October 16 - October 29, 2014

 
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Ebola – More to Know

OVERVIEW

t hodge, mdThe Ebola virus is currently classified into five separate species:  Zaire ebolavirus (responsible for the current outbreak), Sudan ebolavirus, Tai Forest (Ivory Coast) ebolavirus, Reston ebolavirus, and Bundibugyo ebolavirus. The Zaire ebolavirus has been reported to have a mortality rate as high as 89%.

However, The World Health Organization reported that as of October 8, more than 8,400 peoople had been infected from the virus and of those infected about 50% had died.

The natural reservoir of Ebola has not been identified and the manner in which the virus appears in a human at the beginning of an outbreak is unknown.  However; researchers believe that the first patient became infected through contact with an infected animal.

TRANSMISSION

Ebola is spread by direct contact through broken skin or mucus membranes (such as the mouth, eyes, or nose) with the blood or bodily fluids of a person sick with Ebola.  Bodily fluids include urine, saliva, sweat, feces, vomit, breast milk, semen, and vaginal fluids.  The virus can also be spread through objects like needles and syringes that have been contaminated with the virus.  The virus can be spread via infected animals.

ebola- more to knowThe virus CANNOT be spread via the air, water, or in general by food (unless the food is an animal infected with the virus). There is no evidence that mosquitoes or other insects can transmit Ebola. Only mammals (such as humans, bats, monkeys, and apes) have the ability to become infected with and then transmit the Ebola virus. 

Healthcare providers caring for Ebola patients and family and friends in close contact with Ebola patients are at the highest risk of getting sick because of exposure to the bodily fluids of the sick patient. 

CLINICAL COURSE

The incubation period (how long the virus is in your body before symptoms develop) is typically 3-8 days but may be as long as 19-21 days. The onset of symptoms is sudden:  Severe headache (50-74% of the time), joint and muscle aches (50%-79%), fever with or without chills (95%), loss of appetite (45%), and weakness (85%-95%).  These symptoms occur early in the disease. 

Abdominal pain (65%), nausea and vomiting (68%-73%), and diarrhea (85%) soon follow. Pink eye (conjunctivitis), difficult or painful swallowing as well as bleeding from the intestinal tract may occur.  Bleeding at the sites of intravenous lines (refers to blood leaking around any catheter placed into your veins
to deliver you extra fluids) may also occur (40%-50%).  Rapid breathing (typically a sign of impending death), low blood pressure, and absence of urination are all late signs of the disease.

DIAGNOSIS

Studies for isolating the virus include tissue culture (only to be performed in one of a few high-containment laboratories throughout the world).  Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay may be also performed.  Serologic testing is available.  Immunochemical testing of the skin of the deceased is also available as well as electron microscopy.

MANAGEMENT

In general, support therapy with attention to keeping the patient hydrated and comfortable is necessary.  Therapy is administered with strict attention to barrier (to include use of masks, gowns, and gloves) isolation (such as placement in a private room) against all bodily fluids. 

ZMapp is an experimental tobacco based biologic drug that was given to two American missionaries evacuated from Liberia (to Atlanta’s Emory University Hospital) after becoming infected with the Ebola virus.  Both patients were able to leave the hospital no longer infectious. The drug was developed by a San Diego based biotech company called Mapp Pharmaceuticals. The Department of Human Health Services (DHHS) has given Mapp $24.9 million over an 18 month contract with an option to provide a total of up to $42.3 million. 

Doctors believe that if you survive Ebola that you are likely immune to future infections.

HOW DO I PROTECT MYSELF

If you must travel to an area affected by the 2014 outbreak, protect yourself by doing the following:

  1. Wash  your hands frequently or use an alcohol based hand sanitizer
  2. Avoid contact with blood and bodily fluids of anyone but particularly anyone obviously ill
  3. Do not handle items that may have come in contact with infected bodily fluids
  4. Do not touch the body of someone who has died from Ebola
  5. Do not touch or eat bats or non human primates (monkeys) or come in contact with their bodily fluids
  6. Avoid hospitals where Ebola patients are being treated
  7. Seek medical attention immediately if you develop a fever (temperature greater than 101.5 degrees F or 38.6 degrees C) or a headache, muscle aches, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain or unexpected bruising or bleeding

 






Black Woman Won’t Be Brazil’s Next President

marina silva 
She was expected to do well, even force incumbent Dilma Rousseff into a run-off, but Afro-Brazilian Marina Silva got only 21 percent of the vote.  Rousseff, with 41.6 of the vote, topped the race, but not with the 50 percent needed to avoid a run-off.  Coming in a surprising second with 33.6 percent of the vote was Aécio Neves.

While Rousseff is popular with the poor, Neves is considered a centrist senator who has pushed for greater trade and lower government spending.  In a blow to Rousseff, Silva is now backing Neves.


U.S. Election 2014

 election 2014
The Sentencing Project estimates that 5.85 million Americans will be unable to exercise their voting rights due to a current or previous felony conviction As disenfranchisement laws disproportionately impact non-White communities, 1 in every 13 Black adults will be voiceless in the electoral process.


One of the latest polls has Senator Cory Booker winning his election with 53 percent of the vote over his Republican opponent Jeff Bell with 38 percent.


Democrats are investing an unheard-of $60 million in their get-out-the-vote operation to turn unlikely voters into actual voters, many of them African-America.

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Fetch Clay, Make Man
win FREE Tickets


 fetch clay, make man
Fast paced, entertaining, historical, and informative are the words that linger in my mind after seeing Fetch Clay, Make Man at the Round House Theater in Bethesda, MD.  “I really want to go home and google Lincoln Perry,” commented Donald Burch after seeing the performance.

