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Doctor Treats Ebola With HIV Drug In Liberia -- Seemingly Successfully: CNN by Eldavido1: 5:53am On Sep 29, 2014 |
STORY HIGHLIGHTS Dr. Gobee Logan tried using lamivudine against Ebola out of sheer desperation Only two out of 15 patients taking it died -- far lower than the average death rate Logan read about the medication and similarities between Ebola and HIV in a medical journal (CNN) -- A doctor in rural Liberia inundated with Ebola patients says he's had good results with a treatment he tried out of sheer desperation: an HIV drug. Dr. Gobee Logan has given the drug, lamivudine, to 15 Ebola patients, and all but two survived. That's a 7% mortality rate. Across West Africa, the virus has killed 70% of its victims. Outside Logan's Ebola center in Tubmanburg, four of his recovering patients walk the grounds, always staying inside the fence that separates the Ebola patients from everyone else. "My stomach was hurting; I was feeling weak; I was vomiting," Elizabeth Kundu, 23, says of her bout with the virus. "They gave me medicine, and I'm feeling fine. We take it, and we can eat -- we're feeling fine in our bodies." Kundu and the other 12 patients who took the lamivudine and survived, received the drug in the first five days or so of their illness. The two patients who died received it between days five and eight. "I'm sure that when [patients] present early, this medicine can help," Logan said. "I've proven it right in my center." Two doctors for 85,000 people Logan is mindful that lamivudine can cause liver and other problems, but he says it's worth the risk since Ebola is so deadly. He also knows American researchers will say only a real study can prove effectiveness. That would involve taking a much larger patient population and giving half of them lamivudine and the other half a placebo. "Our people are dying and you're taking about studies?" he said. "It's a matter of doing all that I can do as a doctor to save some people's lives." Logan said he got the idea to try lamivudine when he read in scientific journals that HIV and Ebola replicate inside the body in much the same way. "Ebola is a brainchild of HIV," he said. "It's a destructive strain of HIV." At first he tried an HIV drug called acyclovir, but it didn't seem to be effective. Then he tried lamivudine on a healthcare worker who'd become ill, and within a day or two he showed signs of improvement and survived. One woman walked in, and the Ebola nightmare began Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases says that theoretically, Logan's approach has some merit. Lamivudine is a nucleocide analog, and other drugs in this class are being studied to treat Ebola. Fauci asked CNN to give Logan his email address, saying perhaps his lab could do some follow up work. Logan says he plans to email Fauci this weekend. edition.cnn.com/2014/09/27/health/ebola-hiv-drug/index.html |
Re: Doctor Treats Ebola With HIV Drug In Liberia -- Seemingly Successfully: CNN by segzyj(m): 6:04am On Sep 29, 2014 |
God Have Mercy |
Re: Doctor Treats Ebola With HIV Drug In Liberia -- Seemingly Successfully: CNN by Nobody: 6:06am On Sep 29, 2014 |
Necessity iss d father of creation |
Re: Doctor Treats Ebola With HIV Drug In Liberia -- Seemingly Successfully: CNN by Nobody: 6:12am On Sep 29, 2014 |
This is GOOD news for Africa. I have already taken note. |
Re: Doctor Treats Ebola With HIV Drug In Liberia -- Seemingly Successfully: CNN by dhardline(m): 6:33am On Sep 29, 2014 |
If 'Ebola is the brain child of HIV' just as he said,does it mean that the 'whites' also created Ebola?hmmm just wondering. |
Re: Doctor Treats Ebola With HIV Drug In Liberia -- Seemingly Successfully: CNN by arsetalks(m): 6:46am On Sep 29, 2014 |
Very sensible man. When odds are 70/30 against you, you try all options. If they fail, you know at least you tried. America wants tests upon tests even when they know 70% of the time Ebola patients will die and if the meds which they often tell us they haven't trialled and approve fail, they will still die and if it works they live, why not try. Even if you only have 30% chance or less. This is why it is easy to believe America has a hand in this outbreak or that they don't want it stopped. |
Re: Doctor Treats Ebola With HIV Drug In Liberia -- Seemingly Successfully: CNN by Eldavido1: 7:42am On Sep 29, 2014 |
A Nigerian medical personel suggested something like that during the early days of ebola in nigeria but was largely ignore by our health officials while we were busy begging for zmap. Since both Ebola and HIV are RNA viruses chances are one of the numerous HIV drugs could have some impact on the virus. |
Re: Doctor Treats Ebola With HIV Drug In Liberia -- Seemingly Successfully: CNN by Nobody: 8:32am On Sep 29, 2014 |
Since the two are virus,there would be similarities in their symptoms,so their should be similarities too in the treatment. 1 Like |
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