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.
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
