STAT

Modern science has delivered the world powerful tools to defeat Ebola. It is not enough

To declare victory against the Ebola virus would be to overlook fundamental truths about outbreaks. Ebola will never be vanquished by vaccines and drugs alone.
Rubber gloves and boots used by health workers treating Ebola patients are hung to dry after being disinfected at a treatment center in Beni, Congo.

By some measures, the world has at last reached a tipping point in the decades-long fight against Ebola, one of the most treacherous infectious diseases known to mankind. An experimental vaccine is believed to be effective, and this week came word that that one and perhaps even two drugs appear to significantly reduce the fatality rate among treated patients.

But to declare victory against the virus would be to overlook fundamental truths about outbreaks. In some circumstances at least — and the current long-running outbreak is one — Ebola will not be vanquished by vaccines and drugs alone.

“I think the news today is fantastic. It gives us a tool in our toolbox against Ebola. But it doesn’t in itself stop Ebola,” Dr. Mike Ryan, who runs the World Health Organization’s health emergencies program, told the virus.

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from STAT

STAT2 min read
STAT+: Pharmalittle: We’re Reading About A GLP-1 Side Effect, U.K. Clinical Trial Transparency, And More
A new study links GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic to a higher risk of aspiration pneumonia — a lung infection caused by food breathed into the lungs — after endoscopies.
STAT1 min read
STAT+: Medicare Expected To Negotiate Obesity Drug Prices Soon, New Analysis Predicts
Medicare will likely choose the obesity drug semaglutide for price negotiation “within the next few years,” according to a new analysis.
STAT2 min read
STAT+: Pharmalittle: We’re Reading About An AstraZeneca Deal, A WHO Pandemic Pact, And More
AstraZeneca agreed to acquire Fusion Pharmaceuticals in a deal worth more than $2 billion, picking up a company focused on targeted radiation therapies for cancer.

Related Books & Audiobooks