This is absolutely a good news according to a report written by Dr. Sanjay Gupta for CNN said an experimental drug called ZMapp likely saved the lives of two US missionary doctors (pictured above) who contracted the Ebola Virus while working in Liberia.
See the full report from CNN below:
Three vials containing an experimental drug stored at subzero
temperatures were flown into Liberia last week in a last-ditch effort to save
two American missionary workers who had contracted Ebola, according to a source
familiar with details of the treatment.
The drug appears to have worked, sources say. Dr. Kent Brantly's
and Nancy Writebol's conditions significantly improved after receiving the
medication, sources say. Brantly was able to walk into Emory University
Hospital in Atlanta after being evacuated to the United States last week, and
Writebol is expected to arrive in Atlanta on Tuesday.
On July 22, Brantly
woke up feeling feverish. Fearing the worst, Brantly immediately isolated
himself. Writebol's symptoms started three days later. A rapid field blood test
confirmed the infection in both of them after they had become ill with fever,
vomiting and diarrhea.
It's believed both Brantly and
Writebol, who worked with the aid organization Samaritan's Purse, contracted
Ebola from another health care worker at their hospital in Liberia, although
the official Centers for Disease Control and Prevention case investigation has
yet to be released.
A representative from the National
Institutes of Health contacted Samaritan's Purse in Liberia and offered the experimental
treatment, known as ZMapp, for the two patients, according to the source.
The drug was developed by the biotech
firm Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc., which is based in San Diego. The patients
were told that this treatment had never been tried before in a human being but
had shown promise in small experiments with monkeys.
According to company documents, four
monkeys infected with Ebola survived after being given the therapy within 24
hours after infection. Two of four other monkeys that started therapy within 48
hours after infection also survived. One monkey that was not treated died
within five days of exposure to the virus.
Brantly and Writebol were aware of the
risk of taking a new, little understood treatment and gave informed consent,
according to two sources familiar with the care of the missionary workers. In
the monkeys, the experimental serum had been given within 48 hours of
infection. Brantly didn't receive it until he'd been sick for nine days.
The 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. It works by preventing the virus from entering and infecting new
cells.
The Ebola virus causes viral
hemorrhagic fever, which refers to a group of viruses that affect multiple
organ systems in the body and are often accompanied by bleeding.
Early symptoms include sudden onset of
fever, weakness, muscle pain, headaches and a sore throat. They later progress
to vomiting, diarrhea, impaired kidney and liver function -- and sometimes
internal and external bleeding.
The ZMapp vials reached the hospital in
Liberia where Brantly and Writebol were being treated Thursday morning. Doctors
were instructed to allow the serum to thaw naturally without any additional
heat. It was expected that it would be eight to 10 hours before the medicine
could be given, according to a source familiar with the process.
Brantly asked that Writebol be given the
first dose because he was younger and he thought he had a better chance of
fighting it, and she agreed. However, as the first vial was still thawing,
Brantly's condition took a sudden turn for the worse.
Brantly began to deteriorate and
developed labored breathing. He told his doctors he thought he was dying,
according to a source with firsthand knowledge of the situation.
Knowing his dose was still frozen,
Brantly asked if he could have Writebol's now-thawed medication. It was brought
to his room and administered through an IV. Within an hour of receiving the
medication, Brantly's condition dramatically improved. He began breathing
easier; the rash over his trunk faded away. One of his doctors described the
events as "miraculous."
By the next morning, Brantly was able
to take a shower on his own before getting on a specially designed Gulfstream
air ambulance jet to be evacuated to the United States.
Writebol also received a vial of the
medication. Her response was not as remarkable, according to sources familiar
with the treatment. However, doctors on Sunday administered Writebol a second
dose of the medication, which resulted in significant improvement.
She was stable enough to be evacuated
back to the United States and is expected to arrive before noon Tuesday.
The process by which the medication was
made available to Brantly and Writebol is highly unusual. ZMapp has not been
approved for human use, and has not even gone through the clinical trial
process, which is standard to prove the safety and efficacy of a medication. It
may have been given under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's
"compassionate use" regulation, which allows access to
investigational drugs outside clinical trials.
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