According to CNN Two American missionary
workers infected with the deadly Ebola virus
were given an experimental drug that
seems to have saved their lives.
Dr. Kent Brantly was given the medication,
ZMapp, shortly after telling his doctors he
thought he would die, according to a source
familiar with his case. Within an hour, doctors
say his symptoms — labored breathing and a
widespread rash — dramatically improved.
Nancy Writebol, another missionary working
with Samaritan’s Purse, received two doses of
the medication and has also shown significant
improvement, sources say.
As there is no proven treatment and no vaccine
for Ebola, this experimental drug is raising lots
of questions.
2 THOUGHTS ON “WOW! ”ZMAPP SERUM” THE
ALLEGED CURE FOR EBOLA IS GOTTEN FROM
RATS!”
What is ZMapp and How does it work?
Rats (Mice) where Exposed to Ebola to
Generate ”Antibodies” These are proteins
Generally used by our immune system to
mark and destroy foreign, or harmful, cells.
A monoclonal antibody is similar, except it’s
engineered in a lab so it will attach to
specific parts of a dangerous cell, according
to the Mayo Clinic, mimicking your immune
system’s natural response. Monoclonal
antibodies are used to treat many different
types of conditions.
This medicine is a three-mouse monoclonal
antibody, meaning that mice were exposed
to fragments of the Ebola virus and then the
antibodies generated within the mice’s blood
were harvested to create the medicine. The
Drug Literally Prevents Virus from Making
New Cells.
Did doctors know it would work?
No. The drug had shown promise in primates,
but even in those experiments, just eight
monkeys received the treatment. In any case,
the human immune system can react
differently than primates’, which is why drugs
are required to undergo human clinical trials
before being approved by government agencies
for widespread use.
The two Americans’ cases will be studied
further to determine how the drug worked with
their immune systems.
Will the drug be made available to other
Ebola patients?
It’s unclear. Doctors “cannot start using
untested drugs in the middle of an outbreak,
for various reasons,” World Health Organization
spokesman Gregory Hartl said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases,
says scientists have to be careful about
assuming this drug will work in other patients
as it appears to have worked in Brantly.
“Having worked with administering antibodies
for people for a really long time, that would be
distinctly unusual,” he told CNN. “As we all
know in medicine … you have to withhold
judgment.”
Does the company have more vials of the
drug?
The company has very few doses ready for
patient use, Fauci told CNN. “Apparently the
company is trying to scale up, (but) it’s not easy
to scale up to very large number of doses.”
Would this drug stop the Ebola epidemic?
If it were widely available, it certainly couldn’t
hurt. An effective Ebola drug could help doctors
treat the deadly virus, which is killing about
60% of the people infected in West Africa. But a
vaccine would be a much more effective tool in
stopping this, and future, epidemics.
Vaccines are given to healthy people to prevent
them from ever becoming infected. One
challenge with Ebola, experts say, is that
companies don’t believe they could make much
money from developing a vaccine, so few
companies show interest.
Source:gossipmill.com
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