Study: Young people more likely to survive Ebola

A new study gives fresh knowledge about who survives Ebola and why. The report by 47 health workers treating patients in Sierra Leone in West Africa is the most detailed description yet of the medical aspects of the current epidemic.

It reveals that young people are much less likely to perish, fever is the most common symptom when victims first seek care, and early help is crucial.

Ebola victims who were under age 21 were almost twice as likely to survive as those who were over 45.

The report was published online by the New England Journal of Medicine. Seven of the 47 authors died during the study, six of them from Ebola.