Ebola May Soon Be Preventable And Treatable: Drugs Show ‘90% Survival Rate’ In Breakthrough Trial

According to the BBC, four drugs were trialed on patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where there is a major outbreak of the Ebola virus.

More than 90% of infected people can survive if treated early with the most effective drugs, the research showed.

READ ALSO: 64-Year-Old Moslem Religious Leader Urges Men To Help Their Wives With House Chores.

The drugs will now be used to treat all patients with the disease in DR Congo, according to health officials.

Two people who had been cured of Ebola using the experimental drugs were released from a treatment centre in Goma, eastern DR Congo, and reunited with their families.

READ ALSO: Drop The Ego And Be Ready To Learn- Masai Ujiri Tells African Sports Administrators

The US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which co-sponsored the trial, said the results are “very good news” for the fight against Ebola.

The drugs, named REGN-EB3 and mAb114, work by attacking the Ebola virus with antibodies, neutralising its impact on human cells.

They are the “first drugs that, in a scientifically sound study, have clearly shown a significant diminution in mortality” for Ebola patients, said Dr Anthony Fauci, director of NIAID.

READ ALSO: Samira Bawumia Poised To Fight Sexual Abuse and Harmful Practices

The drug mAb114 was developed using antibodies harvested from survivors of Ebola while REGN-EB3 comes from antibodies generated within mice infected with the disease.

Two other treatments, called ZMapp and Remdesivir, have been dropped from trials as they were found to be less effective.

Ebola has killed more than 1,800 people in DR Congo in the past year.

Source: AfricaCelebrities.com