STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- They dedicate their lives to saving others, but as Ebola spreads worldwide, health care workers must also focus on saving themselves.

An American doctor and a North Carolina missionary working with Ebola victims were the first to bring the deadly virus to the United States when they contracted the virus in Liberia and were flown home for treatment.

Now, a Dallas nurse has set a similar milestone, becoming the first person known to have contracted the disease inside the U.S. She was wearing the proscribed protective gear -- gloves, mask and shield -- while recently caring for Liberian national Thomas Eric Duncan at a Dallas hospital. Duncan died last week.

While the Texas nurse remains in isolation, a nurse in Spain who contracted the virus after treating a patient in that country is struggling for her life.

There are so many caregivers who've become patients. At least 416 health care workers have contracted Ebola, and at least 233 have died, the World Health Organization reports. In Liberia, the worst-affected country, the virus has killed more than 100 medical workers.

Since the Ebola outbreak began -- the worst the world has seen -- doctors and nurses have described working conditions no one should endure.

Every single move they make in treating a patient must be perfect. One slip-up -- a torn glove or the smallest splat of infected fluid that gets on them -- could cost them their lives.

One provider in West Africa spoke of waking up every morning with a sore throat from constantly breathing in the fumes from chlorine that must be constantly sprayed to kill the virus that is capable of thriving not just in living organisms but on surfaces for some time if conditions are right.

Health care workers battle not just a disease but rumors among patients in Africa that Ebola is a myth the government is perpetrating. In a profession that already demands much emotionally and physically, these caregivers are pushed to the edge in both respects. They have lost friends, colleagues and patients.

Originally posted here:
For Ebola caregivers, enormous fear

(CNN) They dedicate their lives to saving others, but as Ebola spreads worldwide, health care workers must also focus on saving themselves.

An American doctor and a North Carolina missionary working with Ebola victims were the first to bring the deadly virus to the United States when they contracted the virus in Liberia and were flown home for treatment.

Now, a Dallas nurse has set a similar milestone, becoming the first person known to have contracted the disease inside the U.S. She was wearing the proscribed protective gear gloves, mask and shield while recently caring for Liberian national Thomas Eric Duncan at a Dallas hospital. Duncan died last week.

While the Texas nurse remains in isolation, a nurse in Spain who contracted the virus after treating a patient in that country is struggling for her life.

There are so many caregivers whove become patients. At least 416 health care workers have contracted Ebola, and at least 233 have died, the World Health Organization reports. In Liberia, the worst-affected country, the virus has killed more than 100 medical workers.

Since the Ebola outbreak began the worst the world has seen doctors and nurses have described working conditions no one should endure.

Every single move they make in treating a patient must be perfect. One slip-up a torn glove or the smallest splat of infected fluid that gets on them could cost them their lives.

One provider in West Africa spoke of waking up every morning with a sore throat from constantly breathing in the fumes from chlorine that must be constantly sprayed to kill the virus that is capable of thriving not just in living organisms but on surfaces for some time if conditions are right.

Health care workers battle not just a disease but rumors among patients in Africa that Ebola is a myth the government is perpetrating. In a profession that already demands much emotionally and physically, these caregivers are pushed to the edge in both respects. They have lost friends, colleagues and patients.

All this as they beat back their own understandable paranoia and fear. Have I done everything correctly? Could I be next?

Original post:
For Ebola caregivers, enormous fear, risk and bravery

They dedicate their lives to saving others, but as Ebola spreads worldwide, health care workers must also focus on saving themselves.

An American doctor and a North Carolina missionary working with Ebola victims were the first to bring the deadly virus to the United States when they contracted the virus in Liberia and were flown home for treatment.

Now, a Dallas nurse has set a similar milestone, becoming the first person known to have contracted the disease inside the U.S. She was wearing the proscribed protective gear -- gloves, mask and shield -- while recently caring for Liberian national Thomas Eric Duncan at a Dallas hospital. Duncan died last week.

