By: Bikram Bohra

The point is not that a cure has been found to block the MERS virus but how long it will be before the benefit accrues to the affected areas. Regrettably, far too many diseases are allowed to run rampant because the potential cures are linked directly to big business and the pharmaceutical industry which has massive clout.

In this case an international panel of researchers says it has identified a chemical compound that displays the ability to inhibit deadly forms of coronaviruses including MERS and SARS.

Seeing as how over 800 people have died in the first round in 2002 and another 282 of the MERS coronavirus so far with Saudi Arabia being the worst hit, any delay is criminal. If someone is dying, does it really matter if the treatment is not cleared by the FDA and its equivalents?

Research led by scientists at the University of Berne in Switzerland and the University of Gothenburg in Sweden has managed to identify a compound, named K22, which initially showed antiviral capabilities against one mild coronavirus strain that causes common colds.

Scientists say K22 guards host membranes in the body from being “re-shaped” as the attacking coronavirus attempts to multiply and spread the infection. It appears capable of inhibiting viruses in cells lining the human airway, a natural “invasion” pathway for respiratory viruses, the researchers said.

None of this is any comfort to the afflicted unless the red tape can be cut. One often wonders why it takes so long to get the succor to the people and how much of the delay is directly linked to the bottom line.

It is a sobering thought that over the centuries there have been only 26 empirical cures in medical science. Sometimes it makes a person think if we are being taken for a ride.