Ebola: US Commends Nigeria as Four More Patients are Discharged

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSPW0v8xYpxt8h-SFOrJGzl_tG7gq12wNfGjmWpvHjahFjWgv8tRpkuPvuHkVmsPGODd6czVV8KXtmfi9OJjtWG_ihtPhRDDWobObt47lnZafsqmg_SGEBBo02E6qsljOb-KsDUgSeMio/s1600/Onyebuchi-Chukwu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSPW0v8xYpxt8h-SFOrJGzl_tG7gq12wNfGjmWpvHjahFjWgv8tRpkuPvuHkVmsPGODd6czVV8KXtmfi9OJjtWG_ihtPhRDDWobObt47lnZafsqmg_SGEBBo02E6qsljOb-KsDUgSeMio/s1600/Onyebuchi-Chukwu.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" /></span></a></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <em style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu, Health Minister</em></div> <ul> <li style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> Rules out sending trial drug</span></li> <li style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> Two new persons in Lagos, one in Kaduna placed under watch </span></li> <li style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> WHO: All outbound travellers must be screened</span></li> </ul> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The US government has commended the Nigerian government and its health authorities for their handling of the Ebola virus since it broke in Lagos last month.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The US’ commendation came on the back of more good news yesterday that four more patients who had contracted the disease had been discharged and declared free of the infectious disease.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">With their discharge, this brings the total number of people who have been given the all clear to five.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A total of 12 people were struck with the virus in Nigeria, including the index case Patrick Sawyer, of which four have died, five have been discharged while three remain in the isolation ward at the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba, Lagos.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">However, all hopes that the US would send the ZMapp experimental drug to Nigeria were dimmed yesterday when the US government ruled out the possibility, saying there were insufficient quantities of the drug available.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Making this known when he visited the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, in Abuja, the US</span></div> </div> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><em><strong></strong></em><a href="" name="more"></a>Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle, informed reporters that what was needed was to focus primarily on isolation and the screening of patients or those suspected to have contracted the virus.</span><br /> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">According to Entwistle: “We’ll see down the road what is possible. But there are no huge quantities now. And we think the focus now needs to be on exactly what you are doing: the isolation wards, screening, and especially important that now your government is doing a very good job on this, that is contact tracing.”</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The envoy said he just came back from the US late last week, adding, “I was in Washington, of course, for the US-African Leaders Summit and I came over to see the minister right away as soon as I got back into town to discuss our anti-Ebola cooperation.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“I was in the room in Washington when Vice President (Joe) Biden and President (Goodluck) Jonathan talked about the Ebola crisis, talked about our partnership, and pledged the total cooperation between your government and my government on this issue.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“So I just came over to see the minister this morning to talk to him about that and you’ve all seen the headlines over the weekend. This is an issue where we have to keep working hard. It may last for a while but there are some encouraging signs.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“The Emergency Operation Centre (EOC), I understand, is working well. The isolation ward, I understand, is working well. So this is an example we have, as part of the broad partnership between our two countries, just keep collaborating and cooperating and keep working hard.”</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">While commending Nigeria for effectively curtailing the spread of the Ebola virus, Entwistle stated: “I noticed that when I flew back on Thursday night into this country, before I left the plane, I filled out a questionnaire.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“I was very impressed because I even had to put my seat number which is a very good idea. So if you ever have to trace the guy sitting next to me you know where I am. So I have been impressed by these things and I encourage the government of Nigeria to keep at it as I know they will.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“I always say we have a broad partnership between our two countries which means we do things together as equals to make the world a better place. I can’t think of a more important example today than our Ebola cooperation.”</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Chukwu, on his part, said the visit came at the right time considering the need for collaboration between the two countries, specifically on the Ebola virus.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Chukwu said as the representative of the US government, the envoy will assist in various ways in the prevention of the virus from spreading further.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The minister referred to the US ambassador as the spokesperson for the US government in Nigeria, adding, “So he came to me as the chief public health officer of the country, because that is what the Minister of Health is, to exchange views with me on the collaboration with America.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <strong><div style="text-align: left;"> <strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Four Patients Discharged</strong></div> </strong><div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The minister also disclosed that four additional patients were yesterday discharged and declared free of the infectious disease.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In a statement in Abuja, Chukwu said the development was a good omen for Nigeria, taking into cognisance the devastation the virus had caused in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The statement signed by his Special Assistant, Media and Communication, Dan Nwomeh, stated that the “Minister of Health has announced that four additional confirmed cases of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), which have been managed successfully, and are now disease-free and have been discharged to go home today (yesterday)”.