BN 4_A Systematic Review of the current

A Systematic Review of the current Immunotherapy and
Antiviral Agents in Treatment of Ebola Virus Outbreak.
Introduction: Ebola hemorrhagic fever is a severe, systemic viral disease
affecting humans and non-human primates, with case fatality rates of up
to 90%. Currently, neither a specific treatment nor a vaccine licensed for
use in humans is available1,2
Aims: To examine the efficacy and safety of current immunotherapy and
antiviral agents against Ebola outbreak.
Methods: Systematic reviews of the current literature were carried out from
November 2004 to November 2014 through the use of Wiley Online Library,
PubMed Central PMC, CINHAL, Cochrane Library, Biomed Central, Medline,
and Science Direct.
Results: Three papers
have been identified in this
current systematic review.
The results showed that
several immunotherapy and
antiviral agents have been
tested including BCX44303,
ZMapp4 and TKM-Ebola.
These agents can provide
effective protection in nonhuman primates and in
limited numbers of human
patients.
Conclusions:
This study showed that immunotherapy and antiviral agents are
effective in the treatment of Ebola virus infection in non-human primates. As a result the
drug (ZMapp) was used to treat a limited numbers of humans who were infected by
Ebola and they survived. As the outbreak continues to spread there is no time to
conduct traditional clinical efficacy and safety trail before use in human subjects.
Moreover the efficacy of drugs can’t be accurately judged due to the heterogeneity of
participants. Further clinical trails are essential as a prophylactic measure
against any future outbreaks.
Dr. Mahmood M Hardan, Dr.Susan Plummer, Mr.Peter Milburn
Canterbury Christ Church University
References
1-Hoenen T, Groseth A, Feldmann H, Current Ebola Vaccines: PMC julay 2012; 12 (7): 859-872.
2- Marzi A, Feldman H,Ebola virus vaccines: an overview of current approaches:PubMed, 2014 Apr;13(4):521-31.
3-Marburg and Ebola hemorrhagic fevers--pathogens, epidemiology and therapy:PubMed;2014 Sep;37(9):324-30.
4-Gray C, Addo M, Schmidir R,A Dead-End Host: Is There a Way Out? A Position Piece on the Ebola Virus Outbreak by the International Union of Immunology Societies;2014;
5: 562..