Favipiravir (T-705) is the best treatment option available. However, it is not FDA approved, so getting it in the USA isn't easy. Suggested dosage is : a 65kg human probably needs to be administered (at minimum) 750 mg of Famipiravir twice per day to treat Ebola Virus Disease
Lamivudine is probably the next best choice, and it is FDA approved (for HIV and Hepititis B) and off-patent so it is both widely available and fairly cheap. Dosage is not specifically mentioned here, but following the HIV treatment dose of 300mg/day is probably ok.
Most important is that starting treatment as early as possible is CRITICAL for maximizing survival rates. Waiting until a positive blood test for Ebola to start treatment instead of starting a 21-day treatment regimen at the first sign of a high-risk fever would probably double the mortality rate.
So, who paid for the drug for Duncan to try and save his life? Sharpton? Nope, Obama? Nope.
Racist hard working Americans. Up is down, left is right, black is white, everything you know is wrong. Our country has turned rotten.
If I understood it correctly, a dosage of doxycycline in the latter stages could mitigate some of the toxic effects, perhaps slightly improving the survival rate.
“....Favipiravir (T-705) is the best treatment option available. However,it is not FDA approved,so getting it in the USA isn’t easy. ....”
What side effects does favipiravir have, as compared to the ‘next-best’ one that is approved?
Its OK in Europe, so presumably the effects aren’t worse than that ‘next- best’ one.
Why won’t the FDA approve things that work?
PING
Ebola Treatment
Bfl
Favipiravir is currently in phase 3 trials for treatment of influenza. In Japan, it is approved for use for influenza. It most certainly can be used under the compassionate use exemption for experimental drugs. That is how they managed to get permission to try brincidofovir to treat Mr. Duncan.
I do not think that brincidofovir was a good choice to try, since it was developed to be a DNA virus inhibitor, and is not approved for clinical use anywhere in the world.
Anyway, thanks for posting this. The misspellings in the article drive me nuts, but the information is good.
Excellent article. Many quack veterinarians, especially in NE Mississippi, are using Tamiflu against Parvo and claiming results. Parvo is a DNA virus and Influenza is an RNA virus. This article explains the difference in easier terms for many to understand the mechanism.
Thanks for the post. I’ll have to read it later.
If I were in a position where I would be dealing with a lot people who were at somewhat high risk for being infected with Ebola, or were in a job where I had enter and work in a hospital where Ebola patients were being treated, I would be attempting to obtain a sufficient supply of Lamivudine so that I could begin dosing myself with at least 200mg per day.
This would be intended as a prophylactic measure to prevent the Ebola virus from being able to gain a foothold in my body. I would suggest that all of the troops and support personnel being deployed in West Africa also receive preemptive and continuing doses of Lamivudine to continue until a week after they leave the affected area.
ZAP the zinc antiviral protein, is thought to inhibit the replication of many types of viruses including filoviruses.... I would think that taking something relatively cheap like Zicam or any zinc spray and a zinc supplement might offer initial protection as well. At least inhibiting the initial replication?
I read this article, and ended up sending friends in Freetown SL zinc spray months ago as a cheap preventitive not knowing what would be coming, so far so good: http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.ppat.1003494
bing
“Hey Obama, be a MAN - Implement a travel BAN!”
ping for later