LAGOS
State government has rejected the anti-ebola trial drug Nanosilver made
available by a Nigerian doctor in the US and opted instead to approve the Mapp
Biopharmaceutical serum Zmapp to treat all infected patients. So far, four Nigerians have died from the
deadly ebola virus disease (EVD) and a total of 12 are reported to have been
infected by the virus.
Desperate to address the trend, earlier this month,
Nigeria's health minister Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, wrote to the US Centre
for Disease Control (CDC) asking it to send samples of the experimental serum
currently being worked upon that is believed to be a cure to ebola. In response, a Nigerian doctor in the US
sent samples of the drug Nanosilver to Lagos but the US drug regulator, the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has refused to endorse the drug. It added
that Nanosilver is registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as
a pesticide.
Samples of Nanosilver have
arrived in Lagos but in line with the advice given by the US authorities, the
Lagos State government has rejected the drug. Instead, it has opted to use
Zmapp, which the CDC has made available to Liberia, after the two Americans who
contracted the virus were treated with it and began to improve. Dr Jude Idris, the Lagos State health
commissioner, said: “The state is not ready to take chances with the health of
the patients at all. Should we have access to Zmapp now, right away, we will
start the administration on the patients and we are attending a meeting soon
with the Task Force on Ebola to know if the Zmapp drug is available as stated
by the federal government.”
Although Professor
Chukwu, said Zmapp was expected to arrive Nigeria on Thursday, it is still
unclear if government has taken delivery of it yet. So far, the only thing
confirmed that the country has received is personal protective equipment and
some personnel who are in the country to train Nigerian health workers have
arrived too. So far, Nigeria appears to
be winning the fight against ebola as a female patient who was infected with
EVD by the Liberian- American carrier, Patrick Sawyer, has made a recovery and
has been discharged from the isolation centre where she was being kept in
Lagos. Professor Chukwu confirmed that the patient, whose identity has not been
revealed, was asked to go home after all the necessary medical examinations
were carried out.
Professor Chukwu
said: “The total number of ebola cases now stands at 12, while the number of
deaths remains four. The people under surveillance in Lagos are now 189, while
six are in Enugu, in southeast Nigeria.”
According to the minister, Nanosilver, did not meet the requirements of
the National Health Research ethics code. To contain the virus, Lagos State has
set up isolation units, where it is keeping all patients.
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