EBOLA OUTBREAK: Sierra Leone Begins Treating Ebola Patients With Survivors' Plasma

Ebola survivor giving blood

The first donations of plasma from survivors of the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone are being used to treat Ebola patients at the 34 Military Hospital in Freetown, following a lengthy approval process.

Dr. Calum Semple is the lead researcher from the University of Liverpool, which is backing the trial. He said that transfusions of convalescent serum from survivors have been shown to boost the immunity of patients infected with Ebola, giving the body a boost that enables it to better fight the disease. The method was first used during a 1976 Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and has since been used on Ebola patients in the U.S., Europe and West Africa, including at Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)'s Donka treatment centre in Guinea.

Ebola Deeeply website reports:

"This is good news,” said Semple. “It has been incredibly frustrating waiting this long for a test of our work, but now I am relieved that we are using it because I believe it works."

Semple expressed his appreciation to the Ebola survivors, whom he described as very brave to donate their serum for the study.

"Other drugs being tested on Ebola-infected persons are expensive, but this is an African study that is very cheap and sustainable for any possible outbreak," he said.

Sierra Leone is still recording dozens of Ebola cases each month. According to the most recent data update by the World Health Organization (WHO), there were four new cases in Sierra Leone in the week leading up to July 19. Three new cases have been recorded since then, the country's Ministry of Health said.

Dr. Sahr Moses Ngevao, the chief investigator of the Ebola convalescent plasma study at the Ministry of Health, described it as a breakthrough in local research.

"This really works. It’s a Sierra Leonean innovation; a local solution to a local problem that must be celebrated," he said.

Yusuf Kabba is president of the Sierra Leone Association of Ebola Survivors, and one of the serum donors. He said he hopes the trial will encourage patients to seek treatment.

"This is good news," Kabba said. "We appreciate this work, which we believe will save many lives if its use is not further delayed." He is urging more survivors to come forward and support the research through serum donations.