"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 the Anti Retrovirus agent that is used to treat other virus illnesses like hepatitis 'B'. But 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." - Dr. G. Gorbee Logan, County Health Officer, Tubmanburg Hospital

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."

By Mae Azango