Based on the true story of the seemingly very unlikely friendship between Muhammad Ali and Stepin Fetchit (Lincoln Perry), the play is full of tension-filled dialogue that create intriguing three-dimensional characters.  Though humorous, Fetchit’s saying “I am just so tired -  - of sleeping,” is only a route to his dramatic interactions with Ali, Ali’s wife and bodyguard, and a movie company owner to better understand the man and what attracted Black image conscious Ali to the man behind the icon of Black stupidity.

Rosoce Orman, best known as Gordon on Sesame Street, brings star power to the performance as Fetchit.  Howard University graduates Katherine Renee Turner wonderfully plays Ali’s wife Sonji while  Derrick Sanders serves as the play’s director.

The Round House is one block from the Metro Red Line, low-cost parking (about $5) is available next door, and free parking is available on weekends within blocks of the theater.

FREE TICKETS You can win one set of the two sets of tickets we are giving away to see Fetch Clay, Make Man.  The only thing you have to do is click here, send us the e-mail, and be a current subscriber.  (Therefore, you should enter from the e-mail address in which we use to send you Port Of Harlem.)

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe, then enter the drawing.  We will randomly select the winners Monday, October 20 at 11am and immediately notify them.  And the two winners MUST respond to the email by Wednesday, October 22 at 11:59p.


Books: Awkward Black Girl
and More


 peter and the boycott
The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl - Issa Rae (Atria Books, $26) is expected to release a book by the same title this coming February.  The book’s preview copy is just as interesting as her off the track, but entertaining online series. (See our previous review of the series and link to the series (Black White Marriages Increased Rapidly Since 1980s)).

Janet Sims-Wood (Dorothy Porter Wesley at Howard University: Building a Legacy of Black History, (The History Press, $19.99)) is making her rounds and talking about her book on Porter Wesley, who helped create the world-class archive known as the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard University.

“I chose her because Moorland-Spingarn is celebrating its 100th anniversary (2015) and I wanted to do something to honor the lady who worked so hard to acquire materials for the collection,” said Sims-Wood, who served as Assistant Chief Librarian, Reference/Reader Services at Moorland-Spingarn the year after Porter Wesley retired.  However, she continued to advise  newcomers including Sims-Wood.

We get plenty of books from self-publishing houses; many of them not that good.  One bright exception is Peter and the Boycott by Yolanda L. Everett (Author House, $18). While printed on slightly less than standard paper, the story of the historic Montgomery Bus Boycott written from a child’s perspective is a must for those wishing to pass the stories of our accomplishments to the next generation.  In addition to a great story, the illustrations by Avery Liell-Kok are exceptional and culturally and period sensitive. The press copy will be part of the library that the Port of Harlem Gambian Education Partnership supports in West Africa, but I will buy a second copy for a grand niece.

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port of harlem gambian education partnership

ObamaCare and Turning 26

Under the groundbreaking Affordable Health Care Act, often called ObamaCare, you can remain on your parent’s health insurance plan until you turn 26. Afterwards, you must obtain a job-based plan or turn to the Health Insurance Marketplace.

If your turn 26 outside an Open Enrollment period, you can still get covered. Life events — like turning 26 — mean you may qualify for the Special Enrollment Period. Other qualifying life events include marriage, having a baby, or moving to a new state. (See a three-minute video to find out if you qualify for a Special Enrollment Period.)        


Reading for the Blind

The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) administers the braille and talking-book program.  The program is a free library service available to U.S. residents and American citizens living abroad whose low vision, blindness, or disability makes reading regular materials difficult.

Through its national network of libraries, NLS mails books and magazines in audio and braille formats and digital audio equipment directly to enrollees at no cost. Music instructional materials are also provided. Selected materials may be downloaded.  For more information, click here or call 1-888-NLS-READ (1-888-657-7323).

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Activities


Washington
LGBT Youth Skate Nights
Last Tues Every Month
Temple Hills Skate Palace
3132 Branch
Temple Hills, MD
6:30p-10:30p, $

Belleville
Studio Theater
1501 14th Street, NW
through Sun, Oct 12, $44-$88

Fetch Clay, Make Man
Round House Theatre
4545 East-West Highway
Bethesda
Metro: Bethesda (1 block)
through Sun, Nov 2, $

Howard University Homecoming Step Show
DC Armory
Fri, Oct 17, 8p-10p, $

Faith Temple's 25th Annual Victory over AIDS Event
New York Avenue Presbyterian Church
1313 New York Avenue NW
Sun, Oct 19, 3p, free

13th Annual Legacy Award Ceremony
Special guest:  Nikki Giovanni
Carnegie Library
800 K Street, NW
Fri, Oct 24, 7p, $125

Chicago/Gary
Family Day at the Douglas Center
Environmental Education Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
7-85 N Lake St, Gary
Sats, 1p-3p, free

New York
Parlor Jazz at Marjorie Eliot's
555 Edgecombe Avenue
(at 160th Street), ''The Triple Nickel'', Studio 3F
Sundays 4p-6p, free

The Harlem Rens
Thu, Oct 2-Sun Nov 16
Thurs 8p, Sats 8p, and Suns 4p, $39.50-$99
$30 POH Discount Tickets - Code: “HRSOC”

Harlem Arts Salon
1925 7th Avenue, 7L
New York, NY 10026
Sun, Oct 19, 2p-5p

 
 
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wayne and lisa 

Brookland and its new Artist's Walk is a lot different from the days when Lisa Jenkins (right) graduated from Trnitiy College. The Artist's Walk includes studios of photographers Bonita Bing and George Tolbert IV and artist Cedric Baker. An area where bands play is at the end of the Walk. On this night folks were dancing.

- Wayne (left)


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