. In addition, The Wall Street Journal profiles a biologist who has been working since 1997 on an Ebola vaccine which has been proven to block the disease in monkeys.

20 Oct 2014