PLoS medicine
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Antiviral efficacy of favipiravir against Ebola virus: A translational study in cynomolgus macaques.
Despite repeated outbreaks, in particular the devastating 2014-2016 epidemic, there is no effective treatment validated for patients with Ebola virus disease (EVD). Among the drug candidates is the broad-spectrum polymerase inhibitor favipiravir, which showed a good tolerance profile in patients with EVD (JIKI trial) but did not demonstrate a strong antiviral efficacy. In order to gain new insights into the antiviral efficacy of favipiravir and improve preparedness and public health management of future outbreaks, we assess the efficacy achieved by ascending doses of favipiravir in Ebola-virus-infected nonhuman primates (NHPs). ⋯ Our results suggest that favipiravir may be an effective antiviral drug against Ebola virus that relies on RNA chain termination and possibly error catastrophe. These results, together with previous data collected on tolerance and pharmacokinetics in both NHPs and humans, support a potential role for high doses of favipiravir for future human interventions.
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In a Guest Editorial, Madhukar Pai discusses the need for high-burden burden, middle-income countries to take a leading role in tuberculosis research.
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In a Perspective, Tammy Hoffmann and colleagues discuss medical decision making for elderly patients with multimorbidity.
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In a Perspective, M. Afran Ikram and Maarten Leening discuss the evolving approaches to determining cardiovascular risk.
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In a Perspective, Lorenz von Seidlein and Jacqueline L. Deen discuss the implications of Andrew Azman and colleagues' accompanying study for management of cholera outbreaks.