KigaliHealth.com

Many persons suffer from recurrent diarrhoea but no definite cause is found. Investigation results are non-conclusive and the problem continues, in spite of treatment.

This condition is technically called, Irritable bowel syndrome.’ Like the name implies, those with an irritable temperament are more prone to develop irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

It is characterised by altered bowel habits, commonly diarrhea, but sometimes constipation may occur. There may be associated abdominal cramp like pain and or sense of bloating of abdomen.
It is a common condition for patients seeking consultation for frequent abdominal pain and diarrhoea. IBS commonly occurs due to stress in people.

Due to the high adrenergic levels produced due to stress these affected persons develop increased motility of the gut and also stretching which causes the painful distension. There is frequency of passing stools with profuse mucous. At times, the person may also have nausea and or vomiting, thus mimicking acute gastroenteritis.

IBS can occur in any individual but is more common in young adults around 30 years of age.

Females are more prone to IBS, perhaps because they are more emotional. Apart from bowel disturbances, there may be associated symptoms of depression, hysteria or anxiety. These usually manifest as palpitations, restlessness, sweating, unexplained gloominess, and sleep disturbances.

Individuals having long-standing IBS often also suffer from nutritional disturbances due to the frequent diarrhea. The anxiety can give rise to other diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, among others.
The chronic diarrhea often is confused with chronic diseases of the large bowel like tuberculosis, cancer, HIV, inflammatory bowel disease, etc.

Diagnosis of IBS is a diagnosis of exclusion, that is, it is established by excluding other organic or infectious causes for the frequent or prolonged diarrhea.

These persons spend a lot of time and money in going around hospitals, seeking consultations and getting tested and treated. Sometimes the condition may be diagnosed late or remain undiagnosed because the affected person may keep on changing doctors and hospitals.

Thus, every new doctor will review the patient as a fresh case and investigate for umpteenth time.
This person is also inadvertently given many anti-infective drugs for the presumed infection. Thus they become susceptible to the side effects of the drugs.

They also are at risk of developing oral ulcers due to deficiency of Vitamin B complex in the body. This develops because frequent use of antibiotics tends to deplete the useful bacteria of the bowels.

Reassurance and good counselling are important for the good and sustained recovery of the patient. They should be explained to patiently that there is nothing wrong with their system and all they need is to relax.

Anti-motility drugs (used to reduce diarrhoea by suppressing intestinal motility) or laxatives are also useful for a short time but may damage the bowel movements permanently.

The best treatment for individuals suffering fromirritable bowel syndrome lies in learning to relax mind and body. Then only will they be rid of this condition.

Dr Pande is a specialist ininternal medicine at Ruhengeri Hospital

Original text @ The New Times

By Grant Hill-Cawthorne, University of Sydney and Lyn Gilbert, University of Sydney

News that a 25-year-old Gold Coast man is being quarantined in hospital after returning from the Democratic Republic of Congo two days ago is no reason to panic. If anything, the incident highlights the problematic nature of the international response to the current Ebola epidemic.

Segments of the media have quickly highlighted the possibility the Australian man contracted Ebola virus disease during his time in Congo. The country is experiencing an outbreak of the haemorrhagic fever virus, but it’s separate to the one reported in West African nations of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal, and Nigeria.

The danger of such reports is that risks can get blown out of proportion and cause the spread of misinformation.

Resources and the lack of them

While the isolation of the patient is entirely in keeping with good management of people suspected of having an Ebola virus infection, we don’t yet know if he has the right symptoms or could possibly have been exposed to infection.

The most likely scenario is that this is another infectious disease, most likely malaria. Even if the tests for Ebola virus are positive, the risk of onward transmission in a country such as Australia is very low as long as stringent infection control measures are implemented within hospitals.

There’s no evidence the Ebola virus can be transmitted through the air; infection only occurs after direct contact with bodily fluids from someone who has the virus, someone who died from it, or contact with very recently contaminated environments.

The fast spread of the disease we’ve seen in Africa is a direct consequence of long-standing and growing inadequacies in access to basic health care. In particular, the shortage or inappropriate use of personal protective equipment and too few trained staff to cope with the large numbers of sick people.

