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A doctor who was used anti-HIV medication to treat Ebola out of desperation after being inundated with patients, has reported positive results. Dr Gobee Logan gave the drug lamivudine to 15 Ebola patients in a clinic in Tubmanburg, and 13 survived. This gives patients treated with lamivudine a 7% mortality rate, whereas overall mortality rates for those infected are 70%. "My stomach was hurting; I was feeling weak; I was vomiting," Ebola patient Elizabeth Kundu, 23, told CNN. "They gave me medicine, and I'm feeling fine. We take it, and we can eat – we're feeling fine in our bodies." Those patients who survived after taking lamivudine, took the medication during the first five days of infection. The two who died started treatment five and eight days after onset of the illness. "I'm sure that when [patients] present early, this medicine can help," Logan said. "I've proven it right in my center." Logan said that he was aware that the medical establishment would remain sceptical until research had been undertaken involving a much larger group of patients, half of whom would be given lamivudine, and the other half a placebo. "Our people are dying and you're taking about studies?" he said. "It's a matter of doing all that I can do as a doctor to save some people's lives." He said that he decided to try using lamivudine after reading in a medical journal that HIV and Ebola replicates in the body in similar ways. Initially Logan tried the drug on a colleague who had become infected, and within two days he showed signs of improvement and survived. Researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told CNN that they would be willing to carry out follow-up tests. The World Health Organisation said that experimental use of two trial Ebola vaccines developed by GlaxoSmithKline and NewLink has begun. 据美国有线电视新闻网9月27日报道，埃博拉疫情持续肆虐，病人之多已远超医院负荷，感染人数仍在不断攀升，援助和疫苗也迟迟不见踪影，绝望之中，利比里亚一医生“兵行险着”，启用抗HIV药物进行治疗，不料竟获奇效。 在杜伯曼堡的一家隔离中心，医生洛根让诊所内的埃博拉感染者服用了治疗艾滋病的药物拉米夫定，结果15人中13人生还，死亡率从原来的70%下降至了7%。 病人伊丽莎白说：“原本胃痛得厉害，感觉很虚弱，不停地吐。吃过药以后觉得有所好转，现在已经可以进食了。” 据了解，生还病人在感染后的5天内服用了拉米夫定，而不治的两人在服用药物时已感染了5到8天。洛根表示，如果病人及早就医，药物就能更好地发挥作用，“至少我的病人已经证明了拉米夫定是有效的”。 但他同时表示，医疗机构对此疗法可能仍抱怀疑态度，只有在对大批病人进行随机对照试验后，才会转变看法。他说：“我们的病人都快死了，还讨论研究？我是个医生，要做的就是尽力多救几个人。” 洛根的灵感来源于医学杂志上的一篇文章，文章称，埃博拉病毒在人体内的复制过程和HIV病毒颇为相似，他由此产生了“用抗HIV药物治疗”的大胆想法。起初，他在染病同事身上“试药”，两天不到，该同事就显示出了好转的迹象。 美国国家过敏和传染病研究所的研究人员表示“愿意开展跟进测试”。疫苗方面，虽进展缓慢但总算也传来了好消息，制药商NewLink Genetics和葛兰素史克的两种试验性埃博拉疫苗已进入临床试验阶段。 |
