Ebola survivors’ blood sold on black market
SEIRRA LEONE — As hospitals in nations hardest hit by Ebola struggle to keep up, desperate patients are turning to the black market to buy blood from survivors of the virus, the World Health Organization warned.
The deadliest Ebola
outbreak in history has killed at least 2,400 people in Guinea, Liberia
and Sierra Leone — the countries most affected by the virus.
Thousands more are infected, and new cases have emerged in Nigeria and Senegal.
Blood from survivors,
referred to as convalescent serum, is said to have antibodies that can
fight the deadly virus. Though unproven, it has provided some promise in
fighting a disease with no approved drug to treat it.
“Studies suggest blood
transfusions from survivors might prevent or treat Ebola virus infection
in others, but the results of the studies are still difficult to
interpret,” the WHO said.
“It is not known whether
antibodies in the plasma of survivors are sufficient to treat or prevent
the disease. More research is needed.”
Convalescent serum has
been used to treat patients, including American aid worker Rick Sacra,
who is hospitalized in Omaha, Nebraska. He got blood from Kent Brantly, a
fellow American who survived Ebola. Both got infected when they were
helping patients in Liberia.
Illicit trade
But unlike their
situation, patients in affected nations are getting blood through
improper channels. The illicit trade can lead to the spread of other
infections, including HIV and other blood-related ailments.
“We need to work very
closely with the affected countries to stem out black market trading of
convalescent serum for two reasons,” Margaret Chan, the WHO’s
director-general, said this week.
“Because it is in the
interest of individuals not to just get convalescent serum without …
going through the proper standardand the proper testing because it is
important that there may be other infectious vectors that we need to
look at.”
‘Just sitting, waiting to die’
Heath experts have declared the disease a global emergency and criticized the international community for a lax response.
President Barack Obama
on Tuesday announced the United States will send troops, material to
build field hospitals, additional health care workers and community care
kits to affected nations. The United States will also create a facility
to help train thousands of health care workers to identify and care for
Ebola patients.
“Men and women and children are just sitting, waiting to die right now,” Obama said.
Hospitals in affected
nations are overwhelmed, and the WHO has described the outbreak as a
“dire emergency with … unprecedented dimensions” of human suffering.
“If the outbreak is not
stopped now, we could be looking at hundreds of thousands of people
infected with profound political and economic and security implications
for all of us,” Obama said.
Could the virus mutate?
There is also a concern that the virus could mutate into an even more dangerous form.
Ebola currently
transmits only though contact with bodily fluids; a mutation that allows
the virus to spread through the air would pose a catastrophic threat to
people worldwide, experts say.
Another aid worker infected
Meanwhile, a French
volunteer with Doctors Without Borders contracted Ebola in Liberia and
will be taken to France for further treatment, the group said Thursday.
A private American plane
will be used for the evacuation, according to the organization, which
is known by its French acronym, MSF.http://q13fox.com/2014/09/18/ebola-survivors-blood-sold-on-black-market/
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