The response to the Gold Coast “case” should not, then, be one of panic and fear. Rather, it should act as a warning that the world has not been and is still not doing enough for affected countries.

A different population

West Africa is in the midst of the world’s biggest outbreak of Ebola virus disease, and more people have now died since it started than in all previous outbreaks combined.

Before this year, sporadic outbreaks of the virus occurred in countries such as Uganda, with the largest affecting 400 people and causing 200 deaths. But central Africa’s experience and knowledge has translated into effective public health action.

In Uganda, laboratory samples are tested within 24 hours. On-the-ground health-care workers and the public are all trained in early recognition of the disease’s symptoms. And key workers have been supplied with mobile phone interfaces for central reporting of suspected cases.

The Ugandan president has led by example, warning against close personal contact during outbreaks. Schools and markets are closed quickly and the bodies of victims are buried by local authorities to reduce the risk of family members being infected.

This is clearly a population that’s wise to the actual risks of the Ebola virus and is educated in effective disease prevention. But a very different scenario is playing out in West Africa because the disease has never before been seen there.

Novelty, ignorance, and fear

It’s now thought the current outbreak started in Guinea in early December 2013, but cases remained unrecognised as stemming from Ebola virus and the Guinean Ministry of Health was not alerted until March 2014. By this time, 59 people had already died, and innumerable people infected.

Ease of travel from the affected regions to the Guinean capital Conakry, as well as into Liberia and Sierra Leone have helped the virus spread. And ignorance and fear of the disease have created significant setbacks in mounting an effective response.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) had to suspend activities in southeast Guinea, for instance, after buildings and vehicles came under attack from locals who thought MSF brought the disease with them.

Quarantine measures and fears surrounding the spraying of disinfectant have led to protests and riots in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea. Efforts to contain the virus have been hampered by members of the community staying away from the authorities, out of fear they will be quarantined.

MSF, the World Bank, and the World Health Organization have all called for more international action. The WHO has projected over 20,000 cases occurring in the next six months and laid out a roadmap of action.

MSF has opened a 160-bed hospital in the Liberian capital Monrovia, which has already been overwhelmed with patients and a further 800 beds are urgently needed. There is clearly something we all can do about the Ebola outbreak and it doesn’t involve panicking about suspected local cases.

Sharing your luck

But even the suspected Gold Coast case has a lesson for us. Epidemics are no longer something Westerners can safely view on their television screens, while they rage in a remote corner of Africa, or another impoverished part of the world.

We live in a world that is more interconnected than ever, making any infectious outbreak like the current Ebola one necessarily international.

Rather than simply being inward-looking and fearful about imported cases, the global community now needs to channel its panic and fear into action and provide resources to the countries at the epicentre of the outbreak.

The rapid spread and high mortality that have occurred in West Africa are highly unlikely to occur in Western countries where health-care facilities, including rapid laboratory testing for reversible complications and appropriate – but not necessarily highly sophisticated – isolation and transmission precautions, are available.

That shouldn’t just make you thank your lucky stars, it should have you seek out ways to share your luck.

The authors do not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article. They also have no relevant affiliations.

This article was originally published on The Conversation.
Read the original article.

Allergy Tips That Will Help You Tremendously
by Mishel Roserberg

People with seasonal allergies often spend the best days of the year miserable. Even if you have allergies yourself, there’s no reason you can’t get out and enjoy the warm weather! Here, you will find ways to keep your allergies in check so that you can participate instead of staying indoors.

If you own pets but also have allergies, you might wonder if the animal really is causing your problems. In order to find out, get tested for an allergy to pet dander. You won’t have to re-home your pet, but you might need to make certain changes.

You have probably collected allergens if you have been outside. Try to take a shower as soon as you can. If you cannot take one right away then make sure to take one before heading to bed. A shower will rinse off any lingering pollen or allergens. They may have collected on your skin or in your hair.

