The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday blood-derived products and serum from survivors may be used to treat Ebola virus immediately and two vaccines could be available for health workers by year-end.
Existing supplies of all experimental medicines are limited and will not be sufficient for months to come, while the outlook for vaccine supplies looks “slightly better”, the WHO said in a statement after two-day talks attended by nearly 200 experts.
But good clinical care, rigorous infection prevention and control measures, and the tracing of people who have been exposed remain crucial for ending an epidemic that has killed at least 2,097 in West Africa since March, the U.N. agency said.
“There is a real opportunity that blood-derived products can be used now. This can be very effective in terms of treating patients,” WHO assistant director-general Marie-Paule Kieny told a news conference in Geneva.
“With the negative point that we have so many patients, one positive point is there are also many people now who are convalescent, who survived and are doing well, These people can provide blood, serum to treat,” she told a news conference.
“What is available will be used in the field to treat real patients as soon as possible.”
Studies suggest that blood transfusions from Ebola survivors might prevent or treat Ebola virus infection in others, but it is not known whether antibodies in the plasma of survivors are sufficient, according to the United Nations health agency.
Two “promising” Ebola vaccines have also been identified after showing promising results in animals, and safety results from human clinical trials may be available from November, paving the way for their use, Kieny said.