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It added that the discharged patients included two male medical doctors and one female nurse.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“The three participated in the treatment of the index case while the fourth person was a female patient at the time the index case was on admission.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“This brings to five the total number of patients diagnosed with the Ebola Virus Disease who have now been discharged from hospital,” it explained.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <strong><div style="text-align: left;"> <strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Three under Surveillance</strong></div> </strong><div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Also, giving an update, the Lagos State Government yesterday confirmed the discharge of the four patients, but revealed that three more persons had been placed under surveillance to ascertain whether they would show symptoms of the disease.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, made the disclosure last night at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, stating: “We have four more patients that are ready to be discharged today (yesterday).</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“They have gone through the same protocol. The protocol is that before we release anyone or certify him or her negative, he or she has to be symptom-free for a period of over three weeks.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“We also had to test their blood samples and the result was negative. They will be released today after they have completed their counseling being conducted by our psychosocial team. But they will come periodically for check-ups, though they are okay.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“The other three patients are still being monitored at the isolation centre. Once they get better, they will be released. The lady who ran to Enugu is still under isolation and she has tested positive to the virus.”</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">On those under surveillance, Idris said the new cases had been discovered. “One of them is a blood sample from Kaduna while two others are from Lagos. They are primary contacts. On the Kaduna case, the reason for this is that they do not have the laboratory to test for the virus.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Four persons have died already, including the index case, Mr. Patrick Sawyer. We had eight in the isolation ward before Saturday when we released the doctor. This doctor was released after testing negative and going through the WHO and CDC procedures for discharge.”</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Idris maintained that there have been 12 confirmed cases, which he said included the index case, noting that all the cases that had been confirmed positive and those who had died were linked to the index case.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He also disclosed that more medical personnel had shown interest “to care for the patients. We have eight doctors and nine nurses and some health workers who have gone through training.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“We have also been joined by infectious disease experts from the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH). All these people have gone through training. Though the number is not enough as we need more”.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <strong><div style="text-align: left;"> <strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">NLC Opposes Doctors’ Dismissal</strong></div> </strong><div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But as Nigeria made inroads in its fight against the virus, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) criticised the federal government’s dismissal of resident doctors in federal hospitals.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">NLC, in a statement yesterday by its president, Abdulwaheed Omar, said it was ill-advised and urged government to reconsider its stand in view of the prevailing health challenges in the coutry.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The union pointed out that no country could afford to neglect its health sector, including the personnel that work there during trying times.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It emphasised that what the country needed urgently was the recruitment of more health professionals, well equipped public hospitals, and a well organised health system capable of responding to the health concerns of Nigeria’s growing population.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“We believe the federal government was misadvised and also misled by this action. It is clearly unwarranted to sack doctors just as we are collectively faced with the challenge of the Ebola virus. It is even more dangerous to sack medical personnel in a country of over 170 million people with a ratio of one doctor to over five thousand patients.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“What the country needs urgently is recruitment of more health professionals, well equipped public hospitals, and a well organised health system, and not sacking of any category of health personnel,” the NLC said.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It urged the federal government to carry out an urgent audit of the public health sector to determine the state of the sector in terms of equipment, personnel and funding.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“While workers and indeed all Nigerians are at great risk and require adequate protection, those in the medical sector should particularly be sufficiently equipped and given incentives to guarantee their safety and boost morale.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“No country can afford, especially in these trying times, to neglect its health sector, including the personnel that work there,” the statement added.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <strong><div style="text-align: left;"> <strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Doctors Protest</strong></div> </strong><div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The NLC’s position was given fillip by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in Lagos and Ondo States whose members embarked on peaceful protests against the government’s sack of the resident doctors.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Lagos State NMA chairman, Dr. Tope Ojo, who led his colleagues on the protest at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), said a reversal of the mass sacking was the only thing that could make discussions with government continue on the strike.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He said this was an important step for NMA to continue to dialogue with the government, adding that doctors should not feel threatened by the sack.