If you are prone to life-threatening or very serious allergic reactions, have some diphenhydramine with you, just in case something happens. Although it is not effective with all allergic reactions, diphenhydramine can offers quick relief for battling histamines.

Try to keep your windows closed during heavy pollen hours. It is important to get fresher air circulating through your home, but do it when pollen counts are lowest. This time is typically from 10 A.M. to 3 P.M. It will be safer to open up the windows and air out your house after these hours have passed.

Some people are allergic to the coloring in foods, drinks, bath & body products, or anything else you use on your skin. This may even include your toilet paper because there could be designs that are dyed onto them. You just might experience a reduction in your allergy symptoms if you stick with plain, dye-free paper products.

Make sure you get rid of all insects and rodents in your home by calling an exterminator. Droppings from rodents, cockroaches and other critters, can seriously aggravate your allergy symptoms. You will be able to breathe better after you have hired an exterminator to rid your home of vermin.

If you’re traveling with your child who is allergic to some foods, bring safe foods with you, especially if you’re going to a foreign country. Sometimes, certain foods will contain foods that often cause allergic symptoms, such as nuts or soy.

If one allergy product does produce the desired effect, it’s not yet time to throw in the towel. There are more than just ingestible options for allergy sufferers. Other alternatives include nasal sprays, nasal steroids, or eye drops.

If you have allergies, try to make sure that your bathroom is kept dry in order to reduce mold growth. Exhaust fans do a great job of getting rid of moisture. Bleach is also an effective bathroom cleaner. This way, all mold that may be building is instantly killed.

Bleach is great to clean with and it kills mold. However, bleach can trigger allergies and breathing problems for allergy sufferers. If it is important for you to utilize bleach, make certain you don gloves and a mask so that your skin and lungs are protected. You can keep your windows open, and a great tip here would be to put a fan inside of the window blowing outward. This gets rid of the bleach fumes and keeps pollen out!

Know what a cold is and what allergies are. Colds last awhile, while allergies come and go and annoy you. If you think you always have a cold, you may be experiencing an allergic reaction. If you don’t know, see your doctor.

See if homeopathic remedies might relieve your allergy symptoms. Although many people take medicine, homeopathic remedies may be a better choice for your allergies. Typically, natural remedies don’t have bothersome side effects like prescriptions do. Your local drugstore or health food store will probably sell these remedies.

Think about getting rid of your carpets. In-home carpeting can trap an astonishing amount of dust, pollen, spores and other allergens. If you have the money, think about switching over to tile, laminate or wood floors instead of wall-to-wall carpeting. That can greatly reduce the amount of allergens you’re breathing in every day. If you cannot do this, then vacuum on a daily basis.

Hopefully, the above article has shown you what allergy help and solutions are available. Life is full of too much work, too many challenges and too much fun to be ruined by allergies. Take control of your allergy treatment and start living again!

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Source: http://www.PopularArticles.com/article450566.html

By Glenn Marsh, CSIRO

The current outbreak of Ebola virus in West Africa is unprecedented in size, with nearly 4,800 confirmed or probable cases and more than 2,400 deaths. People have been infected in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal.

The World Health Organization declared this outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern” in August and estimates it will claim a staggering 20,000 lives within the next six months.

A second completely independent and significantly smaller Ebola virus outbreak has been detected in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Like all viruses, the Ebola virus has evolved since the outbreak began. So, how does this occur and how does it impact our attempts to contain the disease?

Tracking Ebola

Ebolavirus and the closely related Marburgvirus genera belong to the Filoviridae family. Both of these genera contain viruses that may cause fatal haemorrhagic fevers.

The Ebola virus genus is made up of five virus species: Zaire ebolavirus (responsible for both of the current outbreaks), Sudan ebolavirus, Reston ebolavirus, Bundibugyo ebolavirus and Taï Forest ebolavirus.

In order to better understand the origin and transmission of the current outbreak in West Africa, researchers from the Broad Institute and Harvard University, in collaboration with the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health, sequenced 99 virus genomes from 78 patients.

