Ebola’s Mystery: One Boy Lives, Another Dies

Medical discussion of why some children suvive Ebola and others do not

NEW YORK TIMES                                   Nov. 10, 2014
By Sheri Fink, MD

... Over and over, doctors here have been confounded by the divergent paths of patients whose cases appeared similar at first. “No matter how long we were there, we didn’t know how to predict it,” said Dr. Steve Whiteley, a California emergency physician who volunteered.

 

George Beyan was cleared of Ebola after treatment at a center in Suakoko, Liberia, but stayed behind to tend his son Williams. Credit Daniel Berehulak for The New York Times

They say they have been especially baffled by what Dr. Whiteley called the “light bulb” phenomenon — a patient who appeared to get better, then suddenly died. Wondering why the boys had different outcomes, the physicians asked: Were the children battling different levels of the virus early on? Did one start out healthier? Could their genes or immune systems have helped determine their fate? And what could health workers do to improve children’s chances?

The answers are hard to come by. In the absence of much lab testing and research, the disease seems heartbreakingly random.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/10/world/africa/the-capricious-hand-of-ebola-one-boy-survives-as-others-die.html?_r=0