The current evidence base: limited data – from 1976 up to now

Convalescent therapy was first used for a young woman infected with Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (then Zaire) in 1976 – the year the virus first emerged. The woman was treated with plasma from a person who survived infection with the closely-related Marburg virus. She had less clinical bleeding than other Ebola patients, but died within days.

During the 1995 Ebola outbreak in Kikwit, Democratic Republic of Congo, whole blood collected from recovered patients was administered to eight patients. Seven of the eight recovered.

 

Technical guidance for experts

Guidance document: Use of convalescent whole blood or plasma collected from patients recovered from Ebola virus disease

WHO issued new interim guidance on “Use of convalescent whole blood or plasma collected from patients recovered from Ebola virus disease for transfusion during outbreaks”. The document is addressed to national health authorities and blood transfusion services.

Read the full article

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/ebola/26-september-2014/en/

Convalescent blood and plasma therapies

• Experimental therapies: growing interest in the use of whole blood or plasma from recovered Ebola patients (convalescent therapies)
  26 September 2014
• WHO interim guidelines on use of convalescent whole blood and convalescent plasma
  10 September 2014

Potential vaccines, medicines and other health technologies

• WHO Meeting of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee on Ebola Experimental Interventions
  13 November 2014- Briefing note
• African regulators’ meeting looking to expedite approval of vaccines and therapies for Ebola
  3 – 7 November, Pretoria, South Africa
• WHO convenes industry leaders and key partners to discuss trials and production of Ebola vaccine
  24 October 2014. News release
• Invitation to manufacturers of in vitro diagnostics for Ebola
  pdf, 169kb
  Revised version issued 2 October 2014
• Target product profile for Zaïre ebolavirus: rapid, simple test to be used in the control of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa
  pdf, 162kb
  3 October 2014
• Experimental Ebola vaccines
  Ebola situation assessment – 1 October 2014
• WHO consultation on Ebola vaccines
  29-30 September 2014, Geneva, Switzerland
• WHO Consultation on potential Ebola therapies and vaccines
  Meeting summary from 4-5 September Meeting
• Consultation on potential Ebola therapies and vaccines
  4-5 September 2014
• Ethical considerations for use of unregistered interventions for Ebola virus disease
  Report of an advisory panel to WHO, 17 August 2014
• Panel discussion on ethical considerations for use of unregistered interventions for Ebola virus disease
  8 August 2014
• WHO to convene ethical review of experimental treatment for Ebola
  6 August 2014

Medicines, medical devices and protective equipment

• Medical devices and protective equipment
• List of essential supportive medicines for Ebola
  pdf, 61kb
• Donation guidelines

Ethics working group on Ebola

• Meeting of the Ethics Working Group on Ebola Interventions
  20 – 21 October 2014, Geneva, Switzerland

Source

http://www.who.int/medicines/emp_ebola_section/en/

Science 17 October 2014:
Vol. 346 no. 6207 pp. 289-290
DOI: 10.1126/science.346.6207.289

Read the Full Text: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/346/6207/289.full

Paris, 15 octobre 2014

Alors qu’une épidémie d’Ebola fait rage depuis mars 2014 en Afrique de l’Ouest, un foyer de cette fièvre hémorragique est apparu en République démocratique du Congo (RDC) au mois d’août dernier, laissant craindre une propagation du virus en Afrique centrale. Une étude associant l’IRD, l’Institut Pasteur, le CNRS, le CIRMF au Gabon, l’INRB en RDC et l’OMS, publiée dans la revue New England Journal of Medicine le 16 octobre 2014, confirme qu’il s’agit d’une épidémie d’Ebola. Mais celle-ci est due à une souche locale du virus, différente de celle qui sévit à l’Ouest du continent. Si ce résultat montre que les deux épidémies ne sont pas liées, il illustre l’accélération de l’émergence de la maladie, dont il devient urgent de comprendre les modalités de propagation.

Key facts

Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans.

The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission.

The average EVD case fatality rate is around 50%. Case fatality rates have varied from 25% to 90% in past outbreaks.

The first EVD outbreaks occurred in remote villages in Central Africa, near tropical rainforests, but the most recent outbreak in west Africa has involved major urban as well as rural areas.

Community engagement is key to successfully controlling outbreaks. Good outbreak control relies on applying a package of interventions, namely case management, surveillance and contact tracing, a good laboratory service, safe burials and social mobilisation.

Early supportive care with rehydration, symptomatic treatment improves survival. There is as yet no licensed treatment proven to neutralise the virus but a range of blood, immunological and drug therapies are under development.

There are currently no licensed Ebola vaccines but 2 potential candidates are undergoing evaluation.

Full article: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/