While the Texas nurse remains in isolation, a nurse in Spain who contracted the virus after treating a patient in that country is struggling for her life.

There are so many caregivers who've become patients. At least 416 health care workers have contracted Ebola, and at least 233 have died, the World Health Organization reports. In Liberia, the worst-affected country, the virus has killed more than 100 medical workers.

Since the Ebola outbreak began -- the worst the world has seen -- doctors and nurses have described working conditions no one should endure.

Every single move they make in treating a patient must be perfect. One slip-up -- a torn glove or the smallest splat of infected fluid that gets on them -- could cost them their lives.

One provider in West Africa spoke of waking up every morning with a sore throat from constantly breathing in the fumes from chlorine that must be constantly sprayed to kill the virus that is capable of thriving not just in living organisms but on surfaces for some time if conditions are right.

Health care workers battle not just a disease but rumors among patients in Africa that Ebola is a myth the government is perpetrating. In a profession that already demands much emotionally and physically, these caregivers are pushed to the edge in both respects. They have lost friends, colleagues and patients.

All this as they beat back their own understandable paranoia and fear. Have I done everything correctly? Could I be next?

See original here:
Ebola caregivers face enormous fear and risk

You are here: Home > Cancer treatment remains out of reach

AS Zimbabwe this month commemorates breast cancer month under the theme Think pink, find it, fight it and win the battle, cancer treatment remains expensive and beyond the reach of most ordinary citizens.

Wongai Zhangazha

The cost build-up from examination, diagnosis, lumpectomy, surgery and chemotherapy/radiotherapy, runs into thousands of dollars with no subsidies to alleviate the financial burden.

Many people end up dying because they just cannot afford to get treatment.

An elderly woman, Mutsa Dondo from Chipinge, sits in the shade on the lush green lawn next to the entrance to the Parirenyatwa Radiotherapy Centre. Diagnosed with cervical cancer, she has just gone through her regular chemotherapy session and taking a rest before heading home.

She gets up to refill her water bottle at a tap nearby, gulps a few sips and returns back to sit in the shade.

Despite the long and painful treatment, she still manages a smile albeit a weak one, and says treatment has now become part of her routine without which she would not survive for long.

My life changed on 13 February last year after I had bled continuously, says Dondo. It was like I was having a continuous menstrual cycle which is not just normal. I wasted no time in seeking medical attention at a local clinic despite some friends and relatives suggesting it was a clear case of witchcraft as at my age they didnt expect that.

At the rural clinic, they referred her to Mutare General Hospital where she was told the devastating news that she had cervical cancer.

Original post:
Cancer treatment remains out of reach

Terri Hudson, from Mobile, Ala., and her friends have a usual tailgating spot in the front lawn of Sigma Nu. Though they have been tailgating there for years, the LSU was special because they had something huge to celebrate. Hudson is finishing her breast cancer treatment, so her friends dedicated the tailgate to celebrating Hudson, and congratulating her for going through the treatment and finishing it. Their tailgate was covered in not only orange and blue, but also pink for this game.

Q. Are you an Auburn graduate?

A. I am not an Auburn graduate. My son is a senior here at Auburn

Q. How long have you been tailgating at this spot?

A. This is our fourth year tailgating here

Q. Why did you pick this spot?

A. Our sons are Sigma Nus.

Q. Do you come to every home game? What about away games?

A. We do try to come to every home game. Well be there next weekend in Starkville.

Q. Whats your favorite thing about Auburn football?

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Tailgaters of the Week: LSU

Nuns Jean Stickney, 86, and Kab Kyoung Kim, 48, were killed Sunday afternoon in a multi-vehicle crash at 95th Street and Cicero Avenue in Oak Lawn. They belonged to the Little Company of Mary Sisters order and worked at the Evergreen Park hospital. | Supplied photo

storyidforme: 73043292 tmspicid: 25562677 fileheaderid: 13022533

Updated: October 9, 2014 9:13PM

Arrangements have been set for the two nuns who died Sunday afternoon in an 11-vehicle crash at 95th Street and Cicero Avenue in Oak Lawn.

