While large pharmaceutical companies scramble to develop vaccines that hopefully will be ready for use early next year and the Food and Drug Administration warns on manufacturers offering fake cures to Ebola, a doctor in Liberia is doing his own part in treating his community-to some success.
Dr. Gorbee Logan works as a Tubmanburg Hospital county health officer in Liberia, one of the countries that have been severely affected in the recent Ebola outbreak. Frustrated and upset by the rapid rise of death, he became proactive and started treating patients with an HIV drug called Lamivudine, and so far, he's already save more than 10 lives. Prior to Lamivudine, he used a different HIV drug called acyclovir, which wasn't successful.
Dr. Logan, nevertheless, wants to emphasize that the treatment isn't for HIV. Instead, he uses the same anti-retrovirus agent that is combined with other medications to create a cocktail for treating HIV and AIDS. He developed this idea when he read in one of the journals that the replication process of HIV and Ebola is very similar, to the point that Dr. Logan calls the latter as a "destructive" HIV strain.
Based on his treatment, 13 people had already survived with a mortality rate of 13%. It has a recovery period between 1 and 5 days. However, according to the doctor, for the treatment to really work, patients should come in during the early stages of their disease. He's also aware that the medications may have some adverse effects on the liver, but he also believes the immediate need to treat the outbreak is the most primary concern.
Dr. Logan's treatment protocol received support from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Anthony Fauci mentions in a CNN report that similar classes of drugs used by Dr. Logan are currently being tested as possible Ebola treatment. In fact, he asked CNN to forward his e-mail address to Logan for a possible follow-up on the treatment. Logan, on his part, plans to contact the director soon.
