the World Health Organization
(WHO) is considering a potential
Ebola treatment that involves
using the blood of people who
have recovered from an infection
to treat those still fighting the
virus.
As a strong signal that the 'blood
transfusion' approach is being
seriously considered, a statement
from WHO sent to the magazine
Science stated: "Convalescent
serum is high on our list of
potential therapies and has been
used in other outbreaks (eg in
China during SARS). here is a long
history of its use, so lots of
experience of what needs to be
done, what norms and standards
need to be met."
Apparently the use of the blood of
survivors has been tried before in
1976, when the first outbreaks of
Ebola virus were recorded. The
results of serum injections are not
clear-cut and there is no certainty
that these forms of blood
transfusions would work.
Convalescent serum (serum
obtained from one who has
recovered from an infectious
disease and considered to be
especially rich in antibodies
against the infectious agent of the
disease) was last tried in 1995 in
an Ebola outbreak in Kikwit in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo.
WHO are considering various
methods to tackle Ebola. in August
an ethics committee at WHO
declared it was ethical under the
special circumstance to use
unapproved Ebola treatments such
as ZMapp. However, while some
experimental drugs show promise,
pharmaceutical companies cannot,
at present, readily produce the
medications in large supplies.
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