The high cost of the Zmapp drug and an urgent need to manufacture a cheaper alternative which will be easily attainable by individual Ebola patients in West Africa has prompted two university professors – Retired Professor of Medicine at the University of Virginia, David S. Fedson and Professor of Medicine at Brown University, Steven M. Opal – to explore the possibility of treating Ebola with drugs like statins, angiotensin-converting enzymes (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBS), which developed to treat patients with cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
These drugs can modify or reserve the abnormalities of endothelial function and coagulation- Medical conditions that has striking similarities with Ebola. [eap_ad_1] One can question the usefulness of these drugs to an Ebola patient but various evidences support that these drugs have the ability to stop infections and prevent organ failure.
Evidences show that the drugs have increased viral replications such as hepatitis C and improved overall clinical outcome on viral infections.
Most importantly, unlike experimental Ebola treatments, these drugs have been approved for sale to public and are easily assessable to anyone living in a country with a basic Healthcare system.
Although the World Health Organisation refuse to show optimism about the drugs due to a potential (but not material) risk of increasing viral infection, the professors have encouraged doctors to consider the benefits of the drugs before making a decision.
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