Angola Yellow Fever Outbreak, Still A Serious Issue

Angola Yellow Fever Outbreak, Still A Serious Issue – W.H.O

In the on-going battle against the yellow fever outbreak in Angola and the Democratic Republic Of The Congo (DRC), the World Health Organization says although it is currently not a public health emergency of international concern, it however remains a very serious issue.

According to the W.H.O, About 6,000 people in Angola and Democratic Republic of Congo may be infected with yellow fever, six times the number of confirmed cases, but no new infections have been found since July 12; what the organisation describes as an “extremely positive” trend.

However, it was said that the looming rainy season has raised fears of further spread of the worst outbreak in decades of the mosquito-borne hemorrhagic virus.

The outbreak which has killed roughly 400 people since December, now appears to have improved.

With the vaccination of about 7.7 million people this month, in a major campaign in the “high-risk” Congo capital of Kinshasa, along with 1.5 million in other parts of the country, the situation seems to be under control.

Campaigns have depleted the global stockpile of six million yellow fever vaccine doses twice this year already, which the W.H.O says is unprecedented.

The Lantern of the Photuris Firefly

THE lantern, or light organ, of a particular Photuris firefly is covered with jagged scales that dramatically enhance the brightness of the light that the insect produces. * Jagged scales Consider: Researchers have found that tiny scales on the lantern surface of some fireflies form a corrugated pattern, somewhat like overlapping shingles or tiles. The scales tilt up at one end by just 3 micrometers —less than one twentieth the thickness of a human hair. Yet this tiny tilt lets the lantern shine almost 50 percent more brightly than it would if the scales formed an even surface!

An Overview of Indonesia

Land Straddling the equator between Australia and continental Asia, Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago. Most of its more than 17,500 islands feature rugged mountains and dense tropical forests. With more than 100 active volcanoes, it is also the most active volcanic region on earth.

PORTRAITS FROM THE PASTIgnaz Semmelweis

IGNAZ SEMMELWEIS may not be a household name, yet his work has benefited most modern families. Born in Buda (now Budapest), Hungary, he received his medical degree at the University of Vienna in 1844. On taking up his post as assistant to a professor at the First Maternity Clinic of Vienna’s General Hospital in 1846, Semmelweis faced an appalling reality —more than 13 percent of the women giving birth there died from a disease called childbed fever. Various theories as to the cause of this disease had been proposed, yet no one had solved the mystery. All attempts to reduce the mortality rate proved futile. Troubled by the spectacle of numerous mothers suffering a slow, agonizing death, Semmelweis determined to find the cause of the disease and prevent it.

Rielyn Co

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