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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| Ebola Serum For Africa Patients Within Weeks, Says WHO |
| 2014-10-23 |
| [BBC] Serum made from the blood of recovered Ebola patients could be available within weeks in Liberia, one of the countries worst hit by the virus, says the World Health Organization. Speaking in Geneva, Dr Marie Paule Kieny said work was also advancing quickly to get drugs and a vaccine ready for January 2015. The Ebola outbreak has already killed more than 4,500 people. Most of the deaths have been in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Dr Kieny, WHO assistant director general for health system and innovation, said: "There are partnerships which are starting to be put in place to have capacity in the three countries to safely extract plasma and make preparation that can be used for the treatment of infective patients. "The partnership which is moving the quickest will be in Liberia where we hope that in the coming weeks there will be facilities set up to collect the blood, treat the blood and be able to process it for use." It is still unclear how much will become available and whether it could meet demand. In other developments: Serum If a person has successfully fought off the infection, it means their body has learned how to combat the virus and they will have antibodies in their blood that can attack Ebola. Doctors can then take a sample of their blood and turn it into serum - by removing the red blood cells but keeping the important antibodies - which can be used to treat other patients. The Spanish nurse who became the first person to contract Ebola outside West Africa tested negative for the virus after reportedly receiving human serum containing antibodies from Ebola survivors. Dr Kieny said the treatment was not without risks, and WHO has already issued guidelines to ensure safety. Any donor blood will need to be screened for infections such a hepatitis and HIV, for example. Vaccines and drugs She said trials of two possible Ebola vaccines could produce initial results by the end of the year. The vaccines will be tested first to see if they are safe for humans, and if they can protect people from the Ebola virus. Once these questions have been answered, the WHO hopes to extend the trials to a much wider group of people and start giving it to Africa. "These trials will all start in the coming two weeks... and continue for six months to a year but to have initial results about safety and immunogenicity to have a choice of a dose level by the end of this year in December." Dr Kieny said there were a number of drugs being tested and developed in different countries. A partnership between Oxford University and the Wellcome Trust is now visiting sites in the three affected African countries to identify which treatment centres would be adequate and willing to start testing drugs soon, she said. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #12 I'm not sanguine about the use of serum. (Ducks) Seriously, belief in witchcraft is alive and well, and when people hear that the space-suit doctors want your blood too ... |
| Posted by: James 2014-10-23 23:39 |
| #11 She said trials of two possible Ebola vaccines could produce initial results by the end of the year. That's months not weeks, and I don't believe them in any case. Over promise and under deliver is the WHO MO. |
| Posted by: regular joe 2014-10-23 15:53 |
| #10 #5 If people are starving in Africa, they should move to France! Ebolans eat cake and not fufu? Michelle Antoinette would go cuckoo. "Though I nosh on brioche, For the peeps it's too posh." Lord Maw-Maw sez, "Let them eat tofu!" |
| Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 2014-10-23 15:35 |
| #9 MSF's ELWA3 Ebola field hospital in Monrovia, Liberia, largest built. Open since 21 Aug 2014. Aerial view 21 Oct 2014. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2014-10-23 11:51 |
| #8 I expect Ebola in the Hot Zone will start to diminish in intensity any week now, treatments & vaccine will be a bit late to the party. Ebola is also creating a large number of aymptomatic survivors, detectable only by seroconversion - which they may or may not be looking for in the Hot Zone. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2014-10-23 11:19 |
| #7 also think that all help from now on to any third world country anywhere in the world should come with the following strings attached: - govt to pay a baby bonus for first two children - govt to charge a child tax for any third or subsequent child. - after a man has had 2 children (not before), they get $2000 cash payment to get a vasectomy if they want one encourage people just to have 2 kids, round the world. THat way the crashing fish stocks and depleted arable land won't be a problem in future. Everyone still gets to procreate, and everyone is happy. |
| Posted by: anon1 2014-10-23 11:00 |
| #6 love how the WHO now say they've got serum the same organisation - $4.27 billion budget - that couldn't isolate a couple of villages in February Same organisation that stopped printing standardised new infection figures in august and hasn't resumed |
| Posted by: anon1 2014-10-23 10:56 |
| #5 If people are starving in Africa, they should move to France! /obscure? |
| Posted by: Raj 2014-10-23 10:53 |
| #4 They will just migrate to where there is more food, at least relatvely speaking - someplace like Iowa. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2014-10-23 10:48 |
| #3 It's about time they learn too increase the food supply. |
| Posted by: chris 2014-10-23 09:27 |
| #2 You increase the food supply. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2014-10-23 07:56 |
| #1 Nyt story said african population tripled in the last 4 decades. 300% increase You can cure all the diseases but then what do you do when the sheer number of people gets too much for the food supply?. |
| Posted by: Anon1 2014-10-23 05:23 |