KARACHI:
After a research project of five years, doctors at the Agha Khan University (AKU) have found a diverse group of drugs effective against Naegleria fowleri, a deadly brain eater that has claimed many lives over the past few years.
The research team was led by Dr Naveed Ahmed Khan and Dr Abdul Mannan Baig, senior experts at the department of biological and biomedical sciences at the AKU.
The drugs tested to tackle N. fowleri are already in use for other illnesses.
“We had tested several Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs to check their efficacy against N. fowleri. Of them, three have been found to be effective,” said Dr Khan, adding that the drugs would hopefully be used to treat humans infected with N. fowleri next year.
