Source:voanews - International health group Doctors Without Borders is launching clinical trials in West Africa to test the effectiveness of three potential Ebola treatments.
The group announced Thursday it hopes to begin the trials next month with the first results available as early as February.
Doctors Without Borders is partnering with three other organizations to conduct the separate trials, two of which involve antiviral drugs.
The French National Institute of Health and Medical Research will test a drug called favipiravir at an Ebola treatment center in Guinea. The University of Oxford will test the other drug, called brincidofovir, at a site that has not been chosen yet.
In the final trial, the Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine will test how well Ebola patients respond when given blood or plasma that contains antibodies from people who have survived the virus.
Doctors Without Borders says all of the patients in the trials will be informed about any potential risks and consent to the therapy.
It is also urging drug manufacturers to ramp up their supplies even before the trials end so that any treatments found to be effective can be applied without a delay.
The worst-ever outbreak of Ebola began in Guinea late last year before spreading to other countries, mainly neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The World Health Organization said Wednesday there have been 5,160 reported deaths in the outbreak and more than 14,000 total cases.
