Many Ebola Survivors Experience Long-Term Risks, Complications, Researchers Report

The Guardian: Ebola survivors face long-term neurological problems, researchers find
“Ebola survivors are continuing to suffer from neurological problems more than six months after infection, according to the early results of a new study. The findings from research undertaken by U.S. neurologists in Liberia appear to confirm suspicions that there are serious long-term effects of Ebola virus disease. They have been made public days after Pauline Cafferkey, the nurse who contracted Ebola while working as a volunteer in Sierra Leone, was admitted for the third time to the infectious diseases unit of the Royal Free Hospital…” (Boseley, 2/25).

Science: New reports highlight long-term risks from Ebola infection, limits of ZMapp
“…At a meeting in Boston [Tuesday], researchers presented new evidence that the Ebola epidemic in West Africa has had long-term effects on many survivors, including joint pain, neurological problems, and eye damage. They also found that many men harbor RNA from the virus in their semen after they recover and for far longer than imagined — which suggests that fresh outbreaks caused by sexual transmission are still a threat — and that many people may well have had Ebola without realizing it. Scientists also presented disappointing results from a clinical trial of what was once considered the most promising Ebola treatment: an antibody cocktail called ZMapp. The study, started late in the epidemic, enrolled far fewer people than researchers had planned, and it failed to provide statistically significant results…” (Cohen, 2/24).

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