It is the morning after for American missionary health workers,
Dr. Kent Brantly and Mrs. Nancy Writebol. The duo who contracted the Ebola
Virus Disease while working with patients in Liberia have since been declared
cured of the virus. However, science is still unclear what the cure agent is
and what role the experimental drug, ZMapp, played in nursing the duo back to
health. Indeed, the director, Emory Hospital’s Infectious Disease Unit,
Atlanta, United States, Dr. Bruce Ribner, admitted that being an experimental
drug, it is erroneous to give credit to ZMapp. Frankly, we do not know if it
helped them, made any difference or even delayed their recovery, said Ribner
during a press conference. The doctor’s comments have called to question how a
cure is being achieved in the survivors. Across Liberia, Sierra Leone and
Guinea, tens of patients have survived the infection. It is no different in
Nigeria, where four survivors have been released from the Infectious Diseases
Hospital, Yaba, Lagos, to resume normal activities. According to the Minister
for Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chulwu, none of the survivors got any
experimental drug during treatment. He emphasised that all the survivors got
was supportive treatment such as intravenous fluid and keeping their vital
signs stable.
Punch Newspaper
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