medical alert
WHO suggests using survivors' blood to treat Ebola
The World Health Organization has issued new recommendations, which state that doctors should use the blood of Ebola survivors to treat Ebola patients.
At a press conference Friday, WHO expert Dr. Marie Paule Kieny said that the antibodies in survivors' blood could help treat Ebola, and doctors should use all possible methods to stop Ebola's largest-ever outbreak.
The blood of survivors was one of the experimental Ebola treatments tested at a meeting of more than 200 experts in Geneva this week. The doctors noted that using the survivors' blood is "fairly simple" to do in comparison to other experimental treatments. In addition to the blood proposal, the WHO also announced that it is testing a potential new Ebola vaccine in the U.S.
The WHO estimated that survivor blood may be available for Ebola treatment by the end of the year. Ebola has infected more than 2,100 people so far, with a nearly 50 percent death rate.