WHO hopes for more Ebola drug doses, vaccine progress by end of year

[riky]

WHO hopes for more Ebola drug doses, vaccine progress by end of year

By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - World Health Organization experts fighting the world's worst outbreak of Ebola hope for improved supplies of experimental treatments and progress with a vaccine by the end of the year. After ruling on Tuesday that it is ethical to offer unproven Ebola drugs to people infected or at risk in West Africa, the challenge is to secure enough doses to make a difference in an outbreak that has already claimed more than 1,000 lives. An experimental drug called ZMapp from U.S. firm Mapp Biopharmaceutical appears to have had "a dramatic and very rapid effect" in the case of two U.S. doctors, WHO assistant director-general Marie-Paule Kieny told reporters. One of the deadliest diseases known to man, Ebola kills the vast majority of those infected.

Source: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login