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Ojo said doctors were not asking for an increment in their salary but a better healthcare delivery system.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“The country’s universal health coverage is inadequate as it only covers 30 per cent of the people. We want this for everybody, irrespective of age and class in the society,” he added.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The NMA chair also urged the government to lift the ban on residency training so that medical education can continue to grow like those of the United Kingdom and the US.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Also speaking, the Second Vice President, Lagos State branch of NMA, Dr. Olusegun Akinwotu, said resident doctors constituted about 60 per cent of the medical workforce, adding that sacking them would mean killing the patients who require their services.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Also government’s handling of the issue is not encouraging as resident doctors join consultants during surgery. They also impart knowledge on to house officers,” he said.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Speaking to the protesters, the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of LUTH, Prof Akin Osibogun, represented by the hospital’s Chairman Medical Advisory Committee (CMAC), Prof Chris Bode, said they should go about their complaints peacefully.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He said the situation called for sober reflection and moderation. “We are doctors and it is expected of us to be of high moral conduct. We must not constitute a danger to the public,” Osibogun said.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">NMA presented a letter stating their demands to the CMD for onward transmission to the health minister.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Similarly, doctors in Ondo State under the auspices of NMA demanded the recall 16,000 resident doctors sacked by the federal government before they could return to the negotiating table with the government to end their strike.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The chairman of the state chapter, Dr. Bamidele Betiku, said the decision of the federal government would make the country lack specialised doctors and make adequate healthcare delivery elusive to the masses.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The doctors, who marched from the NMA secretariat along Igbatoro Road to the governor's office in Alagbaka, Akure, sang solidarity songs while the protest lasted.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Also, the Cross River State chapter of NMA equated the sack of the resident doctors with the closure of all federal medical institutions in the country.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">NMA in the state said the sacking of the resident doctors, by implication, was the consequential sack of about 64,000 of its members.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Chairman of the NMA in the state, Dr. Calistus Enyuma, a consultant pediatrician, at a press briefing in Calabar, said: “As it stands, the federal government suspended the training of resident doctors; that means the government has closed down teaching hospitals, closed down medical schools, and the implication is that you have sacked over 64,000 doctors throughout Nigeria.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“It happened during the (Muhammadu) Burari regime in 1984 and we had the brain drain and you can guess what will happen in the next few months.”</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">On the current strike embarked on by the NMA, he said: “Our appeal to the federal government is to negotiate with the NMA to bring sanity to the health sector.”</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <strong><div style="text-align: left;"> <strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">EU Border Agency Suspends Migrant Flights</strong></div> </strong><div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In a related incident, the European Union (EU) border agency, Frontex, said yesterday it had suspended flights taking migrants back to Nigeria.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“We have decided to indefinitely suspend those flights that we coordinate and co-finance to Nigeria,” Frontex spokeswoman, Ewa Moncure told AFP.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Warsaw-based agency only handles around two per cent of all flights carrying migrants who have crossed into the EU back home. The EU countries in question handle the rest.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Last year, 160,000 such migrants were sent back to their home countries, mainly to Albania, India, Pakistan and Russia.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Certain countries, notably Austria, have taken a similar decision” to suspend flights to countries affected by the deadly Ebola virus, Moncure said.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The current Ebola outbreak, the worst since the virus first appeared in 1976, has claimed 1,145 lives including four in Nigeria.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <strong><div style="text-align: left;"> <strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">WHO: All Outbound Travellers Must be Screened</strong></div> </strong><div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has advised authorities in countries struck with Ebola to screen all travellers departing at international airports, seaports and major border crossings.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A statement issued by the UN health agency recommended that people with any sign of the virus should be stopped from travelling.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The agency reiterated that the risk of getting infected with Ebola on an aircraft was small and said there was no need for wider travel or trade restrictions, reported the Reuters news agency.</span></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Affected countries are requested to conduct exit screening of all persons at international airports, seaports and major land crossings, for unexplained febrile illness consistent with potential Ebola infection.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Any person with an illness consistent with EVD should not be allowed to travel unless the travel is part of an appropriate medical evacuation,” the statement said.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Nigeria’s health minister had on August 7 announced that all outbound passengers from the country would be screened.</span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The precautionary measure was taken after the disease was imported into Nigeria from Liberia on July 20.</span></div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <i style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Source: ThisDay</i></div> </div>

