Scientists have been working double-time in finding ways to protect humans from the deadly MERS virus. Their recent experiment involving two antiviral drugs tested on monkeys may help protect humans from the deadly virus.
Darryl Falzarano, lead author of the study and other researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases formulated a drug cocktail-- a mix of ribavirin and interferon-- and administered it to three of the six rhesus monkeys. These monkeys were infected with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome eight hours before the treatment.
After the treatment, the monkeys were subjected to blood tests. Those given with drug cocktail showed less virus in their blood. On the other hand, those that did not receive the drug cocktail became terribly sick with breathing difficulties and signs of pneumonia.
"Everything fit together towards suggesting that treatment definitely helps lead to a better outcome than the absence of treatment," Falzarano told CTV News.
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the institute’s director, called the study “not a game changer, but an important observation," in an interview with the N.Y Times.
He also admitted that some treatment may work on monkeys but not on humans but may be worth trying if we don't have any choice.
"But if I were a doctor with MERS patients, and I had nothing else to give them, I wouldn’t hesitate. If someone has advanced disease, there’s 50 percent mortality.”
The study was published in the Sept.7 issue of Nature Medicine.
Two more Saudi women died because of the virus while two men were infected, according to Reuters report on Sunday. The World Health Organization (WHO) also released a report that MERS had already infected 102 people with an almost 50 percent mortality rate. Scientists admitted that there is no confirmed treatment yet or vaccine that can save or protect people from being infected.
