Posted January 01, 2015 15:17:42
A British nurse diagnosed with Ebola is being treated with blood plasma from a survivor of the virus and an experimental antiviral drug.
Pauline Cafferkey, a health worker who returned from an Ebola treatment centre in Sierra Leone on Sunday, became the first person to be diagnosed with the deadly virus on British soil after complaining of a raised temperature.
"We have decided to treat her with two things, the first of which is convalescent plasma - that means a product taken from the blood of another patient who has recovered from Ebola," said Dr Michael Jacobs of London's Royal Free hospital.
The plasma, which would contain antibodies to help fight the disease, was selected from a Europe-wide pool, donated by survivors of the disease, Dr Jacobs said, declining to name the donor.
"The second thing we're giving her is an antiviral drug, it's an experimental antiviral drug," he said.
"She's very well aware it's an experimental treatment."
Dr Jacobs said no supplies were available of the drug ZMapp, which was used at the same hospital to help successfully treat a patient, William Pooley, who was diagnosed abroad and flown home for treatment earlier this year.
He declined to name the experimental drug being used on Ms Cafferkey but said it had previously been used to treat Ebola patients as well as other illnesses.
Dr Jacobs said that although Ms Cafferkey was feeling ill, she was as well as could be hoped for at such an early stage.
But he stressed the unpredictable nature of Ebola and said the hospital would expect to have a clearer idea of her progress in a week's time.
He said Ms Cafferkey was sitting up, reading and eating a little and had been visited by her family, who communicated with her via an intercom.
Ebola cases top 20,000 for 2014
The World Health Organisation said the death toll from the outbreak, which has been mostly confined to West Africa, has risen to 7,905 following 317 fatalities recorded in the last week of December.
The number of known cases, including fatalities, totalled 20,206 at year's end, it said.
Ebola broke out a year ago when a two-year-old boy died in southern Guinea on December 28, 2013, but the so-called index case only came to light in March by which time the disease had spread widely.
Nine countries have now reported cases of Ebola.
Sierra Leone accounted for 337 of 476 new laboratory-confirmed cases, including 149 in Freetown, the highest incidence in the capital in four weeks.
However, the number of cases in Sierra Leone over a three-week period has fallen below 1,000 for the first time since September 28, suggesting the spread of the disease is slowing.
In neighbouring Guinea, the three-week total rose for a second week to 346, suggesting the epidemic is growing there.
Meanwhile in Liberia, a curfew imposed to curb the spread of Ebola was lifted so people could attend New Year's Eve church services.
The midnight-6:00am curfew was declared on August 6 following the outbreak that has so far killed 3,400 people in Liberia.
Justice minister Benedict F Sannoh said the curfew would be reimposed the following night and anyone caught outside would be arrested.
ABC/wires
Topics: ebola, united-kingdom, liberia, sierra-leone