Tubmanburg, Bomi County - Desperate for a cure and frustrated at the massive death toll from Ebola, Dr. Gabriel; Gorbee Logan turned to a rare unconventional method, trying lamivudine, a drug used to treat HIV patients in Ebola patients under his care. The results, according to Dr. Logan, County Health Officer, Tubmanburg Hospital, has been impressive.
Word of Dr. Logan's method is generating buzz and some suspicions even as international drug makers race the clock in search of a drug capable of beating the menacing virus. To date, the trial drug ZMAPP has been tested on some patients, but it is still uncertain whether it has been effective in treating cases it was tested on. Dr. Logan is quick to dismiss the belief of many concerned that Tubmanburg Hospital is using Anti Retrovirus Drugs (ARD) that is used to treat HIV/AIDS to treat the Ebola survivors.
Says Dr. Logan: "There is a particular type tablet that forms part of ARD referred to as Lamivudine and it is a 150 mg tablets. This medication has been doing well for some of the patients that I have treated."
Recovery in 3-5 Days
Dr. Logan's recovery rate has been impressive as he cautions that his method only works if the patients turn themselves in on time. "When the patients come early, and they are put on this medication, they recover within three to five days. This medication is not specifically for HIV/AIDS, I want this to be clear, but an Anti Retrovirus agent that is used to treat other virus illnesses like hepatitis 'B'. It is one of those medications that are combined with two or three other medications to treat HIV/AIDS, so it should not really be called an HIV/AIDS drugs," He says.
Dr. Logan explains that he got the idea to try Lamivudine on Ebola patients when he read in scientific journals that HIV and Ebola replicate inside the body in much the same way. "Ebola is a brainchild of HIV," he said. "It's a destructive strain of HIV."
Dr. Logan says he first tried an HIV drug called acyclovir without success. Later, he said, he tried Lamivudine on a health care worker who had come down with the virus, but showed signs of improvement and survived in only a few days.
Hopeful 'Promise'
CNN reported recently that Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases gave thumbs up to Dr. Logan's method because Lamivudine is a nucleotide analog, and other drugs in this class are being studied to treat Ebola. Promise Galakimene, 26, one of thirteen patients who have been successfully treated by Dr. Logan told FrontPageAfrica that she owes her life to the doctor after losing a good portion of her entire family.
"My husband and son died from Ebola, and after three days, the bodies were taken for burial. And one week later, my mother died and then my 1 year, four months old baby also died, so, there are four persons who have died the disease because of me. I just have to go through this period because worries cannot solve bring them back or solve the problem."
Promise, now Ebola free says her case started like malaria. When her skin was very hot, the Ahmadiya Clinic told her it was typhoid and three plus malaria. But after a few days, she says it became worse.
"It became worse and my sister took my children to Gbarnga. I was very weak and never had the strength to even stand, so I used to crawl on my knees to come outside, but nobody ever sprayed me or put chlorine in food to give to me. So I would like to tell people to stop carrying rumors around," Promise lamented.
Promise, who is said to be one of the first Ebola survivors in Bomi, was treated at home with her remaining children before the Ebola Treatment Unit was built. And when the ETU was built, three other persons were taken in and treated.
Pointing to a sick child lying outside of the ETU to catch fresh air, Dr. Logan says the child, 7, and his sister, 10, were brought in days ago in already in an already-bad state and bleeding, after their mother had died over a week ago. He says he was not sure whether the Lamivudine would work on that stage, but was hoping it would.
"The hospital can feed us enough and give us medicine. So I would like to encourage people who feel the symptoms early, to go to the hospital early to get well, instead of waiting for it to take over your whole body before you do it. Ebola is real and in Liberia so nobody should say it is not in Liberia."
Promise who says the hospital has asked her to work there in order to encourage and motivate other Ebola patients to go for treatment, says her new position is a means to an end because she has lost a good portion of her family but still has her remaining three children to care for, since her husband is dead.
"I want to take the children of my family people in Bong County and then come back to work for the hospital. When I work with the hospital, it will help other people with Ebola to come to the hospital and take treatment fast. I want to thank the doctors of the Bomi hospital for saving my life and they should continue their good work and do not mind what people are saying. I also want the government to support the nurses financially so that they cannot stop doing what they are doing."
Trial and Error
For Dr. Logan, the success boils down to trial and error prompted by desperation after seeing so many people die. "We are using several medications to treat our patients here. We have been trying that medication here on fifteen other patients. And out of those fifteen persons, we have two classifieds as survivors and four others have done their second test, that turned out negative and we are awaiting the third test result and it is 99.9 percent possible that the third test result will also be negative. Meaning by next week, we will have 6 survivors."
Dr. Logan says there are an additional four other persons in the unit who are on this same medication and doing well. "So with this background, in my opinion as a doctor, this medication is helping very much."
Dr. Logan says fluid management is also a big part of his method. "When patients come, we have to rehydrate them because they are vomiting and toileting and are losing lots of fluids, so we are giving some supplements as well. We are also giving antibiotics, because one of the things the virus does, is that it is destroying major organs in the body and in the process of this destruction, infections step in.
In fact, one of the things that will first kill the patient before the virus is the infection. So we will also have to give stronger antibiotics to be able to combat the infection on the other hand. As you know, in the virus situation, patients will have fever, so you will have to give anti-paretic. So the management aspect is not only the Lamiphodyne but Lamephodyne plus others so let us stop calling it HIV drugs."
Dr. Logan is mindful that lamivudine can cause liver and other problems, but he says it's worth the risk because a lot of people are dying from the virus. "Our people are dying. It's a matter of doing all that I can do as a doctor to save some people's lives."
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