An experimental drug for treatment of Ebola has been provided by a Nigerian in Diaspora and will arrive the country today, the minister for health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, has said. The drug, called "Nanosilver", can now be used following the approval by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that experimental treatments are ethical in the case of the Ebola pandemic. The Nigerian government authorized the use of experimental drugs on Wednesday. The US sent ZMapp, another experimental drug, to Liberia on Wednesday, while Canada has decided to donate 1,000 vaccines to the affected countries.
According to Chukwu, the experimental drug is a donation from a Nigerian scientist who was concerned about threat of Ebola in his home country. before we continue, lets read about previous findings
Experimental Ebola Treatments Are Ethical, U.N. Says
According to an article from Mashable: The use of experimental, unproven drugs to treat the Ebola virus is ethical, a panel of medical ethicists convened by the World Health Organization found on Tuesday.
The United Nations health agency's statement comes hours after a Spanish missionary priest, who was being treated for Ebola with the experimental drug ZMapp, died on Tuesday in a Madrid hospital.
"In the particular circumstances of this outbreak, and provided certain conditions are met, the panel reached consensus that it is ethical to offer unproven interventions with as yet unknown efficacy and adverse effects, as potential treatment or prevention," reads a WHO statement.
The panelists were tasked with two questions, according to the WHO's website:
- Is it ethical to use unregistered interventions with unknown adverse effects for possible treatment or prophylaxis? If it is, what criteria and conditions need to be satisfied before they can be used?
- If it is ethical to use these unregistered interventions in the current circumstances, then what criteria should guide the choice of an intervention and who should receive priority for treatment or prevention?
The panel, which included medical ethicists, scientific experts and lay people, listed the ethical criteria that must be met in such interventions, stating the importance for transparency, informed consent, freedom of choice, confidentiality, respect, preservation of dignity and involvement of the community in using experimental treatment on Ebola victims.
Two medical ethicists who spoke to Mashable before the WHO's panel released its findings agreed the drug, called ZMapp, was worth trying. And both expressed a desire for data collection — to use an experimental drug without ethically tracking the results would be a waste.
"I certainly don't object to it, and I certainly understand the motivation to using it," said Steven Joffe, MD, vice chair of Medical Ethics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. "I do think that this would go best if it were carefully studied as it was used, because to just throw it into people and not use every means available to learn about the outcome would be a mistake."
SOURCE: http://mashable.com/2014/08/12/ebola-ethical-who/
NEWS IN NIGERIA ABOUT EBOLA TREATMENT
Nigerian scientist develops trial Ebola drug, 'Nano Silver' for the treatment of Ebola Virus Disease
Nigerian scientist develops trial Ebola drug, 'Nano Silver' for the treatment of Ebola Virus Disease
The Federal Government is to receive Nano Silver trial drug for the treatment of Ebola Virus Disease patients, it was learnt.
The drug is from a Nigerian scientist living in the diaspora.
Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu said yesterday at a Press Briefing in Abuja said it has been used experimentally for many things.
A Nigerian contagious disease expert, Dr. Simon Agwale, had said that Nano Silva had proven effective against viruses, bacteria, and parasites. “It may be also a source of a cure” for Ebola patients, Agwale said.
Nano Silva oral, according to www.indiamart.com, is a dietary supplement providing nano (10nm) scaled silver particles in pure hydro solution.
The drug is from a Nigerian scientist living in the diaspora.
Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu said yesterday at a Press Briefing in Abuja said it has been used experimentally for many things.
A Nigerian contagious disease expert, Dr. Simon Agwale, had said that Nano Silva had proven effective against viruses, bacteria, and parasites. “It may be also a source of a cure” for Ebola patients, Agwale said.
Nano Silva oral, according to www.indiamart.com, is a dietary supplement providing nano (10nm) scaled silver particles in pure hydro solution.
Reports confirm that Nano Silva Oral kills the deadliest bacteria tested so far.
Experimental drug likely to saved Ebola patients
US major universities like UC Davis, Kansas, UT have proven the effectiveness of the product in killing thousands of strains of Staphaureus, T.B, Strepaureus, E. Colli, Salmonella, yeast and even anthrax spores and so on.
Nano Silva Oral is the only non-toxic product-proven to kill anthrax spores. Test reveal successful efficacy of Nano Cell Silver in combating malaria, bird flu among others.
