Four
more people who had been undergoing treatment for the Ebola Virus
Disease were on Monday discharged from the Lagos treatment centre after
being certified free.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi
Chukwu, made this known in a statement that was issued on Monday after
Natural Solutions Foundation, the manufacturers of Nano Silver,claimed
that the drug was the only one capable of curing the deadly virus.
Chukwu said in the statement by his
Special Assistant on Media and Communication, Mr. Dan Nwomeh, that the
four discharged persons comprised two male medical doctors, a female
nurse and a female patient.
He explained that the three medical
personnel participated in the treatment of the Liberian-American,
Patrick Sawyer, who was the first person to die of the disease in
Nigeria.
The fourth , according to him, was at the First Consultant Hospital, Obalende, Lagos when Sawyer’s case was being managed.
The statement read, “The Minister of
Health has announced that four additional confirmed cases of EVD who
have been managed successfully and are now disease free have been
discharged today(Monday).
“They include two male medical doctors
and one female nurse. The three participated in the treatment of the
index case(Sawyer) while the fourth person was a female patient at the
time the index case was on admission.
“This brings to five, the total number of patients diagnosed with EVD who have now been discharged from hospital.”
Chukwu had on Saturday, announced that a
female doctor , who was the first Nigerian to be diagnosed of EVD,
had been discharged .
He had also said that Nigeria had
recorded 12 cases of EVD, including four deaths. The number of
Nigerians under surveillance in Lagos and Enugu, according to him, is
195.
The minister added that the patients
under treatment had been moved to the new 40-bed capacity isolation ward
provided by the Lagos State Government.
ZMapp not available in large quantity –US
Before the statement was made available
to journalists, Chukwu and the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr.
James Entwistle, met in Abuja over the efforts to contain the virus.
Entwistle told journalists after the
meeting that ZMapp, a US manufactured drug for Ebola treatment was
not available in large quantity.
He howver commended the Federal
Government for its efforts to contain the spread of the disease but
advised against placing too much emphasis on the procurement of
experimental drugs for the virus.
Nigerians, according to him, should
support all directives by government on personal hygiene and minimise
physical contact with sick people.
The ambassador assured that Washington would continue to cooperate with the Nigeria to contain the spread of the disease.
He said, “On the issue of experimental
drugs, we’ll see down the road what is possible. But there are not huge
quantities now. And we think the focus now needs to be on exactly what
you (Nigerians) are doing, the isolation ward and screening. It is
especially important that now your government is doing a very good job
on contact tracing.
“I noticed that when I flew into this
country on Thursday night, before I left the plane, I filled out a
questionnaire. I was very impressed because I even had to put in my seat
number which is a very good idea.
“So, if you ever have to trace the guy
sitting next to me, you know where I am. So I have been impressed by
these things and I encourage the government of Nigeria to keep at it as I
know they will.
“I always say we have a broad
partnership between our two countries which means we do things together
as equals to make the world a better place. I can’t think of a more
important example today than our Ebola cooperation.”
Entwistle noted that both countries had
been cooperating effectively on the Ebola issue and would have to keep
working hard on it.
He said, “It may last for a while but
there are some encouraging signs. The Emergency Operation Centre I
understand is working well. The isolation ward I understand is working
well.
“As part of the broad partnership
between our two countries, we have to just keep collaborating and
cooperating and keep working hard.”
Entwistle, said he was in the minister’s
office to discuss the anti-Ebola cooperation , adding that he was also
in a room in Washington when US Vice-President Biden and President
Goodluck Jonathan talked about the Ebola crisis.
He said both leaders “pledged total cooperation between your government and my government on this issue.”
Chukwu also spoke on the meeting with the ambassador through a statement by his Special Assistant on Media and Communication.
He said that other experimental drugs were currently being evaluated by the Treatment Research Group for Ebola.
The minister explained that the drugs would be included in the treatment regimen whenever they were cleared .
“As soon as any of the experimental
drugs is cleared by the National Health Research Ethics Committee and is
made available, we shall include it in the treatment regimen subject to
the informed consent of the patient,” Chukwu said.
