WHO Archives - The Silver Ink

Twitter shared news of Ebola outbreak before the official announcement

June 3, 2015 By Dave Smith Leave a Comment

According to a new study, last year the world has come to know of the deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa much before the official announcement, and all credit goes to Twitter.

The study reported that tweets regarding the Ebola outbreak had reached more than 60 million people in three days prior to official announcements of the outbreak.

Researchers from the Columbia University in New York said, “It’s clear that Twitter is a useful resource for spreading breaking health news in these West African countries.”

For the study, researchers have analyzed over 42,000 Ebola related tweets posted in social networking site between July 24 and August 1, 2014.

This was the week when Nigeria reported the first case of Ebola, Sierra Leona declared a national state of emergency and the first American was diagnosed with Ebola.

Twitter was a resource for those to share news of Ebola cases prior to the official announcements from the Nigerian ministry of health, Centre for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC and World Health Organization.

Three days prior to the official announcement from the Nigerian Ministry of Health, nearly 1,500 tweets were disseminated regarding Ebola during the period.

Researchers said, “The results of this analysis indicate how Twitter can be used to support early warning systems in outbreak surveillance efforts in settings where surveillance systems are not optimal.”

Researchers have analyzed the content of the tweets, and they found that the main topics of concern in the tweets were regarding prevention education, Ebola risk factors, spread and location of Ebola and compassion for countries in Africa.

The findings of the study are published in the American Journal of Infection Control.

Early HIV treatment after diagnosis increases survival rate

May 28, 2015 By Stephanie James Leave a Comment

According to an international study it is proven that pursuing HIV treatment as early as possible which includes an immediate medication regimen after initial diagnosis can actually help people postpone the more severe symptoms.

According to the World Health Organization or WHO, in 2013, an estimates 2.1 million people worldwide contracted Human Immunodeficiency Virus or HIV, an incurable viral infection that wreaks havoc on the immune system and can eventually leads to AIDS or Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases and part of the National Institutes of Health said, “It’s just more scientific evidence to back what we’ve been saying for a time now.”

Dr Fauci added, “We now have clear-cut proof that it is of significantly greater health benefit to an HIV-infected person to start antiretroviral therapy sooner rather than later.”

Furthermore, he goes on to say, “These findings have global implications for the treatment of HIV. This is another incentive to seek out testing and start therapy early, because you will benefit.”

Researchers have decided to stop the study more than a year early because the preliminary data showed that those who got the treatment early were 53 percent less likely to die during the trial or develop AIDS or serious illness than those who did not receive the treatment at an early stage.

Fauci continued saying, “I actually had no doubt how it was going to turn out. I just think we needed to prove it in a very well controlled way.”

The World Health Organization or WHO is now aiming to look at their own treatment guidelines as well.

Dr. Jens Lundgren, professor at the University of Copenhagen and co-sponsor of the study said, “This is an important milestone in HIV research.”

He added, “We now have strong evidence that early treatment is beneficial to the HIV-positive person. These results support treating everyone irrespective of CD4 T-cell count.”

Studies actually show that even in United States, where the treatment is readily available, HIV patients do not generally seek treatment quickly after diagnosis.

Caesarean sections should be performed as per medical necessity: WHO

April 12, 2015 By Doyle Buehler Leave a Comment

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has come up with some strict regulations for caesarean sections or C-section, saying such surgical procedure on pregnant women should only be carried when it is medically necessary.

The global health agency said that the surgical procedure should only be carried whenever it is medically important as unnecessary C-Section can put the health of both mothers and their babies at risk.

Caesarean procedures have came as a boon for those pregnant women who have obstructed labour or their young ones are in real distress and the normal delivery is either very risky or not possible.

According to the WHO health experts, the ideal rate for C-Sections has been between 10 percent and 15 percent of births since 1985. However, two recent studies have shown that there is no evidence that the rates of mortality have improved in countries where more than 10 percent of births come from such surgical procedures.

The National Institute of Healthcare and Clinical Excellence (Nice) said that a caesarean section multiplies the health risk and a just born baby end up in intensive care, while the mothers are forced to stay longer in hospital, have a cardiac arrest or a hysterectomy.

Despite the health risk, the Nice’s 2011 guidelines allow women to have a caesarean even if it is not for medical purpose.

According to the WHO, the complete effects of a caesarean section on women and their children are not yet clear.

“Across a population, the effects of caesarean section rates on maternal and newborn outcomes such as stillbirths or morbidities like birth asphyxia are still unknown. More research on the impact of caesarean sections on women’s psychological and social well being is still needed,” the WHO said.

Many developing countries allow the women and their babies to die as they don’t permit a caesarean section.

The health body says the decision about whether to send the woman under knife or not should be made on a case by case basis.

WHO agency categorizes Glyphosate as possibly carcinogenic to humans

March 22, 2015 By Stephanie James

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) research agency has made startling revelations about the popular herbicide glyphosate, saying it can cause cancer in humans.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), French-based cancer research department at the WHO, on Friday said that its latest study has found the popular weed carcinogenic in nature for the human.

For the study, the researchers followed five herbicides and insecticides in order to test their carcinogenicity.

The study analysis showed glyphosate probably carrying carcinogenic substance in it. The globally known herbicide is majorly found in weed killers like Roundup.

Following the study, the researchers classified glyphosate and four other insecticides, including tetrachlorvinphos, malathion, diazinon and parathion, under the category of possibly carcinogenic to humans.

