Mar 20

Prisons As Breeding Grounds of Terrorism

The is now recruiting a new brand of Jihadists with a criminal record. The suicide bombers in Brussels and those of the November 2015 Paris attack were ex-convicts. Two of the suicide bombers in Brussels were brothers of which one had been convicted of assault and bank robbery while the other was involved in a carjacking. These new recruits are both gangsters and terrorists. The Lantin Prison is one of Belgium’s largest prisons meant to serve as a short stay prison for those awaiting trial or sentencing. It is said by the Brussel investigators that it was here in the prison walls that Ibrahim el-Bakraoui was transformed from a criminal to a violent Jihadist.

Massay an ex-social worker who became a prison guard 5 years ago states his observation in the French prisons. Being a gentle and empathetic person he can identify those radical prisoners who try to radicalize inmates by imparting that they are being mistreated. Massay qualified his Master’s degree in criminology and focuses on terrorism, radicalization and school bullying. He can identify these elements by the choice of books they read and recommend to fellow inmates and sometimes even to other prison guards. Prison guards are expected to report incidents of radicalization but most fail to distinguish between radicalization and a person merely trying to rediscover .

Luk Vervat a prison reform activist who taught Dutch and English in Belgian prisons says that discrimination is the root cause of radicalization and people turning to terrorism. A person even if born in Belgium has brown skin, is discriminated as a foreigner. Brussels has very little jobs to offer and employers usually hire people who look like they belong together. Minority communities for lack of socio-economic security turn to criminal activities like drug dealing and cigarette sales. It is said that Ibrahim Abdeslam a suicide bomber in the November Paris attack met one of the main attack plotters, Abdelhamid Abaaoud in Prison.

Read More : Zika Virus May Be Linked To Guillain-Barre

Feb 27

Zika Virus May Be Linked To Guillain-Barre

Zika virus was discovered in Africa and was common in Asia. Recently it spread out to other parts of the world and caused health concerns. Usually, Zika virus causes a mild disease from which people can recover from with proper care and rest, but it becomes a major concern when it leads to birth defects in pregnant women and spikes in cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome which causes temporary paralysis.

A paper published in The Lancet already suggests a link between the outbreak of Zika and cause of Guillain Barre Syndrome following infection. The study takes into account the outbreak of Zika in the islands of French Polynesia in 2013. During the outbreak out of the 270,000 population, two thirds were infected within a period of six months. The symptoms are as simple as fever, muscle pain, conjunctivitis and rash. Apart from this about 50 infected people became partially paralyzed as a result of Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS). The Zika virus causes the patients’ immune system to attack its own nerves and cause paralysis. The infected people recovered after intensive care and three months of treatment.

There are more reports from El Salvador, Venezuela, Colombia, Suriname and Brazil on increasing incidence of neurological conditions like microcephaly that is possibly linked to Zika virus. The research team studied blood samples of Zika infected patients, GBS patients and uninfected individuals for antibodies and observed that 88% GBS patients’ blood contained neutralizing antibodies against the Zika virus establishing the suggested link. The research also cleared out dengue as not being a causative of GBS.

The evidence although not very conclusive is strongly suggestive of the link between Zika virus and GBS incidence. The chances of suffering GBS due to a Zika infection are very rare and all victims of the French Polynesian colonies survived and recovered completely. There will be rising concerns in case of an epidemic.