After convening a two-day
meeting of more than 200 experts to figure out which experimental Ebola
treatments should be used first, the WHO said survivor's blood could be
used immediately, tapping into the thousands of people who have survived
the virus which has about a 50 percent death rate and no licensed
treatments.
"We have to
change the sense that there is no hope," Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, a WHO
assistant director-general, said during a press conference in Geneva on
Friday.
The evidence for whether blood from survivors can help Ebola
patients is mixed.
Kieny said
the expert panel also identified two promising Ebola vaccines and that
early results from safety tests which have started in the U.S. would
be available in November.
If promising, Kieny said production could
then be ramped up and health workers in West Africa could be given the
vaccine to test its effectiveness.
"This
is absolutely unprecedented," Kieny said of the willingness of experts,
manufacturers and regulatory bodies to clear safety and bureaucratic
hurdles so quickly.
She said
there wasn't enough evidence on the drug ZMapp to know if it works but
that there are "encouraging signs." ZMapp has so far been used in seven
people, of whom two died. Kieny said the drug would be tested when more
supplies are available; its manufacturer said its supplies are
exhausted.
The Obama
administration has asked Congress for $58 million to help ramp up
production and testing of ZMapp and assist the development of two
vaccines.
Though Ebola
clinics in West Africa are understaffed and often lack basic supplies,
some said it is theoretically possible to offer the blood of survivors
now.
Experts believe the antibodies in the blood of people who have
survived Ebola might help other patients stave off the virus long enough
for their own immune systems to respond.
"Blood
transfusions are done in many African countries so this should really
not be a problem," said Oyewale Tomori, a professor of virology at
Redeemer's University in Nigeria, who participated in the meeting. He
noted that survivor's blood was first used to treat Ebola patients in a
1995 outbreak in rural conditions.
"Conceptually,
this makes sense," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, from Washington. "Can it
be pulled off? We don't know."
He said the blood from survivors would have to be screened for HIV, malaria and other diseases before being used as a treatment...........Continue Reading
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