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https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2024/11/01/g-s1-30948/virus-marburg-outbreak-rwanda-unprecedented-success>
"Marburg virus is notorious for its killing ability. In past outbreaks, as many
as 9 out of 10 patients have died from the disease. And there are no approved
vaccines or medications.
That was the grim situation in Rwanda just over a month ago, when officials
made the announcement that nobody wants to make: The country was in the midst
of its first Marburg outbreak.
Now those same Rwandan officials have better news to share. Remarkably better.
“We are at a case fatality rate of 22.7% — probably among the lowest ever
recorded [for a Marburg outbreak],” said Dr. Yvan Butera, the Rwandan Minister
of State for Health at a press conference hosted by Africa Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention on Thursday.
There’s more heartening news: Two of the Marburg patients, who experienced
multiple organ failure and were put on life support, have now been extubated —
had their breathing tubes successfully removed — and have recovered from the
virus.
“We believe this is the first time patients with Marburg virus have been
extubated in Africa,” says Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the
World Health Organization. “These patients would have died in previous
outbreaks.”
The number of new cases in Rwanda has also dwindled dramatically, from several
a day to just 4 reported in the last two weeks, bringing the total for this
outbreak to 66 Marburg patients and 15 deaths.
“It's not yet time to declare victory, but we think we are headed in a good
direction,” says Butera. Public health experts are already using words like
“remarkable,” “unprecedented” and “very, very encouraging” to characterize the
response.
How did Rwanda — an African country of some 14 million — achieve this success?
And what can other countries learn from Rwanda’s response?"
Via
Fix the News:
https://fixthenews.com/279-breakneck-solarisation/
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
