Patient plays guitar during brain surgery in Los Angeles - YouTube

Patient plays guitar during brain surgery in Los Angeles - YouTube: ""

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Global Protest Against Monsanto - YouTube

Global Protest Against Monsanto - YouTube: ""

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Polio outbreak hits Horn of Africa

The Horn of Africa is currently experiencing an outbreak of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1), the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a dispatch obtained by PANA here Wednesday.

It said a four-month-old girl near Dadaab, Kenya, developed symptoms of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) on 30 April 2013. Two healthy contacts of the child tested positive for WPV1.

According to the global health body, they are the first laboratory confirmed cases in Kenya since July 2011.

In addition, a case of WPV1 in Banadir, Somalia, was confirmed on 9 May 2013.

WHO said investigation into the outbreak is ongoing.
In response to the outbreak, the first vaccination campaign, reaching 440,000 children, began on 14 May 2013 in Somalia and a second round of vaccination is planned for 26 May 2013 in synchronization with the affected parts of Kenya.

The risk to neighbouring countries is deemed as very high, due to large-scale population movements across the Horn of Africa and persistent immunity gaps in some areas.

Dadaab hosts a major refugee camp, housing nearly 500,000 persons from across the Horn of Africa.

WHO said an alert for enhanced surveillance for polio has been issued to all countries across the Horn of Africa, highlighting the need to conduct active searches for any suspected cases.

All countries are urged to rapidly identify sub-national surveillance gaps and to take measures to fill the gaps.

In 2005, polio spread east across the African continent, and into Yemen and the Horn of Africa, resulting in over 700 cases.

Since then, international outbreak responses have been adopted and new monovalent and bivalent oral polio vaccines have been developed, which can significantly reduce the severity and length of polio outbreaks.

In view of the break, WHO has recommended that all travellers to and from polio-infected areas be fully vaccinated against polio.

Conjoined twins separated in groundbreaking surgery - YouTube

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Neonatal mortality in Ethiopia: trends and determinants -BMC Public Health | Abstract |

Abstract (provisional)

Background

The Ethiopian neonatal mortality rate constitutes 42% of under-5 deaths. We aimed to examine the trends and determinants of Ethiopian neonatal mortality.

Methods

We analyzed the birth history information of live births from the 2000, 2005 and 2011 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Surveys(DHS). We used simple linear regression analyses to examine trends in neonatal mortality rates and a multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression model using a hierarchical approach to examine the associated factors.

Results

The neonatal mortality rate declined by 1.9% per annum from 1995 to 2010, logarithmically. The early neonatal mortality rate declined by 0.9% per annum and was where 74% of the neonatal deaths occurred. Using multivariate analyses, increased neonatal mortality risk was associated with male sex (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.38; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.23 - 1.55); neonates born to mothers aged < 18 years (HR = 1.41; 95% CI, 1.15 - 1.72); and those born within 2 years of the preceding birth (HR = 2.19; 95% CI, 1.89 - 2.51). Winter birth increased the risk of dying compared with spring births (HR = 1.28; 95% CI, 1.08 - 1.51). Giving two Tetanus Toxoid Injections (TTI) to the mothers before childbirth decreased neonatal mortality risk (HR = 0.44; 95% CI, 0.36 - 0.54). Neonates born to women with secondary or higher schooling vs. no education had a lower risk of dying (HR = 0.68; 95% CI, 0.49 - 0.95). Compared with neonates in Addis Ababa, neonates in Amhara (HR: 1.88; 95% CI: 1.26 - 2.83), Benishangul Gumuz (HR: 1.75; 95% CI: 1.15 - 2.67) and Tigray (HR: 1.54; 95% CI: 1.01 - 2.34) regions carried a significantly higher risk of death.

Conclusions

Neonatal mortality must decline more rapidly to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4 target for under-5 mortality in Ethiopia. Strategies to address neonatal survival require a multifaceted approach that encompasses health-related and other measures. Addressing short birth interval and preventing early pregnancy must be considered as interventions. Programs must improve the coverage of TTI and prevention of hypothermia for winter births should be given greater emphasis. Strategies to improve neonatal survival must address inequalities in neonatal mortality by women's education and region.

The complete article is available as a provisional PDF. The fully formatted PDF and HTML versions are in production.

Sophia Bush helps thirsty Ethiopians Drinking Water

Actress Sophia Bush got back to basics during a recent charity trip to Ethiopia after spending her travels "off the grid".

In the accompanying caption, she writes, These kids now have clean water thanks to charitywater

The philanthropist and former One Tree Hill star headed to Africa to raise awareness about the need to provide safe drinking water for residents in the poverty-stricken country as part of her work with the Charity Water non-profit organization.

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She returned to her native U.S. this week (ends10May13) and logged back on to her Twitter.com blog on Friday (10May13) to share a photo of the children she had spent time with.

In the accompanying caption, she writes, "These kids now have clean water thanks to charitywater. I just spent the last week off the grid in Ethiopia visiting with them, and many more communities. Water changes everything".

Read more: http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/entertainment/sophia-bush-292166.html#ixzz2TA3P16C1

To Hell and Back South African addicts rehabs

To Hell and Back - Episode 1 - YouTube: ""

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