WHO: Use Ebola survivors’ blood for treatment, 2 promising vaccines found

As reported in 'The Japan News' : Photo 'Open Source' WHO: Use Ebola survivors’ blood for treatment, 2 promising vaccines found The Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Desperate to restore hope amid the Ebola crisis, the World Health Organization said Friday it would accelerate the use of experimental treatments and vaccines to contain the expanding epidemic in West Africa. After convening a two-day meeting of more than 200 experts to figure out which experimental Ebola treatments should be used first, the WHO said survivor’s blood could be used immediately, tapping into the thousands of people who have survived the virus which has about a 50 percent death rate and no licensed treatments. “We have to change the sense that there is no hope,” Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, a WHO assistant director general, said during a press conference in Geneva on Friday. The evidence for whether blood from survivors can help Ebola patients is mixed. Kieny said the expert panel also identified two promising Ebola vaccines and that early results from safety tests — which have started in the United States — would be available in November. If promising, Kieny said production could then be ramped up and health workers in West Africa could be given the vaccine to test its effectiveness.