Currently, there are no approved drugs that could help medical teams fighting for lives during the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but there is hope that the situation could change within a few months, as the first patients have been enrolled in treatment trials, reports UNN citing The Guardian.
According to scientists, this is a record pace for organizing and launching this kind of research: patients were enrolled in studies just six weeks after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on May 17.
As of July 9, 1,792 confirmed cases and 625 deaths have been reported caused by the Bundibugyo virus strain, for which there is no vaccine or approved treatment. According to the WHO, it is still in the "expansion phase."
The pandemic response is based on basic methods of case detection, isolating patients to provide medical care, as well as tracking and monitoring people they have been in contact with.
Recent data show that about 75% of known contacts are being tracked, but low trust in authorities and high population mobility hinder these efforts. Additionally, some frontline workers stopped working this week to protest low wages.
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Hopes for a turning point are now pinned on scientists searching for effective drugs.
Clinical trials of the Partners drug have begun, using two drugs — remdesivir and MBP134. Patients will be randomly assigned to two groups: one will receive one of the drugs, another will receive a combination of the two, and a third will receive only standard supportive therapy.
Remdesivir is an antiviral drug developed by the pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, and MBP134 is a monoclonal antibody developed by Mapp Biopharmaceutical, containing two specially designed immune proteins that recognize and neutralize the virus.
Both drugs are administered intravenously — MBP134 as a single infusion, and remdesivir as a 10-day course of intravenous therapy.
"These two drugs have indeed proven effective against the Bundibugyo virus in animal experiments," said Professor Laurens Liesenborghs from the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, who is working on the study in Ituri.
"They have shown high efficacy, but now we need to test them in humans. Mostly, we want to find out if they can actually reduce mortality."
The Bundibugyo fever outbreak typically has a lower mortality rate than the Zaire strain of Ebola, which caused most previous outbreaks, but still kills approximately one in three infected individuals.
WHO officials said that Gilead and the U.S. government have provided sufficient quantities of remdesivir and MBP134, respectively, for the participation of 1,200 patients. The WHO is negotiating to secure adequate supplies after the trial if they prove safe and effective, the statement said.
Patients of any age, including pregnant and breastfeeding women, who are often excluded from medical research, can enroll in the trial.
Another trial is expected to begin this week, which will examine whether administering a drug called obeldesivir to people who have been in contact with Bundibugyo patients can stop the disease from developing.
The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that about $18 million is needed to conduct the trial, of which $6 million has been allocated so far.
Ebola virus has already caused hundreds of suspected deaths in Africa - WHO22.05.26, 14:57