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New suit for Ebola workers promises more comfort, safety

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have developed a new-style outfit that is not only more comfortable, but also less likely to accidentally infect its users.Conceived during a weekend hackathon in October, it has just won funding from the US Agency for International Development, lifting hopes it could be in production and out in the field in a matter of months.

“I don’t want to say this is a profound revolution in PPE (personal protective equipment) suits,” professor Youseph Yazdi, director of the university’s Center for Bioengineering Innovation and Design said. “But you don’t want rocket science. You want simple improvements that can actually save lives, have an impact on health and safety ... but get to the field quick,” he said alongside a bright yellow prototype mounted on a mannequin in the center’s open-plan design studio. Of the nearly 7,000 people who have died of Ebola, at least 365 were healthcare workers, the WHO said. 

Sierra Leone’s Leading Doctor Dies of Ebola

Sierra Leone’s leading doctor died of Ebola on Thursday, hours after the arrival in the country of an experimental drug that could have been used to treat him, the government’s chief medical officer said.Victor Willoughby was diagnosed with Ebola last week after he treated a man with organ-related problems. The patient, a senior banker, was later diagnosed with Ebola and has since died. The drugwas transported in frozen form on a Brussels Airlines flight that arrived overnight. Before it could thaw, Willoughby’s condition deteriorated, said chief medical officer Brima Kargbo. Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia are at the heart of the world’s worst recorded outbreaks.


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