The hope of Ebola treatment emerges: two drugs have significantly increased the survival rate of patients in a clinical trial in the Democratic Republic of Congo, announced Monday, August 12, the US health authorities, who co-financed the study. The current phase of this study, initiated in November in the African country, will be stopped so that all future patients receive these treatments that have shown positive results, added the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The treatments REGN-EB3 and mAb114 "are the first drugs which, in the framework of a solid scientific study, clearly showed a significant decrease of the mortality in people with the Ebola virus", underlined with AFP Anthony Fauci, director of the American Institute of Infectious Diseases and Allergies, part of the NIH.

>> To see: "Ebola outbreak in DRC: portrait of a killer virus"

A 34 % drop in mortality

Of the approximately 500 people analyzed for a total of 681 participants, mortality fell to 29% with REGN-EB3 and 34% with mAb114, detailed the director. For people not taking any treatment, the mortality rate is between 60 and 67%.

These two treatments are monoclonal antibodies that work by neutralizing the ability of the virus to affect other cells. Patients who received two other treatments in the study, Zmapp and Remdesivir, will be able to choose to switch to these two proven drugs. The mortality rates for Zmapp and Remdesivir were 49% and 53%, respectively.

An advance that will "save lives"

The US authorities added that the final analysis of the data collected would be carried out at the end of September or the beginning of October, and that the complete results would then be published. According to Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust UK Foundation, this move will "save lives, no doubt".

"The more we learn about these two treatments, and the way they can complement the health response of the authorities, including immunization and finding out who has been in contact (with sick patients), the closer we get to the possibility of Ebola from a terrifying disease to a preventable and curable disease, "he said.

Importance of prevention

Nevertheless, according to Anthony Fauci, if this study shows that it is possible to "drastically reduce mortality", the focus should be on prevention. "The best way to stop the epidemic is with a good vaccine, to make good searches for potential contacts, isolation, and ultimately, treatment," he said.

The NIH, the health authorities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the World Health Organization, for their part, congratulated the team that conducted this study "under particularly difficult conditions". "It is thanks to this type of rigorous research, quickly put in place, that it is possible to identify quickly and with certainty the best treatments, and to integrate them into the emergency response to Ebola," they said. highlighted.

More than 1,800 people have died of the Ebola epidemic in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo for a year. His "case fatality rate" is very high: he kills on average about half of the people he reaches, according to WHO.

With AFP