Blood transfusion called priority Ebola therapy

nature Data scarce on treatment effectiveness, but experts say it could be tested on large scale. DOMINIQUE FAGET/AFP/Getty Images About 1,850 people have died in the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Treating Ebola patients with blood or purified serum of disease survivors should be a priority in the fight against the outbreak in West Africa, an expert panel organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) said on 5 September. The recommendation came at the end of a two-day meeting to determine which experimental Ebola therapies and vaccines should be prioritised for accelerated clinical development. The WHO estimates that roughly 3,700 people have been infected in West Africa, and about 1,850 have died. Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO assistant director-general for health systems and innovation, told reporters that the transfusion of whole blood or purified serum from Ebola survivors was the therapy with the greatest potential to be implemented immediately on a large scale in West Africa — in part because the outbreak’s size means there are many potential donors available. The idea is to transfer antibodies against Ebola from survivors to sufferers, but there is little information on the efficacy of such transfusions. more Fear of Ebola Drives Mob to Kill Officials in Guinea The bodies of eight officials and journalists who went to a remote village in Guinea to dispel rumors about the deadly Ebola outbreakgripping the region were discovered after a rock-hurling mob attacked the delegation, claiming that it had come to spread the illness, a government spokesman said Thursday. The delegation had left for the village on Tuesday for what was supposed to be a community event to raise awareness about the Ebola virus, said the spokesman, Albert Camara Damantang. When the angry crowd descended on them, he said, several officials managed to escape and alert their colleagues in Conakry, Guinea’s capital, who sent out a search party. “They went on a mission to try to sensitize the local population about Ebola, but unfortunately they were met with hostility by people throwing rocks,” Mr. Damantang said. In the delegation was a sub-prefect, a regional health director and a pastor “who came to offer solace, as well as several journalists from communal radio stations,” Mr. Damantang said. “Among the only survivors we found of those who tried to hide in the bush was the 5-year-old son of the sub-prefect, who was left hiding in the wild. More Black market in blood of Ebola survivors to treat victims, doctors report World Health Organisation warning comes as President Obama prepares to step up US efforts to tackle deadly virus A black market in the sale of the blood of survivors of the Ebola virus – which can be used to treat victims – has emerged in the West African nations at the heart of the current outbreak, the World Health Organisation has said. While convalescent serum has proved successful in helping sufferers, the United Nations health agency said it was concerned about the illicit trade because blood may not have been screened for other diseases, such as HIV. more NATURE | NEWS Sharing Ebola drug trials set to begin amid crisis Testing drugs in the middle of deadly disease outbreak is challenging but can be done William Pooley, a nurse from the United Kingdom who caught Ebola while treating patients in Sierra Leone, is the latest person in the current outbreak to receive the experimental drug ZMapp. Yet there is still no evidence that the drug, or any of the other treatments under development for Ebola, are safe or effective in people. To change this state of affairs, the World Health Organization (WHO) is this week convening a major meeting to prioritize the most promising experimental Ebola drugs and vaccines, and to discuss how clinical studies can best be carried out in the chaotic environment of a deadly disease epidemic. more ZMapp Macaques Ebola virus mutating rapidly as it spreads Outbreak likely originated with a single animal-to-human transmission. Back to the beginning By comparing their data to the Guinean sequence data, Goba's team confirmed that Ebola was probably imported to Sierra Leone by 12 people who attended the funeral in Guinea, and that the West African outbreak originated in a single event in which the virus passed from an animal into a person. Further comparisons suggest that the virus that caused the outbreak separated from those that caused past Ebola outbreaks about 10 years ago. It had accumulated more than 395 mutations between that time and June, when the researchers collected the last samples included in today's analysis. The virus amassed 50 mutations during its first month, the researchers found. They say there is no sign that any of these mutations have contributed to the unprecedented size of the outbreak by changing the characteristics of the Ebola virus — for instance, its ability to spread from person to person or to kill infected patients. But others are eager to examine these questions. And such risks rise as the virus continues to spread. “The longer we allow the outbreak to continue, the greater the opportunity the virus has to mutate, and it’s possible that it will mutate into a form that would be an even greater threat than it is right now,” says Charles Chiu, an infectious-disease physician at the University of California, San Francisco. more Many in West Africa May Be Immune to Ebola Virus The Ebola virus.CreditCenter for Disease Control Although few medical experts realize it, part of the population in West Africa is immune to the Ebola virus, according to virologists who specialize in the disease. Assuming they are correct, and if those people can be identified, they could be a great help in fighting the outbreak. Immune persons could safely tend the sick and bury the dead just as smallpox survivors did in the centuries before smallpox vaccine. Also, antibodies could be harvested from their blood to treat new Ebola victims. But many factors remain unclear, including which Africans have antibodies and how much antibody is needed to be protective. The biggest mystery is how the immunity arose, and there is a mix of explanations, like silent infections and fruit contaminated with bat saliva. “It’s fair to say that some people are immune,” said Robert F. Garry Jr., a Tulane University expert in hemorrhagic fevers who works in Sierra Leone. “But we don’t know if it’s 1 percent or 2 percent or 20 percent.” more