The study, reported in Science, shows the outbreak resulted from a single introduction of virus into the human population and then ongoing human-to-human transmission. The scientists reported more than 300 unique changes within the virus causing the current West African outbreak, which differentiates this outbreak strain from previous strains.

Within the 99 genomes sequenced from this outbreak, researchers have recorded approximately 50 other changes to the virus as it spreads from person to person. Future work will investigate whether these differences are contributing to the severity of the current outbreak.

These 99 genome sequences have been promptly released to publicly available sequence databases such as Genbank, allowing scientists globally to investigate changes in these viruses. This is critical in assessing whether the current molecular diagnostic tests can detect these strains and whether experimental therapies can effectively treat the circulating strains.

How does Ebola evolve?

This is the first Ebola virus outbreak where scientists have sequenced viruses from a significant number of patients. Despite this, the Broad Institute/Harvard University study findings are not unexpected.

The Ebola virus genome is made up of RNA and the virus polymerase protein that does not have an error-correction mechanism. This is where it gets a little complicated, but bear with me.

As the virus replicates, it is expected that the virus genome will change. This natural change of virus genomes over time is why influenza virus vaccines must be updated annually and why HIV mutates to become resistant to antiretroviral drugs.

Changes are also expected when a virus crosses from one species to another. In the case of Ebola virus, bats are considered to be the natural host, referred to as the “reservoir host”. The virus in bats will have evolved over time to be an optimal sequence for bats.

Crossing over into another species, in this case people, puts pressure on the virus to evolve. This evolution can lead to “errors” or changes within the virus which may make the new host sicker.

Ebola viruses are known to rapidly evolve in new hosts, as we’ve seen in the adaptation of lab-based Ebola viruses to guinea pigs and mice. This adaptation occurred by passing a low-pathogenic virus from one animal to the next until the Ebola virus was able to induce a fatal disease. Only a small number of changes were required in both cases for this to occur.

While this kind of viral mutation is well known with other viruses, such as influenza virus, we are only truly appreciating the extent of it with the Ebola viruses.

What do the genetic changes mean?

The Broad Institute/Harvard University study reported that the number of changes in genome sequences from this current outbreak was two-fold higher than in previous outbreaks.

This could be due to the increased number of sequences obtained over a period of several months, and the fact that the virus has undergone many person-to-person passes in this time.

However, it will be important to determine if virus samples from early and late in the outbreak have differing ability to cause disease or transmit. The genetic changes may, for example, influence the level of infectious virus in bodily fluids, which would make the virus easier to spread.

Analysing this data will help us understand why this outbreak has spread so rapidly with devastating consequences and, importantly, how we can better contain and manage future outbreaks.

Glenn Marsh receives funding from Australian National Health and Medical Research Council and Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation.

This article was originally published on The Conversation.
Read the original article.

Depression is a major, if not the major, cause of suicide. Every year, almost one million people die from suicide around the world. Depression is often seen as a disorder of the developed world; mental disorders – in particular depression but also disorders from alcohol misuse – have been clearly linked to suicide in high-income countries. But depression in low and middle-income countries is also a big problem and the prevalence is not dramatically different from high income countries. However, reliable data from some regions of the world – notably Africa – is not available.

Suicide is certainly a global problem. According to a new report from the World Health Organisation – the first time it has published one – some 75% of suicides happen in low and middle-income countries.

Depression is a major risk factor for suicide across the globe. While many suicides are impulsive, because of issues related to finance, illness and other pain, and particular groups who are more vulnerable, it is striking that studies have shown that depression is a significant risk factor for suicide attempts and the relationship is consistent across all countries (high or low-middle income).

And if someone suffers from multiple mental health problems such as depression, alcohol abuse and impulse control disorders, the risk is even higher. In the UK investigations suggested two thirds of people with suicidal behaviour are depressed. But depression is rarely in the headlines unless it involves a famous figure.

Although global suicide rates are highest in people older than 70, this is markedly different in particular countries where young people are more likely to take their lives. Worldwide, it is the second biggest cause of death in 15 to 29-year-olds, and in the UK, it’s the most common cause of death in men aged between 20 and 49.

