Situation solution for people infected with MERS-CoV virus

In the context that the world has not yet prepared a vaccine for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV), US scientists have reported that it is possible to combine two antiviral drugs to treat people infected with MERS. -CoV as the original containment solution.

>>>MERS-CoV virus is less likely to spread into epidemics

The announcement was published in the Journal of Natural Medicine on September 8.

In their study, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) implanted the MERS-CoV virus into six monkeys. About 8 hours later, they used interferon alpha-2b (IFN-2b) and ribavirin , two drugs commonly used in combination to treat viral infections such as hepatitis C, to treat three children. The monkey has been transmitted the virus. The other three children were not treated for comparison.

As a result, the treated monkeys did not develop symptoms of dyspnea and only showed mild pneumonia.

They also found that the amount of MERS-CoV virus in monkeys was much less treated than in untreated animals, and the lung tissue of treated monkeys was less damaged. .

NIH scientists believe that interferon alpha-2b (IFN-2b) and ribavirin have limited the regeneration of MERS-CoV and improved clinical outcomes such as limiting inflammation and the risk of pneumonia. However, they acknowledge that it is not possible to know whether these two drugs will work for severe MERS-CoV infections.

MERS-CoV virus is considered a "relative" of the virus that causes Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), the virus that caused the disease in Asia in 2003 with 8,273 cases of infection and a death rate of 9%. .

Like SARS, the MERS-CoV virus also causes flu symptoms and is thought to be transmitted from animals to humans, but more dangerous than SARS because it can cause kidney failure and the death rate of infected people up to 51 %

MERS-CoV was first discovered in September 2012.

As of early September, the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed 52 deaths from new viruses, approximately 50% of people infected globally (110 cases).

This disease is currently the most raging in Saudi Arabia.