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There are currently no effective treatments for Ebola, but blood plasma from people who have survived Ebola may be one potential treatment: this component of blood may contain antibodies that likely helped survivors successfully fight off the disease.

Health care worker wearing PPE

There are currently no effective treatments for Ebola, but blood plasma from people who have survived Ebola may be one potential treatment: this component of blood may contain antibodies that likely helped survivors successfully fight off the disease.

During the 2015 Ebola outbreak in West Africa researchers carried out the largest ever trial of convalescent plasma for the treatment of Ebola.  They found that such treatment during an Ebola virus disease outbreak is feasible and safe to use, and acceptable to donors, patients and health workers.

The study was conducted at the Donka Ebola Treatment Centre in Guinea, run by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and carried out by a consortium led by Professor Johan van Griensven from the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp that includes Professor Peter Horby from the Epidemic diseases Research Group (ERGO) at the University of Oxford.

The full story is available on the University of Oxford website