Well before the Ebola virus was brought to the U.S. by a man traveling from Liberia, it was wreaking havoc in the West African country, where nearly 2,000 people have died during the worst Ebola outbreak in history. Now, some doctors in that country are trying new ways of treating Ebola-infected patients.
A woman waits in a Liberian Ministry of Health ambulance outside an old hospital that’s been converted to an intake center for Ebola patients in Monrovia. (Michel du Cille/The Washington Post)
Gorbee Logan, a doctor in rural Liberia, has given at least 15 Ebola victims lamivudine, which is considered a long-term and effective drug to treat HIV patients. All but two of them survived, Logan told CNN last week.
Since that interview, Logan has been in contact with Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, about the treatment. “I can’t say it’s a good idea or bad idea,” Fauci told The Post this week. “It’s one of those things where you’re in a situation where you have no therapy, so you look for things that might be available.”
Fauci said National Institutes of Health researchers have tested lamivudine’s reaction to Ebola in test tubes. There was no response; but Fauci said researchers will adjust some levels and try it again “to see if there’s even slight activity against Ebola.”
If there is, he said, NIH would consider going to the trial stage.
[…] Fauci said National Institutes of Health researchers have tested lamivudine’s reaction to Ebola in …read more […]
[…] A Liberian doctor is using HIV drugs to treat Ebola victims; The NIH is intrigued […]