Interesting
What if Lots of People Have Ebola-Proof Blood? �There is limited evidence from past outbreaks that suggests there probably are quite a few people who get exposed, who get infected, without ever developing symptoms and without ever developing illness but they develop immunity,� said Lauren Ancel Meyers, a professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at The University of Texas at Austin.
The best evidence of this happening with Ebola was a study done during a 1996 outbreak in Gabon, when researchers monitored 24 contacts of known Ebola patients who never became sick. Eleven of them had antibodies to Ebola.
�If this turns out to be true, there is widespread silent Ebola infection that is immunizing,� Meyers said. �We should really investigate it further.�
It�s not unheard of. Immunologists know that people can get exposed to a virus and never become ill. One study showed that people in Peru appeared to have survived rabies � a virus believed to be virtually 100 percent fatal. One in 10 people tested had antibodies to rabies but many couldn�t recall having gotten sick.
�Ultimately, knowing whether a large segment of the population in the afflicted regions are immune to Ebola could save lives,� said Steve Bellan, who worked with Meyers on the letter published in the Lancet medical Journal. �If we can reliably identify who they are, they could become people who help with disease-control tasks, and that would prevent exposing others who aren't immune."
Or their blood could be used to treat the ill, if that approach turns out to in fact help patients survive.