He recalled that Nano Silver , which
was made available to the Federal Government last Thursday was not
cleared by the National Health Research Ethics Committee.
The minister said, “Although, the drug
had since last Thursday been made available to the Emergency Operations
Centre in Lagos, it had not been administered to any patient because we
were awaiting clearance by the NHREC.
“I regret to inform you that the drug
did not meet the requirements of the National Health Research Ethics
code. Accordingly, approval for its use was withheld by the NHREC.”
The Lagos State Commissioner for Health,
Dr Jide Idris, told journalists at the Infectious Disease Hospital,
Yaba also on Monday , that the survivors had reunited with their
families.
He said, “Out of the eight people in the
isolation centre, one was released on Sunday while four were released
today(Monday), making it five people that have so far survived the
disease. Only three patients are now remaining at the centre.
“So far, 12 people were confirmed
infected with Ebola in Nigeria, including the index case and three
Nigerians that had died of the disease, leaving eight people at the
centre out of which five have been discharged.”
Idris explained that before any Ebola
patient could be discharged, he/she must have been symptom-free for
three days and tested negative to the disease in line with WHO standard.
He said the four patients discharged were symptom-free for three days and had tested negative to the disease.
Idris ,who added that the discharged
people would have to undergo periodic checks at the centre, disclosed
that three new suspected Ebola cases had been recorded.
Two of the cases in Lagos, he
said, came into contact with Sawyer. The commissioner added that the
blood sample of the third person was brought from Kaduna as there was
no testing facility in the state.
Nano Silver can cure Ebola, says manufacturer
The NSF, the manufacturer of Nano Silver, had earlier on Monday, said the drug was capable of curing Ebola.
The company’s Managing Director, Dr.
Rima Laibow, in a Webcast on Youtube, said the controversial drug had in
the past been used in the management of Ebola patients in some African
countries.
Laibow, who however did not mention the
countries, spoke against the backdrop of the Federal Government’s
dismissal of Nano Silver as being unsafe for EVD management.
Chukwu had on Saturday told
journalists that the drug was rejected by the NHREC because it
failed to meet the safety and ethical requirements.
However, Laibow argued in the webcast that there was no other effective solution against Ebola apart from Nano Siver.
She said,“ Ebola is surging through
various parts of Africa and it is just a plane ride from the rest of the
world. As of now, it is said that there is no cure or treatment against
Ebola and that is not true.
“In fact, there is a well known, well
characterised nutrient against the disease and that is Nano Silver. It
is non-toxic and it does not require refrigeration. It is
inexpensive, self sterilising and it can be given to every member of the
community from the tiniest baby to the pregnant mother and the most
fragile elderly person that is infected.”
Nano Silver, according to her, “leaves
the beneficial bacteria and the healthy cells of the patient unaffected
but it does kill every pathogen against which it has been tested
worldwide without exception. There is no other effective solution
against Ebola apart from this.”
On why the drug has not been approved
globally for the management of Ebola, Laibow explained that it needed to
go through different stages of trial before it could go public.
She stated that NSF’s team of experts
were ready to assist any country interested in using the drug for the
management of Ebola and other communicable diseases.
Laibow added, “There are different
scientific reasons why we could not just go public with it, but it has
been brought forward now.
“It is available in large quantities and
it is unlimited in its effectiveness. The Natural Solutions Limited and
I, stand ready to assist the people of the world in deploying safe,
non-toxic, inexpensive and available solution against Ebola and every
other communicable disease which
WHO advises Ebola-hit countries to screen travellers
The World Health Organisation has
advised countries affected by Ebola to check people departing at their
international airports, seaports and major border crossings and stop
those with signs of the virus from traveling.
The United Nations health agency
reiterated in a statement on Monday, that the risk of contracting Ebola
inside an aircraft was small .
“Affected countries are requested to
conduct exit screening of all persons at international airports,
seaports and major land crossings, for unexplained febrile illness
consistent with potential Ebola infection. Any person with an illness
consistent with EVD should not be allowed to travel unless the travel
is part of an appropriate medical evacuation,” it stressed.
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