Then there are the attempts, which are estimated to be 20 times more frequent than those that are completed.
National strategies

The WHO identifies only 28 countries with national strategies for preventing suicide. While reports indicate similar rates of depression in low to middle-income countries, there are regions where reliable epidemiological data is lacking. Mental health services in these countries can also be very limited.

But having a strategy isn’t necessarily the same as having one that works. Shockingly, as revealed in one report, the majority of people who killed themselves in the UK were not in contact with health services close to the time of the suicide.

Long-term studies document that in patients who receive proper treatment for depression, suicide risk is dramatically reduced. Depression isn’t just triggered by low points in life, there are biological triggers too. And in addition to mental health services, biomarkers for suicide are urgently needed to determine those with depression who are at the greatest risk.

Introducing effective interventions and policies, and reducing stigma could have a major effect on the global burden of depression.

Depression, if detected early enough, can be treated. Despite this, depression still goes largely under-recognised and under-treated. Stigma is a major problem and it doesn’t just come from those outside. Patients themselves also suffer from self-stigma, which leads to further withdrawal.

There are many different obstacles to effective treatment for depression. Cultural, work employment, psychological and cognitive factors, as well as the capacity for mental health services to provide early treatment, all play a role. The deleterious effects of depression are not confined to the patients, affecting carers, colleagues, and the society as a whole.

The burden of depression is not only great for the individuals and their families, but also for society. According to the WHO, depression is projected by 2020 to be the second leading cause of global burden of disease. In the UK alone the bill for mood disorders is around £16.1 billion. Mental health disorders, particularly depression, are the most common cause for absenteeism from work. In addition, when people are depressed at work, they may under-perform, conversely called presenteeism.

Despite this heavy burden on society, the funding for mental health research is below that of other areas of medical research. Mental health should be considered as important as physical health.
Later detection, poorer response

Early detection and treatment of depression is vital. Longer duration of untreated illness is related to poorer response to treatment. People who remain untreated are also more likely to relapse and suffer from a more chronic course. Depression affects neurochemicals in the brain, as well as the structure and function of brain systems. If depression becomes chronic and relapsing, further brain changes occur. For example, repeated episodes of depression are associated with shrinkage of the hippocampus, a brain structure which has a role in episodic memory. Timely and effective treatment of depression is key to preserving well-being, cognition and functionality at school, work and home.

Depression is a serious mental health problem with many consequences, including suicide. Effective treatment of depression could save lives. Depression is known to have both genetic and environmental influences and requires increased awareness by government, business and society. Action is needed now to determine how we can ensure that individuals with depression receive the early and effective treatment that they urgently need.

@The Conversation

 

 

 

Abaganga bakora gyneco obstétrique (abaganga bita ku buzima bw’abagore,bakanabyaza ) , barahari mu bice bitandukanye bya Kigali. Mu bitaro bya Leta CHUK,ku bitaro bya Muhima, mu bitaro byitiriwe umwami Faisal, mu bitaro bya gisirikare i Kanombe, no mu bitaro bya Kibagabaga.

 

I Kigali hari amavuriro yigenga tubasangamo,muri Hôpital la Croix du Sud (kwa Nyirinkwaya)iherereye i Remera, Clinic Bien Etre (kwa Dr Claude) iherereye ku Muhima, Polyclinique le Carrefour (Kwa Gatsinga) iherereye Rwandex, Polyclinique St Jean iri i Nyamirambo ku babikira.

 

Hari nandi mavuriro yigenga wasangamo abo baganga ariko yo atabyaza (no maternity) ayo ni nka plato mu mujyi, polyclinique la medicale (kwa kanimba) ku muhima, Humanus medicus iri Kimironko ,Clinic Le Bon Berger iri i Gikondo no Kwa Dr Cyridion hano kuri camp Kigali.

 

Uretse gukurikirana inda mu gihe habaye gusama no gufasha kubyara neza abo baganga basuzuma bakanavura izindi ndwara nk’izijyanye no kujya mu mihango no kuva bidasanzwe, ibibyimba byo mu nda, ibibazo bijyanye n’urubyaro, gusuzuma no kuvura indwara z’amabere.

