Two anti-Ebola drugs tested in the Democratic Republic of Congo 22/08/2019 – Posted in: Daily News – Tags:

ANTI-EBOLA DRUGS

 

For: Preliminary

Topics covered:

  • What is Ebola Virus disease?
  • New Ebola drugs tested.

 

News Flash

Clinical trials conducted amid an Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have identified two new drugs that can dramatically cut mortality from the disease.

  • The latest outbreak, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has so far killed nearly 1,900 people.

 

Ebola

  • Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is a rare and deadly disease in people and nonhuman primates. The viruses that cause EVD are located mainly in sub-Saharan Africa.
  • People can get EVD through direct contact with an infected animal (bat or nonhuman primate) or a sick or dead person infected with Ebola virus.
  • Ebola is a viral hemorrhagic fever that kills up to 90% of those it infects.
  • It was first discovered in 1976 near the Ebola River in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo.

 

Ebola drugs

  • Two anti-Ebola drugs tested in the DRC have proved effective if administered when the first signs of infection appear.
  • The treatments in question employ monoclonal antibodies – protein molecules made by the immune system in response to infection.
  • The antibodies work by locking onto the Ebola virus to block it from attaching to receptors on the surface of human host cells.

 

The most successful treatment

  • REGN-EB3, is a cocktail of three such antibodies, made by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, a U.S. biotechnology firm.
  • mAb114, is a single antibody developed by America’s National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases using antibodies isolated from the blood of a survivor of a 1995 outbreak in DRC.

 

Current Scenario

The experimental drugs will now be used to treat patients infected with the viral disease in an ongoing outbreak in the DRC.

 

Source: Graphic News

 

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