“Glyphosate, though, currently has the highest global production volume of all herbicides, its use in agricultural purposes has increased sharply since the development of genetically modified crops that resistant to it,” IARC said in a press release.

“Glyphosate is also used in forestry, urban and home applications. It has been detected in the air during spraying, in water as well as in food. The general population is exposed primarily through residence near sprayed areas, diet, home use, and the level that has been observed is generally low,” as per the news release.

The use of Parathion is no more authorized in the US and the European Union. On the other hand, the European Union has banned use of Tetrachlorvinphos, but it is still used for livestock and domestic animals.

Both Malathion and Diazinon are used for controlling residential insect as well as in agriculture.

This year, the US Environmental Protection Agency will carry fresh review of the guidelines for the use of glyphosate.

Hookah is more dangerous than cigarettes : study claims

March 21, 2015 By Jeff Suchon

Hookah trend is becoming viral, earlier it was restricted to only African and Middle East countries, but now it is spreading all over the countries.

According to the tobacco expert Edouard Tursan d’Espaignet of World Health Organization (WHO), one full session of shisha is roughly equivalent to smoking 20 to 30 cigarettes. So it comes out as in just 30 minutes a person consumes around two dozens of cigarettes.

Formerly the water pipes or hookah were primarily used by elder adults especially males but now the trend is changing and you can see adults aging between 18 and 24 years are more attracted towards hookah smoking.

It is common perception that hookah is less dangerous but this is just a myth, and one hookah puff is equivalent to one cigarette according to the Tobacco Atlas reports

It is a known fact that smoking tobacco has adverse impact on health. Many health risks like cardiovascular disease, lung cancer are associated with smoking.

According to the study we can say that the person smoking hookak is more prone to diseases than a normal person smoking cigarette.

The apparatus used for the hookah smoking also causes health risk. Coal which is used to heat the pipes contains toxins which are harmful for lungs and heart.

Smoking causes oral cavity problems but with hookah the risk increases so the chances of the oral problems also increase.

Measures should be taken by the government to spread awareness among young adults and laws and regulations should be placed so that the popularity of it can be decreased. The best example is set by the Australian government where plain packaging of cigarettes has significantly reduced the sales of cigarettes.

Health experts report that there is possible health risk associated with hookah smoking. There are also other problems that are associated with the apparatus used for hookah smoking. The coal used for heating the pipes may also contain toxins that are harmful for the health of heart and lungs; they can also lead to oral cavities troubles.

Malathion classified as carcinogenic by IARC

March 21, 2015 By Dave Smith

World Health Organization has recently labeled an insecticide Malthion with low toxic level to human has carcinogenic effects on humans.

Malathion kills insects by crippling their nervous system. It is said that if the pesticide is long exposed to humans then they may also experience the same fate just like the affected insects.

This pescticide is used in agriculture, public recreation areas, in public health pest control program to get rid of mosquitoes and residential landscaping.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) which is one of the arm of WHO has classified Malathon and Diazinon another pesticide which is used in Winnipeg, Canada to get rid of mosquitoes as most likely carcinogenic to humans on March 20, 2015.

Like Malathion and diazinon, Glycoposphate one of the ingredients to eradicate weeds is also having carcinogenic effects.

IARC mentioned that the report is made after going through studies release since 2001 on the subject of insecticide exposure to agriculture in United States, Canada and Sweden.

According to IARC the report’s conclusion is based on “limited evidence of carcinogenicity in humans for non-Hodgkin lymphoma and prostate cancer”.

“Malathion also caused tumours in rodent studies. Malathion caused DNA and chromosomal damage and also disrupted hormone pathways” stated IARC.

There were many discussions between people who wanted to enjoy a mosquito free environment and the people who don’t want to use the pesticide.

But if the dosage of the chemical is limited then there is very little fear that it will affect humans or the environment.

Only biological mosquito larvicides are to be used and no chemical pesticides are allowed in Winnipeg this season, but the problem is this substance affects the growth of larvae into adult mosquito and the matured mosquito has no affect on it and they can further produce larvae.

A press release by the manufacturer of the pesticide Monsanto, producer of Roundup has opposed all the IARC classification stating that the data and research used when conducting the report was inconclusive and there is no scientific information supporting it.

Popular weed killer ‘Glyphosate’ may cause cancer in human: WHO agency

March 21, 2015 By Stephanie James

A research center for Cancer of the World Health Organization (WHO) has found that a popular herbicide, called glyphosate, can cause growth of cancerous cells in the humans.

International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), WHO’s French-based cancer research department, on Friday released the findings of its latest study which followed five insecticides and herbicides and analysed their carcinogenicity.

Glyphosate, a globally known herbicide that is found in weed killers such as Roundup, was classified as probably carcinogenic to humans. Four insecticides named, tetrachlorvinphos, parathion, malathion and diazinon, were also listed in the same category of possibly carcinogenic to humans.

While, use of Parathion is no longer authorized in the United States and the European Union, Tetrachlorvinphos is banned in the European Union. However, Tetrachlorvinphos is still used for domestic animals and livestock, including in flea collars. On the other hand, both Diazinon and Malathion are used in the purpose of residential insect control and agriculture. Notably, Diazinon has faced several restrictions since 2006.

An IARC press release said, “Glyphosate, though, currently has the highest global production volume of all herbicides, its use in agricultural purposes has increased sharply since the development of genetically modified crops that resistant to it.”

The US Environmental Protection Agency will be taking up the task to conduct fresh review of the rules for glyphosate this year.

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