Ebola: US Commends Nigeria as Four More Patients are Discharged

Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu, Health Minister  Rules out sending trial drug  Two new persons in Lagos, one in Kaduna placed under watch   W...

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Hypocrisy of America’s experimental Ebola drug – Theophilus Ilevbare

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="post hentry uncustomized-post-template" itemprop="blogPost" itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="http://schema.org/BlogPosting" style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; min-height: 0px; position: relative;"> <div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-3004702607004700967" itemprop="description articleBody" style="position: relative; width: 670px;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjefMlarMZEw6CKlfYBJvKD1emIYCHBD3cYh9tGylVPSwK2DYmxc5OsITFVZoES65tiW0L5xJHnZVMDugJ95OR_o9datbNUSfFo1vjYt3vSgp3lXMV5ImTwGKrTc4fFXnx47DPNZoaMjbQ/s1600/article_img.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjefMlarMZEw6CKlfYBJvKD1emIYCHBD3cYh9tGylVPSwK2DYmxc5OsITFVZoES65tiW0L5xJHnZVMDugJ95OR_o9datbNUSfFo1vjYt3vSgp3lXMV5ImTwGKrTc4fFXnx47DPNZoaMjbQ/s1600/article_img.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; border: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="640" /></span></a></div> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-3004702607004700967" itemprop="description articleBody" style="position: relative; width: 670px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> These days, nothing strikes a bout of panic and paranoia than the thought of Ebola Virus Disease. It’s been decades since a disease or calamity of such proportions threatened our relationships, businesses, sports and our very existence.<br /><br />In the midst of all the trepidation came a ray of hope – an experimental secret serum, manufactured by California based Biopharmaceutical giant, Mapp. It has been administered to two Americans and a Spanish Priest (first European), all infected in Liberia. The Priest lost the battle against Ebola despite receiving the experimental solution after he was flown back to his country, Spain. However, the health of Dr Kent Brantly and missionary aid worker, Nancy Writebol, has improved tremendously to reinforce the efficacy of the drug, ZMapp. After the malady had claimed the lives of over a 1000 people in Africa with just about the same number presently inflicted with the disease, the American government in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO), on compassionate grounds, sent experimental samples to Liberia for trials on Ebola patients.<br /><br />It is puzzling why over a thousand Africans had to die before talks of a vaccine hit the airwaves. It is safe to conclude that had the two Americans not contracted the virus we won’t be close to any drug of any sort. Before now, the research for a cure has been shrouded in secrecy by the Americans. That the ailment had no cure and is a fast moving outbreak gives a technical knockout to the argument of ethics – that the vaccine should first be tested on compatriots of the researchers and manufacturers in America.<br /><br />The laboratories of American pharmaceutical companies were not short of promising research experiments of vaccines or drugs. They weren’t eager to develop a vaccine if they aren’t sure who would buy it. With just over a thousand deaths, it’s just a blip compared to the mortality rate of other diseases. For instance, Malaria kills a child every minute. Compare the death rate of Malaria with other deadly diseases you’ll discover why GlaxoSmithKline and other Pharmaceutical giants are making billion dollar investments, researching and working day and night for vaccines for malaria. Ebola is horrifying, but it’s also sporadic — between the big 2001 outbreak and this one, only a few dozen people have gotten sick every year or two. The current outbreak has spread among a handful of poor countries that all have weak health infrastructure. America and the rest of the developed world knew the deadly disease had no known cure but since it has mainly been affecting only Africans in several outbreaks since 1976 it wasn’t worth any serious research investment.<br /><br />Ebola vaccine not the answer?<br /><br />But even if any of the drugs on trial works, it would be a stretch to say we could confidently use it to prevent another Ebola outbreak.  The experimental Ebola vaccine, ZMapp, or any other one for that matter, it appears might not even be the answer to the ravaging strain of the virus. A well-funded and researched vaccine would have done the magic like it was the case for smallpox and polio which put an abrupt end to outbreaks.<br /><br />The exigency of a cure for the scourge has made relevant authorities approve the use of some experiment solutions on compassionate grounds. Anyone receiving a rushed mass vaccine like this is putting an enormous amount of trust in Pharmaceutical companies and the government because there is no way to know the long term effects of the disease. It can’t be easily ascertained at the moment. The fears of its long term effect exist no matter how infinitesimal it might seem. The memory of all the kids, who now suffer from a severe form of narcolepsy due to the swine flu vaccine that was hurriedly created a few years ago, remains evergreen.