But that’s just it: how are these folks recovering with 100% (so far) recovery rates? They catch it early and treat with plasma donations. They even do this in West Africa.
I get that by the time you’re dissolving it’s too late.
Duncan wasn’t given plasma because there was no compatible source, AND he was pretty far gone. Does the point remain that having antibodies in great supply and early on makes for the most successful rate of survival?
Ultimately your body has to produce its own antibodies. There are lots of survivors who got essentially no treatment. They survived by an immune response even while Ebola attacked their immune system.
1.The fact that they do this in West Africa (death rates 70-90%) should give you a sense of the desperation to do something, anything including catch malaria and HIV.
2. The peak viral load is about day 8 (fever, malaise). The meltdown is the result of a runaway inflammatory response by the body in its futile attempt to kill the virus (hemorrhage, vomiting, diarrhea). Now shedding all the virions made back on day 8.
3. We won't know about our success rate until there are more cases. A study where n=4 is unlikely to be significant.
5. We may end up with better outcomes because of better care and more aggressive use of anti-inflammatories so the patient has time to mount the CD-8 T-cell immune response.