LIVERPOOL NOVEMBER 2014
ED SHEERAN ON THE RECORD
PAGE 07
WIN: A holiday to Les Deux Alpes & tickets to Rise Festival FIND OUT HOW ON PG 12
THE LATEST SPORTS FROM YOUR UNIVERSITY
PAGES 37 & 39
UNI HOSPITAL PREPARES FOR EBOLA CHERYL CULLIFORD-WHYTE
The Royal Liverpool University Hospital is one of four hospitals in the UK to be put on Ebola standby.
NEARLY THREE and half thousand people have lost their lives to Ebola so far this year, and it’s not only the death toll that is increasing; the reach of the virus is spreading is also expanding, with now cases being reported in both Europe and America, as well as where it began in West Africa. The first case of transmission in Europe occurred when a Spanish nurse contracted the virus after she had treated missionaries who had returned to Spain. Spain’s Public Health Director, Mercedes Vinuesa, explained that the nurse is being treated, three people are in quarantine and a list of fifty two people who had possible contact with the nurse have been drawn up and are now being closely monitored. Professor Tom Solomon is the Head of the Institute of Infection and Global Health and the Director of the National Institute for Health Research’s (NIHR) Health Protection Unit in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections, which is an organisation established by the UK Government in April 2014 to help protect the UK from infections, such as Ebola. He said on the recent Ebola outbreak that: ‘we know how to control the virus.’ In an interview with The Independent, Professor Solomon encouraged the public that the successful treatment of the Spanish nurse and the fact no others became
infected should be ‘reassuring.’ Professor Solomon also told The University Paper, ‘We’ve been researching Ebola for a long time here in Liverpool and we predicted that it would go to America and Europe, and now it has, if it does come to the UK, we are ready for it.’ Ebola is a highly contagious viral disease. It is thought from scientific research that it is a naturally occurring virus in fruit bats, and it was first contracted by a human from coming into contact with the bodily fluids of an infected fruit bat, likely urine or faeces. The virus can then be easily transmitted from human-to-human, again through the mixing of infected bodily fluids such as blood, diarrhoea or vomit. The symptoms of Ebola begin as flu like symptoms: a fever, muscle pain, headache and a sore throat being the most common symptoms. They then become more severe as stomach pains and rashes appear, followed by internal bleeding, which can also resort to external bleeding from the ears, eyes nose or mouth. The easily transmittable nature of this virus is what makes it so easy to spread, especially in poorer nations where sanitation is less controlled. Why this outbreak is so different to the many that have preceded it, Professor Solomon explained, is because previous outbreaks have been mostly in Central Africa, countries which are used to dealing with
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5000 SMURFS ON LAUGHING GAS PORTIA FAHEY AND EMMA ROSA ROBB
ON SUNDAY 5th October, thousands of freshers stormed into Concert Square for ‘Student Fest’, involving seven nightclubs, many jaw-dropping challenges and a ridiculous amount of blue paint. However, Papa Smurf was not the only one lurking around. Nitrous Oxide, otherwise known as laughing gas, NOS, cream or hippie crack, has made a comeback to the streets of Liverpool.
PHOTO CREDIT: CATRIONA BURDERN
Liverpool helped keep the summer party atmosphere alive by holding Student Fest, aka, the ‘Battle of the Smurfs’ earlier this month. Throughout the night, around five-thousand students were involved in challenges which ranged in levels of extremity. For instance, one challenge was to take a picture with the notorious Papa Smurf, however one student that attended the event stated,
“Some of them were harmless and just a bit of fun which I think most students want as a relief from university work, but there were certain ones that I think pushed the boundaries too much! For example, swapping your underwear with someone or pulling a rep! Just seems a bit too extreme!” It has been reported that Nitrous Oxide canisters littered the streets of
Liverpool after Student Fest, but that was no surprise when they were (and are usually) sold for one pound a pop. A lot of sellers get started because of their experiences on holiday or at festivals and want to keep the fun going when they are back home. One seller I spoke to said: “You can make hundreds a week easily in summer,
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