• Question: a new drug called ZMAPP has been found to treat Ebola, but many scientists don't approve of it. why?

    Asked by sloth-savior to Aaron, David, Elaine, Sarah, Zoe on 18 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Sarah Ashwood

      Sarah Ashwood answered on 18 Nov 2014:

      ZMAPP is a very new experimental drug that hasn’t gone through any of the regulatory checks to see if (1) it can actually work as an Ebola cure or (2) it is safe for human use without severe side effects. Someone in america who contracted Ebola was given this drug however they still unfortunately died in hospital.
      The drug is controversial because it might work, we don’t really know. But because of the severity of the outbreak in West Africa the countries affected are having severe economic and social difficulties. So it is being used as a treatment – in an extreme situation sometimes a drug will be rushed through without all the checks. But this isn’t necessarily the best thing to do, as it could do more harm than good!

    • Photo: David Foley

      David Foley answered on 18 Nov 2014:

      I agree with Sarah – drugs that haven’t been through the proper trials are not drugs at all. We have no idea if ZMAPP works, how well it works and what the risks are. Bear in mind that 75% of people will recover from Ebola if treated carefully with simple medicines and fluids. ZMAPP could be worse than this – we don’t know.

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