WHO: Successful Ebola vaccine may be available for use by 2018
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a successful Ebola vaccine that protects against the fatal virus may be available for use by 2018 as it is currently being fast-tracked for regulatory approval.
Trials conducted in Guinea, one of the West African countries most affected by an outbreak of Ebola that ended this year, show it offers 100% protection.WHO led the Ebola vaccine trial, working with Guinea’s health ministry and other international groups.
Manufacturer Merck has made 300,000 doses of the rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine available for use should Ebola strike.GAVI, the global vaccine alliance, provided US$5million for the stockpile.
Nearly 6,000 people received the vaccine in the trial, and all were free of the virus 10 days later.In a group of the same size not vaccinated, 23 later developed Ebola.
Only one person who was vaccinated had a serious side effect – very high temperature – that the researchers think was caused by the jab. The patient was able to fully recover.
It is also not known how well the vaccine might work in children since this was not tested in the trial.
The director of UK-based medical research institute the Wellcome Trust described the findings as “remarkable”. “Had a vaccine been available earlier in the Ebola epidemic, thousands of lives might have been saved,” Jeremy Farrar said.
“We have to get ahead of the curve and make promising diagnostics, drugs and vaccines for diseases we know could be a threat in the future.”
WHO’s Marie-Paule Kieny said the results could help combat future outbreaks.
“While these compelling results come too late for those who lost their lives during West Africa’s Ebola epidemic, they show that when the next Ebola outbreak hits, we will not be defenseless,” said Dr. Kieny, the lead author of the study.
Other drug companies are developing different Ebola vaccines that could be used in the future too.
The Ebola virus was first identified in 1976 but the recent outbreak in West Africa, which killed more than 11,000 people, highlighted the need for a vaccine.The outbreak began in Guinea in 2013 and spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Category: Features, Pharmaceuticals
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