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.
Thank you. That is more in line with the sort of information I’m trying to get my mind around. It’s a multi-faceted approach: drugs, transfusions, protocols. The one standout in the media seems to keep coming back as plasma donation and I don’t get a clear picture of other attempts. The experimental drug was a big deal, yes? But we don’t hear much about its interaction in these subsequent cases.