Sisters Jean Stickney, 86, and Kab Kyoung Kim, 48, both of the Little Company of Mary Sisters, died at the scene when their eastbound car was waiting on a red light and was struck head-on by a pickup truck.

The wake and funeral for each nun will be held simultaneously, said Kelly Cusack, spokeswoman for Little Company of Mary Hospital, where the nuns worked.

Visitation will be from 1 to 8 p.m. Monday in the second-floor chapel in the north pavilion at the hospital, 2800 W. 95th St., Evergreen Park, Cusack said.

A funeral Mass will begin at 10 a.m. Tuesday at St. Bernadette Catholic Church, 9343 Francisco Ave., Evergreen Park. The church is just north of the hospital.

The driver of the truck, Ed Carthans, 81, of Chicago, also died in the accident, which sent 11 people to local hospitals for treatment.

Steve Metsch

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Funerals set for nuns who died in Oak Lawn crash

When a patient with flu-like symptoms said he had recently traveled to Africa, health care workers at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn were given their first opportunity to implement protocols for something they were prepared for but had never dealt with: a patient potentially infected with the Ebola virus.

The patient, in fact, hadn't been to Africa and didn't have Ebola. But the way the incident was handled mirrors concerns around the country since the first travel-related case of Ebola was reported in the United States.

"When you have world travel, there's always potential for disease," said Dr. James Malow, co-chair of the infection prevention team at Advocate Health Care. "The thing with Ebola is, there's a 50 percent mortality rate and no treatment."

Malow said the likelihood of an outbreak in the U.S. "is almost zero." But Advocate and other local health care systems are prepared to partner with federal, state and local officials "so in the unlikely event that a patient with Ebola shows up in Chicago, we can contain it (as) quickly as possible," Malow said.

Medical personnel are instructed to ask about a patient's travel as part of routine questioning, given the number of communicable diseases overseas, Malow said. Because of the current Ebola epidemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends against nonessential travel to three West African countries: Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

As a part of a CDC checklist and risk assessment, medical staff will check if symptoms, including fever, severe headache and vomiting, fall within the 21-day incubation period for Ebola.

"If you walk in and say, 'I just flew back from Sierra Leone two days ago, now I'm running a fever,' you would be admitted immediately," Malow said. "The patient would be put in a private room in isolation and we would follow CDC protocols, which have been the bible on how to handle these patients."

Hospital workers must wear gowns, gloves, masks and a face shield or goggles to avoid secretions, since Ebola is spread through blood or bodily fluids.

Malow said in the case this week at Advocate Christ Medical Center, the patient was isolated. Employees contacted the CDC and the Cook County and Illinois public health departments "out of an abundance of caution," according to a statement from the hospital.

Agencies confirmed that the patient had not traveled to Africa and there were no indications of an Ebola infection.

More:
Ebola scare at Advocate highlights protocols

SOUTH BEND Mental illness affects 60 million Americans, or one in four, every year, and 13 million people live with a serious mental illness. To help people better understand the issue, Congress established Mental Illness Awareness Week in 1990. Since then, organizations across the country, including locally, have recognized the campaign.

Oak Lawn serves 16,000 clients in St. Joseph and Elkhart Counties combined. The facility provides both inpatient and outpatient treatment options, including help from hundreds of case managers and therapists in the community. This week, the foundation partnered with area organizations to bring awareness to mental illness.

"It's important that we face it. That we make sure that we give people the opportunity to talk about it, that we provide them with the appropriate support, that if they need help we get them the help they need", said Matthew Lentsch, the Executive Director at Oak Lawn.

Lentsch and his colleagues want October 5-11 to be about talking. Their hope is to break the stigma and encourage more people who need it to seek treatment.

