According to a top U.S. health official on Sunday, the American doctor who is one of the two humanitarian aid workers recently infected with the deadly Ebola virus is already doing well, CBC.ca reported. Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Dr. Tom Frieden, has confirmed that Dr. Kent Brantly, who was brought in at Emory University Hospital, is doing well after he was flown in on Saturday from West Africa.
"It's encouraging that he seems to be improving - that's really important - and we're hoping he'll continue to improve," Frieden said.
It could be recalled that Brantly had opted for the "experimental serum" that arrived in Liberia last week to be received by his colleague, Nancy Writebol, the group Samaritan's Purse said on Thursday. As Writebol received the serum, Brantly had tried an alternative treatment, which involved blood from a young survivor of the virus to be transfused to the doctor.
President Franklin Graham of Samaritan's Purse, said then in a statement. "Yesterday, an experimental serum arrived in the country, but there was only enough for one person. Dr. Brantly asked that it be given to Nancy Writebol. However, Dr. Brantly received a unit of blood from a 14-year-old boy who had survived Ebola because of Dr. Brantly's care. The young boy and his family wanted to be able to help the doctor that saved his life."
It is not known whether the "serum" Brantly received before he was flown to the U.S. was the same one used on Writebol, but there has been reports that there are several drugs in development to treat the virus. However, NBC News said that it had been stopped as it currently addresses concerns by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
On the other hand, Daily Mail cited a previous interview with Dr Thomas Geisbert of the University of Texas, who has studied the Ebola virus since 1988. In his earlier interview with Scientific American, he deduced that there are at least three preventative vaccines that looked promising when they were tested on primates. However, there is still work needed to be done, and dollars to fund the continuation of the studies in order to prepare one for actual use.
"The hang-up point with these vaccines is the phase I trials in humans. That's where scientists get frustrated because we know these vaccines protect animals and we don't quite understand the regulatory process of why things can't move faster. I can't give you an answer as to why it's taking so long," Geisbert said.
Citing a report by USA Today, the British tabloid said the U.S. government would begin tests on an experimental vaccine on humans as early as next month. It is not determined whether it is one of the three mentioned by Geisbert, nor if the drug has been cleared by the USFDA.
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