Ebola now curable after trials of drugs in DRC, say scientists

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: The Guardian

Ebola can no longer be called an incurable disease, scientists have said, after two of four drugs being trialled in the major outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were found to have significantly reduced the death rate.

ZMapp, used during the massive Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, has been dropped along with Remdesivir after two monoclonal antibodies, which block the virus, had substantially more effect, said the World Health Organization and the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which was a co-sponsor of the trial.

The trial in the DRC, which started in November, has now been stopped. All Ebola treatment units will now use the two monoclonal antibody drugs.
...
But the results in people who arrived at a treatment centre soon after they became sick, rather than staying at home, were even more impressive – with death rates of 24% on ZMapp, 33% with Remdesivir, 11% with 114 and just 6% with Regeneron’s drug.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/12/ebola-now-curable-after-trials-of-drugs-in-drc-say-scientists

[meow2u3]

1. Question is, is there an Ebola vaccine yet?

That would be a real breakthrough if they came up with a vaccine to prevent Ebola as well as this new cure. It'd be cheaper to inoculate against the killer disease than to cure it, since the drugs would end up costing patients a fortune.

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. There are 2 significant vaccines, 1 being used in DRC, but you can't always persuade people

A debate is raging over proposals that a second vaccine be introduced to fight Ebola in Democratic Republic of Congo, currently in the grip of its worst outbreak.

The DR Congo Health Minister, Dr Oly Ilunga, who resigned after being stripped of management of the country's Ebola response, said the current vaccine is the only one that has been proven to be effective, and an opposition MP said the new vaccine is untested, and fears people in the country will be used as guinea pigs.
...
World Health Organization (WHO) data shows the Merck vaccine has a 97.5% efficacy rate for those who are immunised, compared to those who are not.
...
So, we're in a similar place with the new vaccine as we were in 2015 with the current one - there's substantial evidence that it's safe and that it could be effective, but it hasn't been tested in an outbreak, and hasn't been licensed.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-49164066

The problem is the rate the vaccines can be produced at - as the article says, there are 10 million people in the area, half a million doses of the more-widely tested vaccine, and a million and a half of the newer one.

And there's been mistrust of the vaccination process by the population. But when someone's got ill, they're willing to take pretty much any treatment, which is the advantage of this new development.

[meow2u3]

4. Anti-vaxers are at it again

Getting life-saving shots shouldn't be controversial, but anti-vax propaganda seems to have infected the entire world.

[backtoblue]

3. Great news!

Ebola is a nightmare virus.