Scientists are one step closer to developing a treatment for the deadly Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection, which has claimed 180 victims, including 50 deaths, since it was first detected in Saudi Arabia in 2012, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
In a new study, scientists have found that a cocktail of two licensed antiviral drugs--ribavirin and interferon-alpha 2b--reduces the replication of the virus, also known as MERS-CoV, in a monkey model of the disease. The study appears in the Sept. 8 edition of Nature Medicine.
MERS, a viral respiratory illness, is troubling because of its high mortality rate. But other coronaviruses don't usually don't cause severe disease, study co-author Darryl Falzarano told FierceBiotechResearch. Falzarano is a postdoctoral fellow at Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, MT, part of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
"We still don't know if MERS has the potential to become a pandemic like SARS did," Falzarano said. "We don't know when and if that can happen. The disease that we've seen so far is quite severe in a lot of cases." Also a coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, emerged in China in 2002 and in less than a year caused 8,273 cases and 775 deaths, according to WHO.
Falzarano and his team infected 6 rhesus macaques with MERS-CoV and followed up 8 hours later, treating half of the monkeys with the two-drug regimen. Researchers observed that the treated animals showed no evidence of clinical disease. Compared to the untreated animals, the treatment group had no breathing difficulties and only minimal X-ray evidence of pneumonia. Treated monkeys also had lower levels of the virus and less severe tissue damage in the lungs.
Despite its promise, Falzarano said the drug combo does have side effects in humans. The antiviral ribavirin can raise the risk for temporary anemia while on the drug, and interferon, which is already taken by hepatitis C patients, can cause flu-like symptoms and fever. Falzarano said while the ribavirin-interferon isn't ideal, it's the best defense against the virus, which has no current treatment other than supportive care. Falzarano said his team is continuing to study other treatment options.
- read the press release
- here's the study abstract