 

Gusama: Guhura kw’intanga ngabo n’intanga ngore bikora igi rizavamo umwana. Ibimenyetso byo gusama hari kubura kw’imihango mu kwezi gukurikira igihe yari itegerejwe, ibindi bimenyetso bihindagurika ukurikije abantu, kugira iseseme, gucika intege, kurya cyane, kutarya,…Ikizamini cyo kureba ko wasamye aho ariho hose ku mavuriro kirakorwa kandi n’umuntu ubwe ashobora kucyikorera, ibisabwa ni test de grossesse/pregnancy test ziboneka mu mafarumasi yose.

 

Mu gihe hamenyekanye ko wasamye ni ngombwa ko usuzumisha inda, ukanavugana na muganga kuri gahunda zikurikira, ibizamini bikorerwa umuntu utwite, inkingo ahabwa ,kunyura mu cyuma (échographie/ultrasound). Muri buri gihembwe (trimestre) ni ngombwa ko wanyura mu cyuma,buri gihe haba hari amakuru kigaragaza ku bijyanye n’imikurire n’imiterere y’inda.

Amavuriro twavuze hejuru ni ayo twabashije kumenya , hari ahandi i Kigali haba hari abo baganga ,tutavuze mwadufasha kuhamenyekanisha .

Ba muganga bazobereye mu ndwara z’umutima n’itembera ry amaraso bitwa ba cardiologue cyangwa cardiologist baboneka i Kigali mu bitaro bya leta CHUK,King Faisal Hospital,i Kanombe mu bitaro bya gisirikare.

Mu mavuriro yigenga cardiologist wabasanga mu bitaro la croix du sud i Remera,muri clinic Fondation du Coeur iba mu nyubako ya RSSB (RAMA),kuri Kigali Adventist Medical Center iri munsi y’urusengero rw’Abadive i Remera,na dispensaire Onatracom mu Biryogo.

Basuzuma umutima n’imitemberere y’amaraso mu mubiri,bakavura n indwara zabyo.

Umuvuduko w’amaraso uri hejuru /hypetension/high blood pressure ni kimwe mu bibazo iki gihe bihangayikishije ubuvuzi n’ubuzima bw’abantu kuko ingaruka zawo hari ubwo zitwara ubuzima cyangwa zikamugaza.

Nta bundi buryo umuntu amenya ko afite ikibazo cy’umutima cyangwa umuvuduko w’amaraso uri hejuru uretse nyuma yo kwisuzumisha.

Bimwe mu bimenyetso bishobora kubaho,ni kurwara umutwe,kugira isereri,kunanirwa, kumva ubuze umwuka,kumva umutima utera cyane,…hari igihe bitanabaho ,hari n’abantu kenshi babwirwa ko bafite umuvuduko w’amaraso uzamuye bari bajyiye kwivuza izindi ndwara.

Imibereho muri iki gihe ,ahanini irimo stress iri mu byongereye abantu kugira indwara z’umutima n’itembera ry’amaraso,ibindi byavugwa ni nk’amafunguro yiganjemo umunyu n’amavuta;umubyibuho ukabije,kwicara igihe kirekire,kudakora siporo,…

Abantu bafite izo ndwara kandi babaho neza mu gihe bakurikije inama bahabwa,kumenya ibyo kurya bifasha umubiri,gukora imyitozo ngororamubiri ihoraho,gufata imiti uko wayandikiwe,kugira umwanya wo kuruhuka (umubiri no mu mutwe),no gukurikirana ibipimo by’umuvuduko w’amaraso.Imashini zipima ubu ziraboneka,ni ukuyitunga ukajya uyikoresha aho uri.

Kigalihe.com

(Photo MSN : Ebola situation as in August 2014 )

Two potential vaccines against the deadly Ebola virus ravaging West Africa could be available as soon as November and would first be given to health care workers most at risk of exposure to the disease there, the World Health Organization announced on Friday.

