Thai researchers' breakthrough: Siriraj patents antibody for Ebola haemorrhagic fever

[noitom]

Odd that this supposed Thai breakthrough on Ebola cure as sated in the Thai press early in the week receives no news in international press.

[Lupatria]

To me this is quite scary.

In order to develop an antibody - or even do research into doing so - surely they would need the active Virus?

What half-wit would deliberately import such a deadly disease?

I would also be very concerned about the security / quarantine facilities at Sirirat.

Patrick

reported in the International Business Times UK eddition

"Doctors at the hospital told the Indian news website NDTV that researchers did not import the Ebola virus into Thailand to develop the treatment, but instead used less-virulent viruses that produce similar haemorrhagic fevers."

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ebola-outbreak-thailands-siriraj-hospital-creates-antibody-treatment-deadly-virus-1467727

Two things come to mind: 'one size fits all' and 'same same but different'

[ggold]

Odd that this supposed Thai breakthrough on Ebola cure as sated in the Thai press early in the week receives no news in international press.

I'm currious to know how they managed to get samples of the ebola virus to create these anti bodies?

Knowing how good they are at keeping things secure wonder how long before we have an Ebola outbreak here?

[Chris Lawrence]

Who will be the human guinea pigs to be tested? Its only at desk top evealuation at the moment, which means a long way to becoming a cure. So the crowing about 'having a cure' is a bit of a misnomer.

[rethaier]

This is good news, let's wait and see if anything positive develops out of this

but Some people cant find anything positive to say about Thailand. If tomorrow it was announced that god revealed him self and he was Thai, people would complain about what terrible job he did designing the Giraffe

maybe the negativity and doubt stem from the fact the Thais have the lowest average IQ in the world and people have no faith that they can do better than the Japanese who possess, I believe, the second highest IQ in the world. But who knows even a blind pig can find an acorn. Just a suggestion.

[rethaier]

It seems like almost every day after the military coup that we hear about another scientific or technological breakthrough has been made in Thailand.

I'm waiting for the announcement that Thailand has developed a new vaccine that will prevent people's infection from the virulent disease called "democracy." Currently, the only known treatment for the symptoms of democracy is martial law and restriction of human rights. But this is only a short-term solution as often democracy will reinfect people after a period of denial of freedoms and of persistent intrusion of government into people's personal lives.

What about the even more devastating diseases of monopolization, compound interest and capitalism?

[blundaman]

Doesn't Thailand already have enough bad publicity to without add more edotic news

hear hear, let's erradickhate ebolic spelling too

[blundaman]

It seems like almost every day after the military coup that we hear about another scientific or technological breakthrough has been made in Thailand.

I'm waiting for the announcement that Thailand has developed a new vaccine that will prevent people's infection from the virulent disease called "democracy." Currently, the only known treatment for the symptoms of democracy is martial law and restriction of human rights. But this is only a short-term solution as often democracy will reinfect people after a period of denial of freedoms and of persistent intrusion of government into people's personal lives.

What about the even more devastating diseases of monopolization, compound interest and capitalism?

tsk, tsk ..surely you mean to say 'good corporate governance'

[kurnell]

I thought there had to be years of testing involved before a cure can be declared? Have they tried it on humans suffering from the virus? Is this like the claim that they can solve Bangkok traffic in 6 weeks or solving the flood problem by dropping boats into the Chao Phraya and turning on the engines to drain the river? This seems like a story you would tell to a gullible 4 year old.

Has anyone bothered to read the story?

"Prof Dr Wanpen Chaicumpa, who led the research team on this medical breakthrough, said her faculty would inform the World Health Organisation about this success in the hope that further cooperation would speed up development at the next step.

She said the antibody treatment was set to be tested on monkeys and humans in the next few months at a private laboratory, arranged via her institute's cooperation with the University of Florida in the United States.

Wanpen said the therapeutic antibody created by her team had many special characteristics. "For example, it is very small, is able to enter infected cells and is thus accessible to the intracellular virus proteins. It should then be able to help stop the virus production in the infected cells," she said, adding that her faculty had already patented the innovation.

Prof Ruengpung Sutthent, deputy dean of research at the same faculty, said one of the major challenges for further development of the antibody treatment was the limited laboratory capacity.

The research team now hopes the government will financially support further research on Ebola antibody development. It expects further research to require about Bt1 billion budget."

Yes. I also read the headline

[rethaier]

It seems like almost every day after the military coup that we hear about another scientific or technological breakthrough has been made in Thailand.

I'm waiting for the announcement that Thailand has developed a new vaccine that will prevent people's infection from the virulent disease called "democracy." Currently, the only known treatment for the symptoms of democracy is martial law and restriction of human rights. But this is only a short-term solution as often democracy will reinfect people after a period of denial of freedoms and of persistent intrusion of government into people's personal lives.

What about the even more devastating diseases of monopolization, compound interest and capitalism?

tsk, tsk ..surely you mean to say 'good corporate governance'

Blundaman I apologize for being too broad in my statement but I was not sure the less erudite among us would fully comprehend "corporate governance".

