New Ebola Drug 100 Percent Effective In Monkeys

[DeSwiss]

New Ebola Drug 100 Percent Effective In Monkeys

NPR
by Richard Knox
May 28, 2010



The Ebola virus first emerged in 1976, striking fear with the uncontrollable bleeding it causes and mortality rates up to 90 percent. Ever since then, scientists have been struggling to find a way to treat the infection or protect against it.

There has been progress, but nothing quite like the report in the May 28 issue of the scientific journal The Lancet. A team led by Thomas Geisbert of Boston University has used an experimental drug to protect monkeys from death after injecting them with massive doses of the most lethal strain of Ebola.

"We were stunned," Geisbert says. "I've been working with this virus for my whole career — 23 or 24 years — and we've had some mild successes where maybe we could go up to 50 percent protection," he said. "But I was really shocked that we got complete protection."

Virologist Heinz Feldmann of the National Institute on Allergies and Infectious Diseases, who often collaborates with Geisbert but was not involved in this work, called the results "a milestone" — and not just for treatment of Ebola.

"I think this will most likely also work for other related viral hemorrhagic fevers," Feldmann said, such as Marburg, Lassa and Crimean-Congo fever. All are deadly to one degree or another and cause outbreaks in Africa and elsewhere.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127226355">MORE

- Of course these scientists used monkeys to test their medicine because of the evolutionary connections between humans and monkeys. Yet I expect that those who don't accept the "theory" of evolution won't take this drug if they ever contract the Ebola virus.

On principle......
==============================================================================
DeSwiss


http://www.atheisttoolbox.com/">The Atheist Toolbox





"Whether we and our politicians know it or not, Nature is party to all our deals and decisions, and she
has more votes, a longer memory, and a sterner sense of justice than we do." ~ Wendell Berry

[charlie and algernon]

1. if this works out, it'll be one of the biggest, if not THE biggest medical discovery since Penicilin

this is incredible news! Now let's hope that a company picks it up and gets this possible Vaccine to the people of Africa.

[midnight armadillo]

2. Now that's going a bit far

Ebola kills like 100 people every few years. While it's incredibly lethal, it's hardly a cure on the scale of penicillin.

[Hempathy]

3. But- it WILL give people one less thing to worry about.

That's gotta be worth something...

even more to a hypochondriac.

[Posteritatis]

4. While true, being able to take out the hemorrhagic fevers is still a wonderful thing. (nt)

[charlie and algernon]

6. yeah, that's the thing, what cures will the Ebola vaccine lead to?

if it does lead to the elimination of hemorrhagic fevers, that's a BIG thing. It would save a lot of lives.

[charlie and algernon]

7. for years, Ebola was a total mystery and considered uncurable

Cracking Ebola gives hope that AIDS and cancer could be next.

[Posteritatis]

9. And even if they aren't - hey, we cracked Ebola. Score! (nt)

[DeSwiss]

5. I'm not sure of that.....

...but you may be right if it works similarly against other viral hemorrhagic diseases.


- Oh yeah, and I love your screenname. "Flowers For Algernon" was one of the first novels I read. In 1966.

[Warren DeMontague]

8. Wow.

That would be stellar. :applause:

[iamtechus]

10. Man's war on nature continues!

Some writers have postulated that diseases like ebola and malaria are
nature's way of protecting itself. As animal killers and tree cutters
hack into the heart of the jungle, horrible diseases are unleased on
the trespassers.

"The Gaiia hypothesis states that the earth is a living organism
and humans inhabit that organism. Such as cancer invades the
human body slowly killing a person. Or as a deadly virus raises your
body temperature as that person feels as if his or her innards
are being ripped out. This is what is happening to the earth as
man destroys these rain forest. These are the lungs of the earth
and may have a drastic affect if lost. Global warming, ozone
depletion, new and more deadly diseases, and loss of rainfall all
may be a direct cause of rain forest destruction."

http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=11291

[Posteritatis]

11. Hope you never accept treatment for anything with that smug attitude. (nt)