When a major outbreak of a new disease occurs, the medical community begins scrambling to see what can be done about it. In some cases, they may end up calling the disease incurable and that was the case when a major outbreak of Ebola occurred in the Republic of Congo. The death rate was devastating but there is new news on the horizon that shows they may be able to reduce the death rate and they might even be considering Ebola to be a curable disease.
Studies have been done and two experimental Ebola treatments have been successfully administered. That is what is causing the scientists to know claim that Ebola is curable. The trial testing of the two drugs began after another large-scale outbreak of the disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The drugs, REGN-EB3 and mAb-114 were successfully administered so now they are going to be given to every patient in the Congo, according to the New York Times.
One scientist told the New York Times: “Now we can say that 90% can come out of treatment cured.” The drugs that were previously being used, remdesivir and ZMapp had a 33% success rate and 20 of the patients who took the medication died.
Since November, the new trials have been given to 700 patients. 6% of those who received REGN-EB3 and 11% of those who received mAb-114 died according to a report from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. The trials were being conducted by the World Health Organization and NIAID.
There is still some need for caution because the numbers may fluctuate but the overall outlook is positive. The trials have managed to save lives and it shows that Ebola is a disease that can be cured.
“From now on, we will no longer say that Ebola is incurable,” Profe Jean-Jacques Muyembe, the director-general of the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale in the Congo, told The Guardian. “These advances will help save thousands of lives.”
Source: A Plus