The publication of research showing the efficacy of the Ebola VSV-ZEBOV vaccine represents an incredible and humbling achievement that has only been possible due to the global collaboration of researchers, NGOs, governments, industry and funders – all working towards a unified goal.
The results of this interim report include data from approximately 7,500 people given the vaccine and suggest that a single injection of VSV-ZEBOV might be highly effective in preventing people from contracting Ebola. An effective vaccine against Ebola could reduce deaths and end this devastating epidemic that has had a huge social and economic impact.
Developing vaccines from scratch takes years. Promising Ebola vaccine candidates existed in summer 2014, when the recent epidemic was at its worst, but only one had been tested in humans and was subsequently abandoned. There were no Ebola vaccines ready to be tested in West Africa to see if they could protect people from contracting the virus.
As the epidemic progressed, and following positive results of the safety trial, a second proposal was received in December to assess whether the VSV-ZEBOV could protect people from Ebola.
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Vaccination was given immediately or delayed by three weeks to assess the ability of the VSV-EBOV vaccine to protect against the disease. The results showed it to be so effective that as of 26th July, all trial participants are being given the vaccine immediately.
The results are positive for two reasons. Not only does this vaccine candidate appear to give effective protection against the Zaire strain of Ebola, but we’ve got to this point in approximately eight months, rather than years.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: Breakthrough in the search for an Ebola Vaccine
