The Health News Australia December 16 2017

• A baby born with an extremely rare condition has survived three surgeries to place her heart inside her chest, in what is believed to be a UK-first.Vanellope Hope was born in late November with her heart growing on the outside of her body. The unusual condition is called ectopia cordis. Only 8 in 1 million babies are born with ectopia cordis. Of those 8, 90% are either stillborn or die within the first 3 days of life.
• One in 84 Australians reached out to homelessness services in the past year, with the overall number rising by 3%. Two in 5 Australians accessing homelessness services have experienced domestic or family violence, with the proportion soaring by 9% in a year. According to figures released on Thursday by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, nearly 115,000 people have reached out for help because of violence at home in the past 12 months.
• A boy has died from meningococcal disease in north Queensland. The Townsville Hospital confirmed the boy died last Friday, in a statement issued by Queensland Health.
  Testing has been undertaken on those close to the boy. Townsville Public Health Unit director Dr. Steven Donohue expressed his deepest sympathies to the family while assuring there was little chance the disease had spread further.

News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the 16th of December 2017. Read by Tabetha Moreto.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-14/babys-heart-placed-back-inside-her-chest-in-rare-surgeries/9257558

A baby born with an extremely rare condition has survived three surgeries to place her heart inside her chest, in what is believed to be a UK-first.Vanellope Hope was born in late November with her heart growing on the outside of her body. The unusual condition is called ectopia cordis.

She was delivered prematurely on November twenty two by Caesarean section in order to reduce the chances of infection and to give her the best chance of survival. In her most recent surgery, her skin was used to cover the hole in her chest. Doctor Nick Moore, from Leicester’s Glenfield Hospital, said the baby was in the hospital’s paediatric intensive care unit.
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Only eight in one million babies are born with this condition. Of those eight, ninety percent are either stillborn or die within the first three days of life. Infection poses a severe risk to babies with this condition, although there have been some cases in the US in which surgery has been successful.

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/family-violence-pushing-people-to-streets

One in eighty four Australians reached out to homelessness services in the past year, with the overall number rising by three percent. Two in five Australians accessing homelessness services have experienced domestic or family violence, with the proportion soaring by nine per cent in a year. According to figures released on Thursday by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, nearly one hundred fifteen thousand people have reached out for help because of violence at home in the past twelve months. The proportion of clients with mental health conditions has also risen by seven per cent to twenty seven percent, or about seventy seven thousand six hundred people. And for the first time since the data collection began in two thousand eleven and two thousand twelve, return clients outnumbered new entrants to homelessness services.

One in two people seeking homelessness services in two thousand sixteen and two thousand seventeen had already received help in the past five years. Mental health conditions, drug problems and alcohol use, and stints in custody were among the most common reasons cited by return clients.
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More than two hundred eighty eight thousand people – or one in eighty four Australians – were assisted by specialist homelessness agencies in the past year, reflecting a rise of three percent. More than half of those assisted were in accommodation but at risk of becoming homeless.

The overwhelming majority received assistance so they could continue to live in private accommodation, while six percent of people in private dwellings were moved into social housing.

https://www.9news.com.au/health/2017/12/13/13/16/boy-dies-from-meningococcal-in-qld

A boy has died from meningococcal disease in north Queensland. The Townsville Hospital confirmed the boy died last Friday, in a statement issued by Queensland Health.
Testing has been undertaken on those close to the boy. Townsville Public Health Unit director Doctor Steven Donohue expressed his deepest sympathies to the family while assuring there was little chance the disease had spread further.

He said the bacteria, passed when coughing and sneezing, usually needs close and prolonged contact with a person for it to spread. Jamieka McCarthy Harford, twenty six, died in Auckland on Saturday after she fell ill with the disease during her wedding ceremony.

The twenty six-year-old’s husband, Alistair John, said her death was “a huge shock”.
The Auckland Regional Public Health Service confirmed the young woman had died from meningococcal, and said there was no risk to other members for the public. ARPHS said it was working closely with the family to prevent further transmission of the disease.