Last week, two American patients who reportedly received a dose of an experimental drug to treat the Ebola virus, which has not yet approved for human use, and had different reactions. One of them had the symptoms of the virus almost completely disappear … and quickly, according to a source speaking with CNN.
The Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa is the largest in recorded history. Of the more than 1,300 people infected as of Monday, one was Dr. Kent Brantly, who was brought back to the United States Saturday, and another was Nancy Writebol, who is supposed to arrive in the U.S. Tuesday. Both were from North Carolina and worked for the same mission Samaritan’s Purse.
With the mission, Brantly, as a doctor, treated Ebola victims near Monrovia, Liberia, while Writebol worked as a hygienist whose role included decontaminating those entering or leaving the Ebola treatment area at that hospital.
After it was confirmed they both had the virus, a “secret serum” reportedly made by Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc. was shipped to them in Liberia under strict instructions as for how it was to be cared for and administered, according to a source speaking with CNN.
Frozen vials of the treatment arrived Thursday, according to CNN, and were to thaw naturally for up to 10 hours. While Brantly wanted Writebol to receive the first dose, after he took a turn for the worse, a source told CNN, he asked for it. Within an hour after the medication was administered to him intravenously, the source said Brantly experienced a reversal of the symptoms. CNN reported one of the doctors calling it “miraculous.”
Writebol’s first dose, on the other hand, was not as successful, but her second dose resulted in some improvement.
