UNICEF Cameroon Humanitarian Situation Report, August 2019 - Cameroon - ReliefWeb

Posted: 30 Sep 2019 02:07 PM PDT

Highlights

• More than 118,000 people have benefited from UNICEF's humanitarian assistance in the North-West and South-West regions since January including 15,800 in August.

• The Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) strategy, established in the South-West region in June, was extended into the North-West region in which 1,640 people received WASH kits and Long-Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINs) in August.

• In August, 265,694 children in the Far-North region were vaccinated against poliomyelitis during the final round of the vaccination campaign launched following the polio outbreak in May.

• During the month of August, 3,087 children received psychosocial support in the Far-North region.

SITUATION IN NUMBERS

2,300,000 # of children in need of humanitarian assistance
4,300,000 # of people in need (Cameroon Humanitarian Needs Overview 2019)

Displacement

530,000 # of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the NorthWest and South-West regions (OCHA Displacement Monitoring, July 2019)
372,854 # of IDPs and Returnees in the Far-North region (IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix 18, April 2019)
105,923 # of Nigerian Refugees in rural areas (UNHCR Fact Sheet, July 2019)

Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs

During the month, rainy season conditions, roadblocks and insecurity significantly impacted the movement of UNICEF and other humanitarian actors in the North-West and South-West regions. Despite the challenges faced, UNICEF's assistance to the affected population and children reached at least 15,800 people during the month and more than 118,000 beneficiaries since January 2019.

Following the launch of an RRM-like initiative in June for Ekondo Titi sub-division (Ndian division, South-West region) by UNICEF with implementing partners, this was extended in August to Kumbo sub-division (Bui division, NorthWest region) where the emergency needs of 328 households (1,640 people) were assessed and subsequently responded with health (LLINs) and WASH (WASH kits) interventions. Follow up support was undertaken in screening for malnutrition, provision of psychosocial support through Child Friendly Spaces (CFSs) and distribution of drugs.

UNICEF conducted a field mission to Mbingo (Belo sub-division, Boyo division, North-West region) where two of its partners (Plan International and CBCHB) implement projects on child protection and health. The purpose of the mission was to identify specific humanitarian needs and to familiarise with the access environment for this area. While no acute needs for water/sanitation and health were observed, the present situation exacerbates people's ability to meet medical costs in which case the hospital is hard pressed to maintain budget limits. The mission observed that the nutrition treatment provided at the hospital was not in line with the existing national protocol and there was no outpatient treatment option available. People are not seeking medical attention when needed due to lack of financial means, resulting in deterioration of the health condition by the time they get to the hospital. Mission recommendations included conducting health screening at Child Friendly Spaces (CFSs) and in the communities to ensure that children receive treatment in a timely manner, and providing technical and supply assistance to enable out-patient and malnutrition treatment to follow technical protocols.

In the Far-North region, two children in were killed by an unexploded remnant of war (ERW) on 21 August in Hile Alifa sub-division (Logone-et-Chari division). Reportedly, the children took a grenade home after they found it on the road. A near similar incident occurred in July, also killing two children. This situation highlights continuing mortal gaps in knowledge, awareness and practice relative to the risk of ERW for which UNICEF and partners need to scale up further community sensitization and awareness activities, including in school and through education services.

As of 31 August, the resurgence of cases of cholera epidemic in 2019, beginning in May, has recorded a total of 508 cases (338 in the North region and 170 cases in Far-North region) according to the Ministry of Public Health. UNICEF and its partners collaborate with the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Water and Energy through response and prevention interventions for the epidemic. In August, UNICEF also conducted household awareness campaign and visited 1,800 households to sensitise 16,840 people on cholera prevention and treatment. Since January, UNICEF has provided a total of 11,215 people with WASH kits, consisting of soaps, bucket, aqua tabs, cups for children.

Common cold stopped by experimental approach - BBC News

Posted: 16 Sep 2019 12:00 AM PDT

Scientists think they have found a way to stop the common cold and closely related viruses which can cause paralysis.

Instead of trying to attack them directly, the researchers targeted an essential protein inside our cells which the viruses need to replicate.

The approach gave "complete protection" in experiments on mice and human lung cells.

However, the US-based researchers are not ready for trials in people.

The common-cold challenge

Tackling the common cold has been a massive problem in medicine.

Most colds are caused by rhinoviruses, but there are around 160 different types and they mutate so easily they rapidly become resistant to drugs, or learn to hide from the immune system.

This has led to the idea of "host-directed therapy" - essentially making our bodies inhospitable for the cold viruses.

An individual virus does not have everything it needs to replicate. Instead, it is dependent on infecting another cell and stealing some of the parts inside.

It is why scientists still argue whether viruses are truly alive.

A team at Stanford University and the University of California, San Francisco, found one of the components which the viruses were dependent upon.

Why is the common cold so hard to cure?

Viral dependency

Scientists started with human cells and then used gene-editing to turn off instructions inside our DNA one-by-one.

These modified cells were then exposed to a range of enteroviruses - this includes the rhinoviruses which cause the common cold, and more dangerous viruses that are closely related to polio and can cause paralysis.

All the viruses were unable to replicate inside cells which had the instructions for a protein (called methyltransferase SETD3) switched off.

The scientists then created genetically modified mice which were completely unable to produce that protein.

"Lacking that gene protected the mice completely from viral infection," associate professor Jan Carette, from Stanford, told the BBC.

"These mice would always die [without the mutation], but they survived and we saw a very strong reduction in viral replication and very strong protection."

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption The common cold virus has proved incredibly difficult to stop

The protein these viruses were dependent upon normally has a role in the intricate "scaffolding" which organises the inside of the body's cells, called the cytoskeleton.

The findings, published in the journal Nature Microbiology, showed the genetically modified mice were healthy, despite lacking the protein for their whole lives.

When do we get a cure?

The plan is not to produce genetically modified humans, but to find a drug which can temporarily suppress the protein, and provide protection.

"We have identified a fantastic target that all enteroviruses and rhinoviruses require and depend on. Take that away and the virus really has no chance," said Prof Carette.

He added: "This is a really good first step - the second step is to have a chemical that mimics this genetic deletion.

"I think development can go relatively quickly."

Exactly what role the protein plays in the viral replication is still uncertain, and will require further research.

For most people the common cold is more of an inconvenience than a threat to their health, but in asthmatics it can make their symptoms much worse and some of the enteroviruses can causes paralysis if they spread to the brain.

Prof Jonathan Ball, a virologist at the University of Nottingham, who was not involved in the work, said the study was "neat" but scientists would need to be certain the approach was safe.

"There is increasing interest in developing treatments that target these host proteins, because it can potentially overcome virus mutation - one of the major barriers to developing effective broadly active antivirals.

"But of course, viruses are very adaptable and it is conceivable that even a host-targeting treatment might not keep them at bay for long."

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