<br /><br />Before we can say uhuru, the efficacy of such a drug should cut across the various strains of Ebola. The current outbreak is the Zaire virus, but previous outbreaks were Sudan and Cote d’Ivoire strains. The drugs being bandied about might not be the quintessential Ebola elixir that we crave. Most of the experimental drugs are solutions to fight the Zaire virus strain. These experimental drugs can kill the present virus in the body system and prevent it from infecting others but it does not in any way make us completely immune from the virus, that is, another outbreak.<br /><br />Containing the scourge would have been much easier with vaccination at the early stage of the outbreak; it is difficult to stop the epidemic in fast moving diseases like Ebola. According to Community Health professionals, most vaccines take a few weeks to provide immunity, and even then, they don’t always control the disease spread. A recent WHO statement submitted that even if any of the drug or vaccine is successful, it will take at least six months to contain the outbreak.<br /><br />During the early weeks of the pestilence, villagers in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea blocked streets, preventing doctors and health workers from gaining access to Ebola patients. This will pose a problem to vaccination if it eventually becomes available. We heard on good report that at a point, soldiers were deployed to hospitals to prevent locals from forcefully taking away Ebola patients. There are still remote villages and communities in Nigeria that resist polio vaccination. They see it as an unwarranted intrusion from the ‘white man’. Imagine what would happen if we tried to pre-emptively vaccinate thousands of people who not only are skeptical of Western medicine but have never heard of Ebola.<br /><br />Fighting the epidemic must involve a multi-pronged drug. ZMapp serum, other drugs from Canada and the one by some Nigerian doctors in the diaspora, focuses on eradicating the disease after infection. What the global community needs is a vaccine to prevent the infection from getting into the body, that is the development of antibodies within the subject rather than injecting them from outside the body.<br /><br />The serum is by no means the end of Ebola but it leads us away from ineffective containment of the deadly virus disease. The use of vaccine or drug might not be the fastest way we bring the spread of this highly infectious malady to a stop. Nevertheless, the Ebola story is not all gloomy as 40 percent of victims are surviving.<br /><br />For now, Ebola patients will jump at the chance to live free of the virus than worry about any side effects in the long term or another outbreak in the future.<br /><br />This is hoping that these limited doses of the vaccine will not distract and ultimately derail effort to curb the frenzied outbreak using tried, tested and true methods like rapid identification and isolation of the sick and providing basic supportive care for patients, finding and educating who’s been in contact with them and strict hospital infection control. With these, Ebola can slowly but surely be driven away.<br /><br /><i>The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of eberesamuel.blogspot.com</i></span><div style="clear: both;"> </div> </div> <div class="post-footer" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(102, 0, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; margin: 20px -2px 0px; padding: 5px 10px;"> <div class="post-footer-line post-footer-line-1"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><div class="post-share-buttons goog-inline-block" style="display: inline-block; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; position: relative; vertical-align: middle;"> <div class="goog-inline-block dummy-container" style="display: inline-block; padding-left: 0.3em; position: relative; vertical-align: top;"> <div id="___plusone_0" style="border-style: none; display: inline-block; float: none; height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px;"> <iframe data-gapiattached="true" frameborder="0" hspace="0" id="I0_1408275741353" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="I0_1408275741353" scrolling="no" src="https://apis.google.com/u/0/se/0/_/+1/fastbutton?usegapi=1&source=blogger%3Ablog%3Aplusone&size=medium&width=300&annotation=inline&origin=http%3A%2F%2Fekpoesitonse.blogspot.co.uk&url=http%3A%2F%2Fekpoesitonse.blogspot.com%2F2014%2F08%2Fhypocrisy-of-americas-experimental.html&gsrc=3p&ic=1&jsh=m%3B%2F_%2Fscs%2Fapps-static%2F_%2Fjs%2Fk%3Doz.gapi.en.Y7yo-hE6f2w.O%2Fm%3D__features__%2Fam%3DAQ%2Frt%3Dj%2Fd%3D1%2Ft%3Dzcms%2Frs%3DAItRSTOCCewNInyW1jNvLdupkCgdxhOtiQ#_methods=onPlusOne%2C_ready%2C_close%2C_open%2C_resizeMe%2C_renderstart%2Concircled%2Cdrefresh%2Cerefresh&id=I0_1408275741353&parent=http%3A%2F%2Fekpoesitonse.blogspot.co.uk&pfname=&rpctoken=39564290" style="border-style: none; height: 20px; left: 0px; margin: 0px; position: static; top: 0px; visibility: visible; width: 300px;" tabindex="0" title="+1" vspace="0" width="100%"></iframe></div> </div> </div> </span></div> </div> </div> </div>

