3 ms·
Right now, the lethality of this outbreak of Ebola is around 60%, so an infection is definitely not certain death, particularly with the supportive care possibl
by sparkman55 12y ago
Right now, the lethality of this outbreak of Ebola is around 60%, so an infection is definitely not certain death, particularly with the supportive care possible in the U.S.'s best hospitals.
When you've already dedicated yourself by traveling across the world to help people fight a highly-contagious disease, it makes sense that you'd be first in line to test a serum (which, while experimental, uses a method that has had great success in the past).
- puzzlingcaptcha 12y agoI'll just mention that although many mAbs have been tremendously successful in controlling various diseases (and being a staple of many lymphoma treatments used currently) there are indeed very good reasons for caution, see e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TGN1412#Clinical_trials http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TGN1412#Clinical_trials In this case this was a phase I trial. For those unfamiliar with trial design, phase I is not meant to assess the efficacy of the drug but just its safety in humans. It was provided at 1/500th of the maximum safe dose determined in macaques.