[slipperx]

Simply UNBELIEVABLE!

How can they state they've found a cure!!?? They themselves confirm that they haven't ever tested on Ebola virusses. Not to talk about testing on animals or humans.

So, I find it simply disgusting, to use a world-endangering outbreak of this terrible disease to collect $$$$$$$$$$ for new facilities.

Cause that's what it's all about.

Shame!

Deceit and over exaggeration is the epitome of Thainess - it's always about money and self-aggrandizement.

[cloghead]

To me this is quite scary.

In order to develop an antibody - or even do research into doing so - surely they would need the active Virus?

What half-wit would deliberately import such a deadly disease?

I would also be very concerned about the security / quarantine facilities at Sirirat.

Patrick

reported in the International Business Times UK eddition

"Doctors at the hospital told the Indian news website NDTV that researchers did not import the Ebola virus into Thailand to develop the treatment, but instead used less-virulent viruses that produce similar haemorrhagic fevers."

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ebola-outbreak-thailands-siriraj-hospital-creates-antibody-treatment-deadly-virus-1467727

"but instead used less-virulent viruses"

Like smallpox and/or bubonic plague???

The mind boggles...

[gemini81]

LOL, hub of big talk.

[SABloke]

This is good news, let's wait and see if anything positive develops out of this

but Some people cant find anything positive to say about Thailand. If tomorrow it was announced that god revealed him self and he was Thai, people would complain about what terrible job he did designing the Giraffe

maybe the negativity and doubt stem from the fact the Thais have the lowest average IQ in the world and people have no faith that they can do better than the Japanese who possess, I believe, the second highest IQ in the world. But who knows even a blind pig can find an acorn. Just a suggestion.

Making a statement with conviction, does not make it a fact. Nice try though...

[Thai at Heart]

This is good news, let's wait and see if anything positive develops out of this

but Some people cant find anything positive to say about Thailand. If tomorrow it was announced that god revealed him self and he was Thai, people would complain about what terrible job he did designing the Giraffe

Because ,normally, this would be proven and safe before it was announced to the world.

Anyone can sit in front of a newspaper and claim they have a can of world peace they have developed. Until it's tested it is exactly "snake oil".

[orosee]

Did everybody forget that Thailand is host to another hemorrhagic fever, Dengue? So there's been an interest in finding a cure or protection against it in Thailand for a long time, why should it be surprising if something pops up that has the potential to be used against Ebola as well? A lot of people here must be familiar with the history of Viagra, which was also a surprise discovery.

Now for a lot of people here it is crucially important that they can regularly claim that Thailand has not contributed anything positive to the betterment of mankind, so I can understand how much of a risk such an important announcement is at this time. Thais suddenly sitting at the front of the bus! Still, why not wait until the claim has been verified or denied, it's a win-win: If it works, you guys can claim that Thais stole the research from a white nation, if it doesn't work, well you have the program. The only thing you're missing out on is to write "told you so".

[realenglish1]

Just because you develop an antibody does not mean it will work or not work in Humans It must go through trials

This is grandstanding at best

[connda]

That was fast. Now, how about Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever?

[Soutpeel]

why is there no international reaction? nothing on CNN? BBC?

Still laughing at the news the Tour de France is going to be held in Thailand ?...

[Soutpeel]

That was fast. Now, how about Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever?

HIV cure by the end of the year ?

[jimbeam1]

Who will be the human guinea pigs to be tested? Its only at desk top evealuation at the moment, which means a long way to becoming a cure. So the crowing about 'having a cure' is a bit of a misnomer.

Must be plenty of Burmese around willing to take part.

[Cheesekraft]

I hope they did find the vaccine, but I am a bit skeptical. They don't have any facilities required to properly hold the ebola virus, the highest biohazard level in existance. Good luck to us all if they really are playing around with biohazard level 4 viruses without proper containment facilities.

[sirineou]

This is good news, let's wait and see if anything positive develops out of this

but Some people cant find anything positive to say about Thailand. If tomorrow it was announced that god revealed him self and he was Thai, people would complain about what terrible job he did designing the Giraffe

maybe the negativity and doubt stem from the fact the Thais have the lowest average IQ in the world and people have no faith that they can do better than the Japanese who possess, I believe, the second highest IQ in the world. But who knows even a blind pig can find an acorn. Just a suggestion.

Of course neither your claim concerning IQ or your premise are correct, which raises serious questions about your IQ.

[cloghead]

That was fast. Now, how about Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever?

HIV cure by the end of the year ?

Yep, 85% complete (as of yesterday)...

Edited October 4, 2014 by cloghead

[ThailandNoob]

Without wanting to be negative - The simple fact that these antibodies have yet to be tested on either animals or humans means that this announcement has very little substance. Any peer reviewed journal wouldn't touch this with a barge pole in the context of 'a therapy for Ebola' as that has not been proven in the slightest in humans.

