Ebola can be cured with a pill, an experiment show on monkeys
According to a new study, an experiment on monkeys has shown that Ebola can be cured with just one tablet.
Scientists are trying to develop a more practical and inexpensive remedies for Ebola. According to a new study, an experiment on monkeys has shown that Ebola can be cured with just one tablet.
The first was discovered in 1976, Ebola, a deadly viral disease, believed that he has crossed from bats to humans. The disease spreads in contact with body fluids, causing severe bleeding and organ failure.
Since most of the Ebola outbreaks occur in sub-city Africa, most pharmaceutical companies lack financial incentives to produce more treatment options for people there. In addition, given the sporadic nature of the virus, clinical trials have been difficult.
In 2019, a vaccine was only widely approved. While two antibody treatments can help, they are expensive, need cold storage, and it is difficult to use in some of the world’s most poorest areas.
“We are really trying to come up with something that was more practical, easy to use, used to help Thomas Gisbert, a virologist at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, to help, control and prevent outbreaks, who led the new study published in Science Advance, reported the news agency AFP.
About all experimental pills
For the experiment, Gisbert and his colleagues tested the antiviral obeldicivir, which is the oral form of the intravenous rimedesivir, which was originally developed for Kovid -19.
Obeldesivir is a polymerase inhibitor, which means that it is an enzyme important for viral replication.
Researchers infected two types of monkeys, reesus and synomolgus Macak with a high dose of the Ebola virus (Makona variant).
A day later, ten monkeys were given a daily Obeldicivir bullet for ten days, while three others had no treatment and died.
The drug worked well, protecting 80% of Cynomolgus Macaques and all of Rhesus macax, which are similar to humans.
Obeldesivir not only removed the virus from monkeys’ blood, but also helped their immune systems to form antibodies and prevent organ damage.
Gisbert said that although the study included some monkeys, it was still scientifically strong. The monkeys were conveyed to an extremely high dose of the virus – 30,000 times the deadly dose for humans – so low control monkeys were required, killing unnecessary animals.
Current Ebola Remedies Challenges
Gisbert, who has studied Ebola since the 1980s, said an exciting feature of Obeldicivir, unlike existing antibody remedies, has the ability to protect from many types of ebola that only works against Zaire stress. “This is a big advantage,” he said.
Current remedies for Ebola include US FDA-inferior injections: Inmazab (a combination of three monoclonal antibodies) and ebanga (a single monoclonal antibody), which prevent the virus from entering cells.
Drug manufacturer Gillid, now a close relative of Ebola, is testing the obeldicivir in step 2 tests for the Marburg virus.
Gisbert also emphasized the importance of funding of the US government for such research. He said that most of the funds come from the government to develop Ebola drugs and vaccines and warned that the recent funding cuts under President Donald Trump can make slow progress.
“I think most people will agree that we need treatment for Ebola,” he said.
