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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I noticed that in some people the Ebola virus seems to cause a more progressive and violent disease compared to others. They were showing a video of Nurse Pham this morning and she looked okay (was able to talk, wave etc.). I read that the other nurse is very ill. While critically stable, it seems that the disease is progressing faster in her. I wonder what makes Ebola progress faster in some people vs. others. The doctor and his missionary assistant who were treated at Emory also seemed to have a 'milder' version of the disease while Thomas Duncan succumbed to Ebola in a terrible way within one week of being admitted to the hospital.[/quote]

Doctors have long said they don't know who will recover and who will succumb. They've known that different people respond very differently to the virus.[/quote]

Agreed.  I think it's the same as any disease. Some people have good immune systems and can fight off things better, some people have undiagnosed issues that make it harder for them to fight it, some don't have as healthy as a system as others (asthma, drinker, smoker, etc) which likely causes the virus to be able to take over more than someone who was in picture perfect health. [/quote]

I think overall health has a lot to do with it, but also it really seems early diagnosis and treatment make a difference - it looks like the earlier it's caught, the better chance you have. Or maybe some people's bodies are just better equipped for this particular virus - so one healthy person has a better chance of surviving than another. I mean, if you look at West Africa, where people do not get any much treatment at this point, the death rate is still not 100% but 70% which means a little under 1/3 of those infected manage to fight it off with no medical assistance at all. Maybe they should study how and why this happens as a way to find a cure.[/quote]

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