New Ebola vaccine looking promising
AN EXPERIMENTAL Ebola vaccine appears safe and triggered signs of immune protection in the first 20 volunteers to test it, US researchers reported this week.
The vaccine is designed to spur the immune system’s production of anti-Ebola antibodies, and people developed them within four weeks of getting the shots at the US National Institutes of Health. Half of the test group received a higher-dose shot and those people had produced more antibodies, said the study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Some people also developed a different set of virus-fighting immune cells, named T cells. That may be important in fending off Ebola, as prior research found that monkeys protected by the vaccine also had that combination response.
Stimulating both types of immune response is “a promising factor,” said Dr Anthony Fauci, director of NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, whose employees led the work.
The researchers reported no serious side effects.
Earlier this month, Fauci told Congress this first-stage testing was promising enough that the US planned larger studies in West Africa, starting in Liberia in early January.
Scientists are racing to develop ways to prevent or treat the virus that has killed more than 5 600 people in West Africa.
Wednesday’s publication offered scientific details about the initial testing of the vaccine candidate furthest along, one being developed by NIH and GlaxoSmithKline. Additional safety studies are under way in the US and other countries. A Canadian-made vaccine is also being tested.
Many questions remain as larger studies are being designed, including the best dose and how soon protection may begin, cautioned Dr Daniel Bausch, a Tulane University Ebola specialist. Plus, research suggests a booster shot will be needed for longterm protection. – Sapa-AP