New research has indicated that medication used to successfully treat the deadly Ebola virus has been discovered, as scientists have conducted tests that prove the effectiveness of this new drug despite the virus' previous 90% mortality rate.
Diseases such as Ebola are some of the most dangerous that any human can encounter, as previous outbreaks have shown how lethal it can be without proper medication.
As reported by the Independent, a 2013-16 outbreak in West Africa saw 11,325 deaths among 28,600 infections, and another in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda between 2018 and 2020 saw 2,299 people die within 3,481 reported infections.
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Overall research indicates that Ebola holds roughly a 90% death rate in infections among humans and non-human primates, yet new scientific studies might just have discovered a drug that completely eliminates the threat if taken within the right circumstances.
Published in the journal 'Science Advances', the study proposes the use of oral drug 'obeldesivir' - or ODV for short - to treat cases of Ebola within 24 hours of contraction, as proven by studies on certain species on monkey.
Previous studies involving ODV have proven to be somewhat successful when treating RNA viruses within the filovirus family, which Ebola is a part of, but these used intramuscular delivery which is difficult to properly track.
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This new research, however, used mucosal administration through oral drugs, and it was proven to be almost unilaterally a success.
Ten different macaques monkeys - five rhesus and five crab-eating - were administered Ebola, and then provided ODV within 24 hours of the exposure. They were then given ODV daily for another week and a half before the study reached its conclusion.
Miraculously, every single one of the rhesus macaques survived the Ebola exposure, with 80% of the crab-eating macaques surviving too. Treated monkeys were shown to have a higher expression of proteins that allow T cells within the immune system to work effectively, and anti-inflammatory actions were also shown to be present.
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By far one of the biggest reasons why this research is important though is due to the increased accessibility of oral-based medications.
"For outbreak response," the study outlines, "oral antivirals might present substantial advantages over now approved intravenous drugs, such as easy supply, storage, distribution, and administration."
When the key aspect of using these treatments is to take them within 24 hours post-exposure, having the drugs be easily transported, stored, and administered is a major plus.
This is similar to recent revelations that link aspirin to the reduced spread of cancer cells within the body, as if you can use medication that is easily accessible - and potentially affordable too - it becomes even more effective, discounting the already incredibly successful results in place.
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"Furthermore, these results support the potential of ODV as an oral postexposure prophylaxis with broad spectrum activity across filoviruses," the study continues, showing that further research could allow the drug to work not just with Ebola but other deadly viruses and beyond.