By Ansbert B. Joaquin
Olongapo City—While the world scampers to find the antidote for the highly infectious Covid 19, some countries have even claimed having invented the virus vaccine, an anti-viral vaccine for this most dreaded disease may be just in our neighborhood.
The Fabunan family of doctors have for years now been treating patients with dengue, chikungunya, dog bite, snake bites, and even HIV/AIDS with their anti-viral injection. According to Dr. Willie Fabunan, his anti-viral injection is a combination of drugs anyone can buy from drug stores over-the-counter.
“We just change the ratio of these combination drugs in treating various ailments,” Fabunan said in stressing the safety of the drug combo.
Dr. Willie Fabunan now maintains clinics in San Marcelino, Zambales and in Olongapo City.
Dr. Fabunan has successfully treated nine out of ten HIV/AIDS patients way back when he was still practicing in his hometown in San Marcelino, Zambales in 1999.
Willie’s elder brother Ruben, who is now based in Los Angeles, USA, founded the Fil-Am Tech, a private biotechnology firm, and began treating patients suffering from HIV/AIDS with the same drug.
As Covid 19 claims more lives in the country, the Fabunan families are offering this same drug as a powerful remedy against the dreaded disease.
One of the family members, who helped found the Help for Life, Incorporated, and his partners have started an online petition for the DOH to test their anti-viral drug which they named as Prodex-B against Covid19.
In Change.org, Help for Life President John Carlos delos Reyes said, it is urgent to consider for immediate testing the anti viral drug by the DOH as a potential cure for Covid 19.
On Sunday (March 29), Dr. Willie Fabunan's group called the Standard to clarify that he is not related to those who set up Health for Life, and that his Fabunan Anti-viral Injection (FAI) and Health for Lifre's Prodex-B are two different vaccines.
In his Facebook page, Delos Reyes said: “We have focused enough on quarantines, lock-downs, testing kits, PPEs, more money from Congress. These are preventive and defensive, very expensive and will drain us in this battle of attrition with the virus. What we need is an anti-viral cure, and we need it now! Without this we lost the war!”
In a petition written by Delos Reyes, he urgently appealed to the to DOH for the Immediate Testing of Prodex-B Anti Viral Against Covid 19. He said the drug cocktail is a combination of procaine and dexmethasone with vitamin B.
He added that this compounded medicine has been the subject of two research papers: A Novel Method for the Selective Elimination of HIV Infected Cells: Dexamethasone and Procaine as a Combination Therapy Prototype conducted by Drs. Elbourakadi, Najoua and Ethan W. Taylor, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2011; and In Vitro Anti-dengue Virus Activity of a Customized Drug Cocktail conducted by the Molecular Immunology Laboratory for Research Education and Training (MILRET), St. Luke’s Medical Center led by Dr. Isaac David E. Ampil II and Dr. Maria Terrese Alonzo-Dimamay.
In both tests, Delos Reyes said conclusions showed inhibition in viral replication, significant reduction of virus quantity, even the ability to selectively kill infected cells. Both drugs are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the Philippines and in the U.S. They have different mechanisms of action, but when combined, according to Dr. Ethan Taylor, it produces a synergistic effect with a natural alcohol antagonistic to the virus.
“Just last March 20, 2020 St. Luke’s Medical Center’s MILRET through a letter sent to us, on results of their Dengue research said that Prodex-B “has shown promising anti-dengue virus activity of the drug as shown by the ‘significant reduction in the virus quantity after treatment with the drug cocktail,” Delos Reyes said
He added that “Doctors Dave Navarro and Nathaniel Nacional, who are most familiar with this drug cocktail, are confident it can arrest the COVID-19 virus. This is because Covid-19, which is caused by the virus named “severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2” (SARS-CoV-2), share similar symptoms with Influenza, and the drug cocktail Prodex-B is almost 100% successful against Influenza and Dengue which are viral diseases.”
The petition, which aims to have 5,000 signatories, has as of this writing (March 26, 2020, 11:36pm) almost met its target with 4,388 signatories.
Long-time Olongapo City and San Marcelino, Zambales residents are gung-ho at the idea of having this anti viral drug approved by the Department of Health, citing experiences of their family members who have been cured by Fabunan.
In a Facebook post by Peter Tiu Lavina, he said: “A friend from Cavite is on his way to Zambales escorted by PNP to look for the Filipino scientist who made anti-viral meds used against Dengue, Malaria, Ebola. God bless their way!”
Olongapo City residents, believe the post refers to Dr. Willie Fabunan, and commented positively.
Delos Reyes said they are ready and willing to share what they know and disclose what they have, so the government can begin the process of vetting this remaining medical alternative that could very well be the game changer against this pandemic. “No names here, no profits to be made, no politics, just turning over to government and health authorities what we have, for love of country and humanity. “
“Our team is also willing to be deployed to ‘ground zero’ to be frontliners. We offer that our doctors administer the anti-viral for free! Please consider it part of the ‘trials.’ he said.
