Isolation of Angola-like Marburg virus from Egyptian rousette bats from West Africa.

Marburg virus (MARV) causes sporadic outbreaks of severe Marburg virus disease (MVD). Most MVD outbreaks originated in East Africa and field studies in East Africa, South Africa, Zambia, and Gabon identified the Egyptian rousette bat (ERB; Rousettus aegyptiacus) as a natural reservoir. However, the largest recorded MVD outbreak with the highest case-fatality ratio happened in 2005 in Angola, where direct spillover from bats was not  shown. Here, collaborative studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Njala University, University of California, Davis USAID-PREDICT, and the University of Makeni identify MARV circulating in ERBs in Sierra Leone. PCR, antibody and virus isolation data from 1755 bats of 42 species shows active MARV infection in approximately 2.5% of ERBs. Phylogenetic analysis identifies MARVs that are similar to the Angola strain. These results provide evidence of MARV circulation in West Africa and demonstrate the value of pathogen surveillance to identify previously undetected threats

What is the recovery rate and risk of long-term consequences following a diagnosis of COVID-19?:A harmonised, global longitudinal observational study protocol

Introduction: Very little is known about possible clinical sequelae that may persist after resolution of acute COVID-19. A recent longitudinal cohort from Italy including 143 patients followed up after hospitalisation with COVID-19 reported that 87% had at least one ongoing symptom at 60-day follow-up. Early indications suggest that patients with COVID-19 may need even more psychological support than typical intensive care unit patients. The assessment of risk factors for longer term consequences requires a longitudinal study linked to data on pre-existing conditions and care received during the acute phase of illness. The primary aim of this study is to characterise physical and psychosocial sequelae in patients post-COVID-19 hospital discharge. Methods and analysis: This is an international open-access prospective, observational multisite study. This protocol is linked with the International Severe Acute Respiratory and emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC) and the WHO’s Clinical Characterisation Protocol, which includes patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 during hospitalisation. This protocol will follow-up a subset of patients with confirmed COVID-19 using standardised surveys to measure longer term physical and psychosocial sequelae. The data will be linked with the acute phase data. Statistical analyses will be undertaken to characterise groups most likely to be affected by sequelae of COVID-19. The open-access follow-up survey can be used as a data collection tool by other follow-up studies, to facilitate data harmonisation and to identify subsets of patients for further in-depth follow-up. The outcomes of this study will inform strategies to prevent long-term consequences; inform clinical management, interventional studies, rehabilitation and public health management to reduce overall morbidity; and improve long-term outcomes of COVID-19. Ethics and dissemination: The protocol and survey are open access to enable low-resourced sites to join the study to facilitate global standardised, longitudinal data collection. Ethical approval has been given by sites in Colombia, Ghana, Italy, Norway, Russia, the UK and South Africa. New sites are welcome to join this collaborative study at any time. Sites interested in adopting the protocol as it is or in an adapted version are responsible for ensuring that local sponsorship and ethical approvals in place as appropriate. The tools are available on the ISARIC website (www.isaric.org)

Czech School Teachers' Responses to Moral Dilemmas Experienced in Integrated Classrooms

This dissertation reports findings on the study that was done into how Czech school teachers respond to moral dilemmas experienced while working with children with special education needs in integrated classrooms. The Czech Republic (especially during the period when it was Czechoslovakia) has a very long history and tradition for educating children with disabilities in highly differentiated, segregated, separate and special school settings. The Czech special education system is well developed. However, following the 'Velvet Revolution' of 1989 and the subsequent dissolution of the Czech-Slovakia federation in 1993, a change in the education for children with special education needs was introduced. The preferred system was the integrated education approach. All the children with special education needs must be educated in the mainstream together with non-disabled children. Studies show that teachers generally experience moral dilemmas in their day to day work with children (Sockett, 1993; Oser, 1994; Colnerud, 1997; Tirri, 1999; Tirri & Husu, 2002). However, this is especially pronounced when the children involved are vulnerable children (Tirri & Husu, 2002; Fenstermacher (1986). Majority of the conflict experienced by the Czech teachers were with parents of the children with disabilities. According to..

Czech School Teachers' Responses to Moral Dilemmas Experienced in Integrated Classrooms

This dissertation reports findings on the study that was done into how Czech school teachers respond to moral dilemmas experienced while working with children with special education needs in integrated classrooms. The Czech Republic (especially during the period when it was Czechoslovakia) has a very long history and tradition for educating children with disabilities in highly differentiated, segregated, separate and special school settings. The Czech special education system is well developed. However, following the 'Velvet Revolution' of 1989 and the subsequent dissolution of the Czech-Slovakia federation in 1993, a change in the education for children with special education needs was introduced. The preferred system was the integrated education approach. All the children with special education needs must be educated in the mainstream together with non-disabled children. Studies show that teachers generally experience moral dilemmas in their day to day work with children (Sockett, 1993; Oser, 1994; Colnerud, 1997; Tirri, 1999; Tirri & Husu, 2002). However, this is especially pronounced when the children involved are vulnerable children (Tirri & Husu, 2002; Fenstermacher (1986). Majority of the conflict experienced by the Czech teachers were with parents of the children with disabilities. According to..

Isolation of Angola-like Marburg virus from Egyptian rousette bats from West Africa.

