When the Ebola outbreak began in December 2013 in Guinea, it was not immediately recognized until March. After nearly one year, the death toll has reached more than 7,500 deaths from nearly 20,000 infections in the three most ravaged countries namely, Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
However, just recently the World Health Organization has reported an increase in the survival rate of Ebola patients to 70%.
In a press release by the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday, Dr. Kathryn Jacobsen of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia and other doctors reported that 581 patients were taken to a new Ebola treatment center in Sierra Leone in September.
Supportive care was the key to the increase in survival rate of Ebola-stricken patients. Also, they were given treatment like antibiotics, malaria medicines, pain relievers, intravenous fluids and nutrients, anti-nausea medicines and rehydration fluids.
Based on their data, about 31% of the patients have died which include 38 who were already dead when they arrived at the center. This caused the alarming reports last month that Ebola death rate in Sierra Leone was on the rise.
In May and June this year, the death rate reported in the country was 74%, most of which include health care workers. The results of continuous research show that medical care of the patients has improved survivability.
Meanwhile, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director, Dr. Thomas Frieden, has been visiting the Ebola-ravaged countries and said that there has been a big difference since his first visit months ago.
However, there is still no definite medicine or vaccine to battle the Ebola virus. In the report, some companies are already been working on experimental vaccines which were initially tested on human subjects. Doctors have already initiated the use of the blood of Ebola survivors to treat those who are suffering from the disease in West Africa.