Since mid-December, the French Institute for Health and Medical Research (Inserm) has been supervising the clinical trial of a new antiviral treatment against Ebola in Guinea. The first results of this trial carried out on 80 patients (adults and children) are “encouraging” announced Inserm because “they show a reduction in the number of deaths in adults and adolescents with a low multiplication of the virus”.
This Japanese antiviral treatment, favipiravir (Avigan), produced by a subsidiary of Fujifilm, has already been shown to be effective in animals. It is currently the only potential treatment that can be quickly produced and easy to use (it comes in tablet form).
Ebola epidemic on the rise
However, this antiviral treatment must be tested on a larger number of people to be definitively validated. The researchers still see a glimmer of hope, while, for the first time since the start of 2015, the number of new cases of Ebola fever is on the rise in the three West African countries. most affected by the virus: Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. On Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 124 new cases had been recorded in the week (39 in Guinea, 5 in Liberia and 80 in Sierra Leone) against 65 the previous week.
“The geographic progression in Guinea and the wide spread in Sierra Leone, as well as the overall rise in cases show that the fight against Ebola still faces serious challenges,” added the WHO. A total of 22,495 people have contracted the disease in nine countries, of which 8,981 have died, according to the latest figures.
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