Nano Ag+ ruptures and penetrates the cell wall membranes and interacts with sulphur and phosphorous compounds of DNA, inhibiting the replication of bacteria.
The strong positive ionic charge of silver enhances additional bactericidal effect, thereby killing the bacteria totally.
The other well known experimental drug is ZMapp, which was given earlier to two Americans infected with virus.
WHO opened the door for experimental Ebola drugs earlier this week, after a panel of ethicists it convened condoned such treatments because of the challenges of controlling the outbreak that has killed more than 1,000 people.
The Health minister told journalists in Abuja that Nigeria had so far recorded four Ebola deaths. The four are Sawyer, who is the index case, two nurses and an ECOWAS protocol officer, Jatto Abdulqudir .
Chukwu said, “Out of these, four have died and six are currently under treatment. It is important to note that the number of confirmed cases remains 10 as of today (Thursday).
“The fourth death recorded today (Thursday) was a nurse, who participated in the initial management of the index case(Sawyer).
“The total number of persons under surveillance in Lagos is now 169. These are all secondary contacts as all the primary contacts have completed the 21-day incubation period and have been delisted to resume their normal lives.”
He added that Enugu State has six persons under surveillance because 15 out of those quarantined after complete evaluation were found not to have had any contact with a nurse who allegedly disobeyed medical advice and travelled to Enugu.
He said the nurse, who was “a primary contact of the index case who became symptomatic and tested positive and is one of the 10 confirmed cases.”
Chukwu said,” The nurse who had been placed under surveillance in Lagos disobeyed the Incidence Management Committee and travelled to Enugu.
“At the time she made the trip, she was yet to show any symptom and did not infect anyone on her way as transmission of the disease is only possible when a carrier of the virus becomes ill.
“However, she has since been brought back to Lagos. Before her return journey, she had become symptomatic and had to be conveyed to Lagos with her spouse in special ambulances.
“The husband is not symptomatic neither is he positive for the EVD but he has been quarantined given the intimate contact with her while in Enugu. It is therefore important to emphasise that there is no EVD in Enugu State.
NEWS SOURCE: http://www.nigerianeye.com/2014/08/nigerian-scientist-develops-trial-ebola.html
NIGERIAN COMMENTS
This is what most questions that have been popping out of so many people in Nigeria: Is this real? Is this a final cure or it will just contain the spread? Or keep the infected persons alive? These are the many questions on people’s mouths.
See this comment by a Nigeria on Facebook: Name of commenter withheld: Well, this is lesson to us all. I know we may not be that medically intelligent or technical to produce certain therapies for viruses like this in labs but at least we should be meticulous and follow the trend of the whites. Prof Maurice Iwu, a scientist as of 10yrs ago was doing a research on Ebola virus and its remedy via bitter kola but our unserious Government as usual took him to politics and he was made INEC chairman and that closes such chapter... but the admin of this article, I want ask a question...is this ZMAPP a therapy that weakens the virus and make it less contagious or it completely cures the patient? We need comments on this!!!!!
***SEE THIS ALERT!!!***
EBOLA NURSE JUMPS QUARANTINE IN LAGOS, RUNS TO ENUGU AND COMES IN CONTACT WITH PEOPLE - Vanguard Wednesday August 13th, 2014
FG confirms another Nurse, 21 others quarantined in Enugu Ben Agande, Abuja. An additional twenty one persons including a nurse have been quarantined in Enugu state on a suspicion of likely infection with Ebola Virus Disease.
Minister of Information Labaran Maku told State House Correspondents after the Federal
Executive Council meeting that the affected nurse had primary contact with the late Liberian, Patrick Sawyer, who brought the disease to Nigeria.
The minister explained that the nurse traveled to Enugu from Lagos against instruction not to leave Lagos State, adding that 198 persons are currently under watch by the Ministry of Health to contain further spread of the disease.
Labaran Maku explained that out of the 198 persons under surveillance, 177 of them are in
Lagos while 21 are in Enugu. “All those who had primary contact have been quarantined. Secondary contacts have also been traced. So far the number of people that have been traced is 198. Out of this number, 177 are in Lagos and are being traced. Some are in quarantine, some are being monitored by health specialists.”
Please be informed this numbers are not cases in anyway but suspected contacts to one suspected case d nurse. The said nurse & her husband were yesterday taken back to Lagos in a special Ambulance.
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