Hypocrisy of America’s experimental Ebola drug – Theophilus Ilevbare

These days, nothing strikes a bout of panic and paranoia than the thought of Ebola Virus Disease. It’s been decades since a disease o...

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US doctors say ‘secret serum’ helped save lives of American Ebola patients

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <h2 class="date-header" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 0px; bottom: auto; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px -15px 1px; min-height: 0px; padding: 0px; position: static; right: 15px;"> <span style="border-left-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0px; display: block; padding: 0.5em 15px;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIcxGvUe1dIoYh8HczQUM2IFjphJCFZBdxZ7GeTe1xDPa-H3TzP7p0BOhyphenhyphenXN7FLaEL6KeVOdoYqyX42UkqPt4NinF4leg7Y8Qz3V_YXbAOy1EL9o8awxtRmZZlL4vPbyOG65c2w6zdPTg/s1600/ebola.png" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(153, 0, 0); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px;" /></span></h2> <div class="date-posts" style="border-top-color: transparent; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; clear: both; margin: 0px -15px; padding: 8px 15px 0px;"> <div class="post-outer" style="border-top-style: none; margin: 0px -15px; padding: 0px 15px 10px;"> <div class="post hentry uncustomized-post-template" itemprop="blogPost" itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="http://schema.org/BlogPosting" style="min-height: 0px; position: relative;"> <div class="post-header" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"> <div class="post-header-line-1"> </div> </div> <div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-808633980667011432" itemprop="description articleBody" style="position: relative; width: 616px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So wait, the US may have found a cure to Ebola? And if they have, will they come help patients of this dreaded disease in Africa? The article below was written by Dr. Sanjay Gupta for <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2014/08/04/health/experimental-ebola-serum/index.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">CNN</a> and they are saying an experimental drug called ZMapp likely saved the lives of 2 US missionary doctors (pictured above) who contracted the disease while working in Liberia...see report below from CNN..</span><blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">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.</span></blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">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.</span></div> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="" name="more"></a></span></blockquote> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">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.</span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">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.</span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">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.</span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph6"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">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.</span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph6"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">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.</span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">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.</span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">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.</span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">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.</span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">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.</span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">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.</span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">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.</span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">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.</span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">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."</span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph16"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">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.</span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph16"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph17"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">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.</span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph17"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph18"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">She was stable enough to be evacuated back to the United States and is expected to arrive before noon Tuesday.</span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph18"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph19"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">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.</span></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div>

US doctors say ‘secret serum’ helped save lives of American Ebola patients

So wait, the US may have found a cure to Ebola? And if they have, will they come help patients of this dreaded disease in Africa?...

Read more »