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Experimental Ebola drug compound shows promise

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New York: A team of scientists, including one of Indian-origin, has found potential drug candidates that successfully treated up to 90 percent of mice exposed to the Ebola virus.

Since December 2013, the Ebola virus has infected more than 25,000 people and taken the lives of more than 10,000.

But the US Food and Drug Administration has yet to approve any therapeutic drugs or vaccines against it, said researcher Rekha Panchal from the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and colleagues.

The researchers studied a class of small molecules called diazachrysenes, which they have found in lab tests to be non-toxic and effective against the most potent bacterial toxin, botulinum neurotoxin.

They wanted to screen this family of compounds for possible anti-Ebola drug candidates.

The researchers narrowed down their search to a handful of diazachrysenes.

In their study, 70 to 90 percent of the mice that received one of three of the experimental compounds survived infection and did not show any obvious side effects.

They findings appeared in the journal ACS Infectious Diseases.

Corona

Covid toll in Karnataka is a worrying sign for state government

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Even though Karnataka recorded the lowest number of Covid deaths in April since the virus struck first in 2020, the state is recording a rise in the positivity rate (1.50 per cent). Five people died from the Covid infections in April as per the statistics released by the state health department. In March, the positivity rate stood around 0.53 per cent. In the first week of April it came down to 0.38 per cent, second week registered 0.56 per cent, third week it rose to 0.79 per cent and by end of April the Covid positivity rate touched 1.19 per cent.

on an average 500 persons used to succumb everyday in the peak of Covid infection, as per the data. Health experts said that the mutated Coronavirus is losing its fierce characteristics as vaccination, better treatment facilities and awareness among the people have contributed to the lesser number of Covid deaths.

During the 4th and 6th of April two deaths were reported in Bengaluru, one in Gadag district on April 8, two deaths were reported from Belagavi and Vijayapura on April 30. The first Covid case was reported in the state in March 2020 and three Covid deaths were recorded in the month. In the following month 21 people became victims to the deadly virus, and May 2020 recorded 22 deaths. The death toll recorded everyday after May crossed three digits. However, the third wave, which started in January 2

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