The organization also announced that blood from recovered Ebola patients and serums derived from that blood should be used to treat the sick, and it said treatment centers should quickly begin testing other experimental therapies to combat the viral disease, which has escalated into a devastating health crisis.
“We have to change the sense there is no hope in this situation to a realistic hope,” Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, an assistant director general, told a telephone news conference at the conclusion of a two-day meeting at the organization’s Geneva headquarters aimed at expediting the prevention and cure of Ebola. The disease has now killed nearly 2,100 people over the past six months. Nearly all the deaths have been in three West African countries — Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone — but clusters of Ebola patients have recently been found in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country.

Dr. Kieny said nearly 200 scientists, ethicists and clinicians from around the world had reached a consensus in identifying the most promising vaccines and potential treatments and developing strategies for testing them. The two vaccines, which have not yet been studied in humans, are set to undergo initial tests of their safety and immune system effects beginning this month in a small number of volunteers in Britain, the United States and Mali, which borders Guinea, where the outbreak emerged.

If the initial safety tests were encouraging, the vaccines, still under evaluation, should immediately be offered in stages to health workers and other “front line staff” in West Africa, according to a prioritization plan set by a panel of ethicists convened earlier this summer by the W.H.O., Dr. Kieny said.

The pace of testing, and the bypassing of normal protocols to develop the vaccines, is “absolutely unprecedented,” Dr. Kieny said. She said that the vaccine testing protocol was approved in Mali within days and that there had been a “change of all the processes that we know, for this particular Ebola outbreak.”

While it was likely that patents had been filed and intellectual property rights applied to some of the vaccines and treatments, she said, “so far we’ve seen absolutely no problem and no barrier to the use of these.”

Dr. Kieny stressed the importance of carefully monitoring results to ensure that vaccines were not harmful and did not paradoxically make people more susceptible to the disease. “We must also be conscious about that — rollout must happen as quickly as possible but step by step.”

Upward of 10,000 doses of one vaccine, based on a modified chimpanzee cold virus, may be available by the end of the year, according to materials produced by the W.H.O. The vaccine is being tested by its developers, GlaxoSmithKline and the United States National Institutes of Health, and a British consortium. An initial 800 doses of the second vaccine were donated by the Canadian government to the W.H.O., Dr. Kieny said.

“I would love to be the first African” to receive one of the vaccines, Dr. Samba Sow, director general at the Center for Vaccine Development in Mali, told the news conference.

Participants at the conference also concluded that countries should be assisted in offering patients transfusions of whole blood, plasma, or so-called convalescent serum produced from the blood of people who have survived Ebola. “A blood-derived product can be used now, and this can be very effective in terms of treating patients,” Dr. Kieny said.

However, carrying out such efforts will require strong international support, given that Ebola treatment centers are short of staff and overwhelmed with far more patients than they can handle, leaving care at the most basic level.

Such blood transfusions were used with apparent success in several patients during the 1995 Ebola outbreak in Kikwit, Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo. Oyewale Tomori, a professor of virology at Redeemer’s University in Nigeria, said at the news conference that blood was being collected for this purpose from five Ebola survivors in Nigeria. It was reported that Dr. Kent Brantly, a missionary doctor who contracted Ebola in Liberia and recovered, received a blood transfusion from a patient that he had treated before being evacuated to the United States.

A handful of other potential Ebola treatments selected for their promise, including the antibody mixture known as ZMapp, should be evaluated in treatment centers in West Africa as protocols are developed and doses become available, the W.H.O. said. Each patient would be informed of the risks and benefits, and the effects would be evaluated.

The meeting in Geneva was part of a broader mobilization within the United Nations system to counter the spread of Ebola. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, speaking to reporters in New York, called the mobilization “an international rescue call.”

“The number of cases is rising exponentially,” he said. “The disease is spreading far faster than the response. People are increasingly frustrated that it is not being controlled.”

W.H.O. officials recently estimated it would cost $600 million to fight the Ebola scourge, the worst in the nearly 40-year history of the disease, and that 20,000 people could be infected before it is brought under control. “One of the things driving fear and panic in the communities and the world is the belief there is no treatment,” Dr. Kieny said.

@ NYT