HIV research has identified a number of broadly neutralizing antibodies, produced naturally by humans which are highly effective against the HIV virus in a lab under controlled conditions, but mimicking that response in the human body to kill HIV and purge it from an infected person is still the subject of intensive research with an estimated 5 - 10 years expected before it becomes a viable treatment or enters human trials.

But this type of announcement raises the profile of science in Thailand and that in itself is a fantastic but I just hope that they haven't jumped the gun. Like that Japanese group did recently with their stem cell cloning technique which was shot down in flames once it was peer reviewed. And led to lot's of apologetic kowtowing on the Japanese side.

I minored in biochemistry, and I totally second everything you wrote here. Except that I'd like to make a few more things clear. In general, out of all of the treatments that look promising when tested on a container of cells in the lab (in vitro as it is known), only a small percentage live up to that promise in animals testing. Out of those, only a small proportion live up to their promise in human testing. So the odds of this working, while non-zero, are low.

To me this is quite scary.

In order to develop an antibody - or even do research into doing so - surely they would need the active Virus?

What half-wit would deliberately import such a deadly disease?

I would also be very concerned about the security / quarantine facilities at Sirirat.

Patrick

reported in the International Business Times UK eddition

"Doctors at the hospital told the Indian news website NDTV that researchers did not import the Ebola virus into Thailand to develop the treatment, but instead used less-virulent viruses that produce similar haemorrhagic fevers."

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ebola-outbreak-thailands-siriraj-hospital-creates-antibody-treatment-deadly-virus-1467727

This makes me even less optimistic. Even treatments that might work on one strain of Ebola virus are unlikely to work on another. If they designed it to work on a related virus such as Marburg, then even if it works on that (and see what I wrote above), then it is unlikely to work on Ebola.

Sent from my IS11T using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[inzman]

I hope it's true and the Thais do find a cure. But I am a realist and Thailand has shown time and time again it's ineptness with modern science. Remember the bomb detector? Billions spent on witch science. And for all the thai apologists out there, they earned this disrespect themselves for their absurd behavior, sorry guys.

[sirineou]

Without wanting to be negative - The simple fact that these antibodies have yet to be tested on either animals or humans means that this announcement has very little substance. Any peer reviewed journal wouldn't touch this with a barge pole in the context of 'a therapy for Ebola' as that has not been proven in the slightest in humans.

HIV research has identified a number of broadly neutralizing antibodies, produced naturally by humans which are highly effective against the HIV virus in a lab under controlled conditions, but mimicking that response in the human body to kill HIV and purge it from an infected person is still the subject of intensive research with an estimated 5 - 10 years expected before it becomes a viable treatment or enters human trials.

But this type of announcement raises the profile of science in Thailand and that in itself is a fantastic but I just hope that they haven't jumped the gun. Like that Japanese group did recently with their stem cell cloning technique which was shot down in flames once it was peer reviewed. And led to lot's of apologetic kowtowing on the Japanese side.

I minored in biochemistry, and I totally second everything you wrote here. Except that I'd like to make a few more things clear. In general, out of all of the treatments that look promising when tested on a container of cells in the lab (in vitro as it is known), only a small percentage live up to that promise in animals testing. Out of those, only a small proportion live up to their promise in human testing. So the odds of this working, while non-zero, are low.

To me this is quite scary.

In order to develop an antibody - or even do research into doing so - surely they would need the active Virus?

What half-wit would deliberately import such a deadly disease?

I would also be very concerned about the security / quarantine facilities at Sirirat.

Patrick

reported in the International Business Times UK eddition

"Doctors at the hospital told the Indian news website NDTV that researchers did not import the Ebola virus into Thailand to develop the treatment, but instead used less-virulent viruses that produce similar haemorrhagic fevers."

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ebola-outbreak-thailands-siriraj-hospital-creates-antibody-treatment-deadly-virus-1467727

This makes me even less optimistic. Even treatments that might work on one strain of Ebola virus are unlikely to work on another. If they designed it to work on a related virus such as Marburg, then even if it works on that (and see what I wrote above), then it is unlikely to work on Ebola.

Sent from my IS11T using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

All the points you make are valid, and well thought out.

I would think that since they are making a significant investment in money for the research and in reputation, and since research facilities in the US are agreeing to take this to the next level an further research it, that they would have also consider the same variables you mentioned, and have concluded that there is enough chance for success, to warrant further research.

In an unrelated subject to your reply, I wish before people reply and make these ridiculous disparaging statements,that they would read the articles, and do a search on Google for related articles. No one is claiming that they have a cure for the disease, what they claim is that they have what they consider, a significant breakthrough towards a cure.

[gigman]

Thailand have smart people too and I do not understand all this hatred or mistrust towards them....

[mataleo]

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/ebola-vaccine-why-its-taking-so-long-make-one-n216586

The amazing part is that to develop cure/vacinne cost milions $ and some how they manage...

Edited October 7, 2014 by mataleo

[chotthee]

Now that Thai doctor is 1st in the world to have found a cure for Ebola, surely the Nobel prize is on his door steps.