"We're very prone if we have heart surgery to show our scars. If we have a broken leg to go to the hospital, but not so much when we're not feeling well," said Lentsch. "Stigma is a major barrier for people getting help and wanting to talk about it."

Some have found the arts to be therapeutic to those suffering from mental illness, and a local man has made it his mission to cater to vulnerable populations. Matthew Stackowicz started The Darkroom Project in 2010, while he was living in Yemen. He used photography to help Somali refugees find their voice. He continued the project in South Bend in 2012 and has worked with ex-felons and the homeless. Now, he's helping those coping with various diseases to use photography to express themselves.

"It helps them explore different aspects of their life and what they struggle with and what they find joy in," said Stackowicz. "We help people tell their story."

For more information about Oak Lawn's services, click here.

To learn more about NAMI, click here.

Anderson is also working with several others to re-establish the Club House, formerly affiliated with the Madison Center, as an independent center. Club House is expected to open in the fall of 2017 and will provide outpatient services.

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Mental illness affects millions

By MIKE STOBBE and CONNIE CASS Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - The first person diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S. died Wednesday despite intense but delayed treatment, and the government announced it was expanding airport examinations to guard against the spread of the deadly disease.

The checks will include taking the temperatures of hundreds of travelers arriving from West Africa at five major American airports.

The new screenings will begin Saturday at New York's JFK International Airport and then expand to Washington Dulles and the international airports in Atlanta, Chicago and Newark. An estimated 150 people per day will be checked, using high-tech thermometers that don't touch the skin.

The White House said the fever checks would reach more than 9 of 10 travelers to the U.S. from the three heaviest-hit countries - Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

President Barack Obama called the measures "really just belt and suspenders" to support protections already in place. Border Patrol agents now look for people who are obviously ill, as do flight crews, and in those cases the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is notified.

It's unlikely a fever check would have spotted Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian man who died of Ebola in a Dallas hospital Wednesday morning. Duncan wasn't yet showing symptoms when he arrived in the U.S.

A delay in diagnosing and treating Duncan, and the infection of a nurse who treated an Ebola patient in Spain, have raised worries about Western nations' ability to stop the disease that has killed at least 3,800 people in West Africa.

Speaking by teleconference with mayors and local officials, Obama said he was confident the U.S. could prevent an outbreak. But he warned them to be vigilant.

"As we saw in Dallas, we don't have a lot of margin for error," Obama said. "If we don't follow protocols and procedures that are put in place, then we're putting folks in our communities at risk."

Continue reading here:
US Ebola patient dies; airport screening expanded

A man hospitalized after being attacked by bees in Hearne on Tuesday morning has been upgraded to fair condition.

Clark Rudy, 56, had been mowing the lawn near the C&C Secure Self Storage facility in the 800 block of West Brown Street at about 11 a.m. when the bees attacked, Hearne police said.

He was airlifted to St. Joseph hospital in critical condition, but a Hearne police dispatcher said Rudy was awake and communicating through written notes on Wednesday.

A paramedic who responded to the call on Tuesday morning was also treated, but a shift captain with Robertson County EMS said that person was doing well.

The area around the storage facility and an abandoned hotel were roped off Tuesday, and beekeepers from Moody Ranch Outfitters in Anderson vacuumed up the bees Wednesday morning.

Representatives at Moody Ranch Outfitters did not respond to requests for comment, but the website said the company relocates bees to its ranch in Grimes County instead of killing them.

Bill Baxter, the state's assistant chief apiary inspector, said beekeepers typically vacuum the bees and use smoke to pacify them.

While police have not revealed what kinds of bees were involved or where their colony was located, Baxter said bees can be found inside walls and even in a hole in the ground.

"The public needs to realize that this was an isolated incident, and the one thing I always tell people is before you crank up the lawn mower, walk around the yard and be aware of what's there," he said.

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Man on the mend after bee attack in Hearne