Can Ebola cure with the survivor's blood?

Although medicine has not yet found a way to cure Ebola, experts believe that an abnormal treatment, using the blood of survivors can help fight the disease.

Shocking images of medical workers collecting dead bodies every day because the Ebola virus was discarded on West African streets showed that outbreaks are still under control. According to the latest statistics, more than 1,900 people have been killed since the Ebola outbreak broke out in West Africa in March this year.

More than 200 experts, at the invitation of the World Health Organization (WHO), held an emergency meeting in Geneva, Switzerland for 2 days to discuss ways to combat Ebola. Participants looked at which safety, efficacy and treatment issues should be prioritized to be tested first in today's most serious Ebola outbreak.

Around the world, there are about 5 to 6 drugs and vaccines to prevent and treat the Ebola virus being developed. None of these drugs has been approved for human use, but the United States has promoted early testing of a promising vaccine this week.

Much attention has been paid to ZMapp, a drug that has not been tested yet but has been allowed by WHO to treat 7 patients with Ebola virus infection. 2 of these patients died. The maker of Zmapp revealed that the supply of this experimental drug is now depleted and they even take months to produce a small amount of new medicine.

In contrast, the WHO blood management system, an international organization of blood coordinators across the globe, recently noted that thousands of people survived previous Ebola outbreaks. In Africa can provide weapons against dangerous diseases.

Health experts are relocating the body of a man who died of Ebola infection in the presence of crowds in Liberia's capital Monrovia.(Photo: AP)

The WHO organization claims that blood from survivors should be considered experimental and recommend studies should be conducted during an outbreak.

In another document released this week, WHO estimates that the first batch of blood donated by survivors may be available for use later this year. WHO said it identified many of the Ebola patients recovering as potential blood donors, but also acknowledged that 'the supply of collected blood is also a problem'.

Some scientists believe that the antibodies in the blood of survivors may be useful for other Ebola-infected patients. That's because antibodies produced by the immune system of the human body to fight off harmful substances, such as the Ebola virus, still exist in the blood, ready to deal with anything. any infection in the future, caused by the same pathogen.

According to experts, the blood of survivors can be treated for many patients or survivors who can donate blood to a certain patient. Both of these require blood screening to check for diseases such as HIV or malaria.

Dr. Peter Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a co-discoverer of the Ebola virus, said: 'This is a relatively simple thing to do. We need to find out if the Ebola patient's blood therapy survives effectively . I hope this is the last outbreak of Ebola that we all have to quarantine, quarantine and support. support for patients' treatment.

Although direct donation will be easier, but the level of Ebola anti-virus antibodies produced by a survivor in the blood, may change. Experts say, ideally, we can measure that antibody.

In West Africa there is no official attempt to use the blood of Ebola survivors to treat other patients. Last July, the blood of a 14-year-old boy who survived was tested for American doctor Kent Brantly, who was infected in Liberia. Mr. Brantly was also given Zmapp experimental medicine and cured, went to hospital in Atlanta, USA last month. It is unclear whether Zmapp or the surviving boy's blood supports his recovery.

Medicine has recorded many cases of using survivor's blood to cure previous illnesses, when doctors have run out of options. This approach seems to be most effective for toxins, such as anthrax and tetanus.

For the treatment of Ebola, according to Dr. Michael Kurilla, director of the hygiene department at the National Institutes of Health, we need to know how much blood is transmitted to the patient, for how long and for speed. How safe transmission is.'If we know the effect of serum, in theory, we can help the body remove the Ebola virus from the cells before it can cause too much harm , ' said Kurilla.