By Lexi Elo
The human trial of a drug expected to fight against the deadly Ebola virus disease commenced at the weekend in Monrovia. Z-Mapp, the drug that is currently being tested to determine its effectiveness in humans against Ebola was previously administered to two Liberian doctors and a physician assistant when they both tested positive of the virus during the peak of the outbreak last year.
Dr. Jerry Brown, co-principal investigator of the study, revealed that while it is true that many people are surviving from Ebola, all of the measures that are being used to help patients are all empirical methods. Dr. Brown, who is also Head of the ELWA II Ebola treatment unit noted that the Z-Mapp Ebola treatment study is taking place in Liberia to find a possible cure to the Ebola virus which has killed dozens of people in the country.
According to Dr. Brown: “The purpose for this Z-Mapp Ebola treatment study is to test treatment to see if we can help people with Ebola survive from the disease. The study is to be done jointly by the clinical research partnership where we are going to have scientists in Liberia partnering with scientists from the US as they conduct this study.”
“Liberians will be at the forefront of the study to ensure its safety and effectiveness as well as ensuring that there is no adverse effect on Liberians. He noted that anyone who is positive of the Ebola virus will be eligible to benefit from the Z-Mapp drug. Children, adult, pregnant women are all going to benefit from this when they are tested positive. So it doesn’t have any exclusion in terms of sex, age or your condition under which you got infected with the virus
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“Notwithstanding, there are few others who are not going to be eligible. Anyone who is tested negative from Ebola virus, definitely you will not get Z-mapp. And anyone who has received Ebola tested vaccine for the minimum of thirty days will not be eligible for the drug,” Dr. Brown stated.
Dr. Brown explained that irrespective of a person’s chemistry at the time of their enrollment in the Ebola treatment study, the patient’s clinical condition will not prevent the study team from enrolling the patient. He ensued that no one will be coerced to form part of the study, adding that all positive Ebola patients that will be enrolled in the study will have to consent to form part of the study.
“We are going to explain to you everything relating to the drug as it relates to its side effect and others before you are enrolled into the study,” he noted.
Liberia has become of the ideal places for trial Ebola medicines. Currently there is experimental trial vaccine taking place in the country.