Pathfinder
Editor, Senior Moderator
Experimental Ebola drugs needed for 'up to 30,000 people'
By Ben Hirschler
LONDON Wed Aug 20, 2014 1:03pm EDT
(Reuters) - Up to 30,000 people could have used experimental treatments or vaccines so far in the world's worst outbreak of Ebola currently plaguing West Africa, British scientists said on Wednesday.
The calculation highlights the dilemma facing officials considering how to distribute the tiny quantities of unproven drugs that are likely to be available in the near term to fight the deadly disease.
...
Oliver Brady, an epidemiologist at the University of Oxford, and colleagues have been crunching the numbers and believe the number of people needing such treatment or protection is very large, even under a conservative scenario.
"This demand is likely to be higher than many people realize," Brady wrote in a commentary in the science journal Nature.
"Our analysis is crude and has very clear limitations. But it does demonstrate that for treatment and prevention interventions to be rolled out evenly and fairly, stocks must be scaled up substantially."
...
Full text:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/20/us-health-ebola-drugs-idUSKBN0GK1U220140820
By Ben Hirschler
LONDON Wed Aug 20, 2014 1:03pm EDT
(Reuters) - Up to 30,000 people could have used experimental treatments or vaccines so far in the world's worst outbreak of Ebola currently plaguing West Africa, British scientists said on Wednesday.
The calculation highlights the dilemma facing officials considering how to distribute the tiny quantities of unproven drugs that are likely to be available in the near term to fight the deadly disease.
...
Oliver Brady, an epidemiologist at the University of Oxford, and colleagues have been crunching the numbers and believe the number of people needing such treatment or protection is very large, even under a conservative scenario.
"This demand is likely to be higher than many people realize," Brady wrote in a commentary in the science journal Nature.
"Our analysis is crude and has very clear limitations. But it does demonstrate that for treatment and prevention interventions to be rolled out evenly and fairly, stocks must be scaled up substantially."
...
Full text:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/20/us-health-ebola-drugs-idUSKBN0GK1U220140820