Marburg virus (MARV) causes sporadic outbreaks of severe Marburg virus disease (MVD). Most MVD outbreaks originated in East Africa and field studies in East Africa, South Africa, Zambia, and Gabon identified the Egyptian rousette bat (ERB; Rousettus aegyptiacus) as a natural reservoir. However, the largest recorded MVD outbreak with the highest case-fatality ratio happened in 2005 in Angola, where direct spillover from bats was not  shown. Here, collaborative studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Njala University, University of California, Davis USAID-PREDICT, and the University of Makeni identify MARV circulating in ERBs in Sierra Leone. PCR, antibody and virus isolation data from 1755 bats of 42 species shows active MARV infection in approximately 2.5% of ERBs. Phylogenetic analysis identifies MARVs that are similar to the Angola strain. These results provide evidence of MARV circulation in West Africa and demonstrate the value of pathogen surveillance to identify previously undetected threats

What is the recovery rate and risk of long-term consequences following a diagnosis of COVID-19? - A harmonised, global longitudinal observational study

Introduction: Very little is known about possible clinical sequelae that may persist after resolution of the acute Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). A recent longitudinal cohort from Italy including 143 patients recovered after hospitalisation with COVID-19 reported that 87% had at least one ongoing symptom at 60 day follow-up. Early indications suggest that patients with COVID-19 may need even more psychological support than typical ICU patients. The assessment of risk factors for longer term consequences requires a longitudinal study linked to data on pre-existing conditions and care received during the acute phase of illness. Methods and analysis This is an international open-access prospective, observational multi-site study. It will enrol patients following a diagnosis of COVID-19. Tier 1 is developed for following up patients day 28 post-discharge, additionally at 3 to 6 months intervals. This module can be used to identify sub-sets of patients experiencing specific symptomatology or syndromes for further follow up. A Tier 2 module will be developed for in-clinic, in-depth follow up. The primary aim is to characterise physical consequences in patients post-COVID-19. Secondary aim includes estimating the frequency of and risk factors for post-COVID- 19 medical sequalae, psychosocial consequences and post-COVID-19 mortality. A subset of patients will have sampling to characterize longer term antibody, innate and cell-mediated immune responses to SARS-CoV-2. Ethics and dissemination This collaborative, open-access study aims to characterize the frequency of and risk factors for long-term consequences and characterise the immune response over time in patients following a diagnosis of COVID-19 and facilitate standardized and longitudinal data collection globally. The outcomes of this study will inform strategies to prevent long term consequences; inform clinical management, direct rehabilitation, and inform public health management to reduce overall morbidity and improve outcomes of COVID-19

What is the recovery rate and risk of long-term consequences following a diagnosis of COVID-19? A harmonised, global longitudinal observational study protocol

Introduction Very little is known about possible clinical sequelae that may persist after resolution of acute COVID-19. A recent longitudinal cohort from Italy including 143 patients followed up after hospitalisation with COVID-19 reported that 87% had at least one ongoing symptom at 60-day follow-up. Early indications suggest that patients with COVID-19 may need even more psychological support than typical intensive care unit patients. The assessment of risk factors for longer term consequences requires a longitudinal study linked to data on pre-existing conditions and care received during the acute phase of illness. The primary aim of this study is to characterise physical and psychosocial sequelae in patients post-COVID-19 hospital discharge. Methods and analysis This is an international open-access prospective, observational multisite study. This protocol is linked with the International Severe Acute Respiratory and emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC) and the WHO’s Clinical Characterisation Protocol, which includes patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 during hospitalisation. This protocol will follow-up a subset of patients with confirmed COVID-19 using standardised surveys to measure longer term physical and psychosocial sequelae. The data will be linked with the acute phase data. Statistical analyses will be undertaken to characterise groups most likely to be affected by sequelae of COVID-19. The open-access follow-up survey can be used as a data collection tool by other follow-up studies, to facilitate data harmonisation and to identify subsets of patients for further in-depth follow-up. The outcomes of this study will inform strategies to prevent long-term consequences; inform clinical management, interventional studies, rehabilitation and public health management to reduce overall morbidity; and improve long-term outcomes of COVID-19. Ethics and dissemination The protocol and survey are open access to enable low-resourced sites to join the study to facilitate global standardised, longitudinal data collection. Ethical approval has been given by sites in Colombia, Ghana, Italy, Norway, Russia, the UK and South Africa. New sites are welcome to join this collaborative study at any time. Sites interested in adopting the protocol as it is or in an adapted version are responsible for ensuring that local sponsorship and ethical approvals in place as appropriate. The tools are available on the ISARIC website (www.isaric.org).Protocol registration number osf.io/c5rw3/Protocol version 3 August 2020EuroQol ID 37035

Liberalization and conflict

Externally encouraged policies of liberalization in Sierra Leone in the 1970s and 1980s fed into civil war in the 1990s; yet such policies are now being revived. This article analyzes the impact of liberalization on the war in Sierra Leone, suggesting that it affected the conflict in four ways: first, by encouraging inflation, extreme devaluation, and private oligopolies; second, by reducing key state services such as education and health; third, by fueling corruption as real state salaries were cut; and fourth, by taking attention away from soldiers’ abuses under the military government of 1992–96, a government that was praised and rewarded for its liberalization agenda