Ebola vaccine trials in final stage
LAST week, researchers at the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention presented a report about a breakthrough in vaccine development against Ebola. This was at a meeting of the Society for General Microbiology in Edinburgh, Scotland.
By Hilary Bainemigisha
LAST week, researchers at the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention presented a report about a breakthrough in vaccine development against Ebola. This was at a meeting of the Society for General Microbiology in Edinburgh, Scotland.
According to ScoutNews, the team of American and Canadian scientists said they had successfully tested several Ebola vaccines in monkeys and were now working to create the first human vaccine for one of the world’s deadliest diseases.
Ebola is a lethal virus, which spreads through contact with bodily fluids such as blood, excrement, vomit, saliva, sweat and tears. An Ebola patient literally bleeds to death, his internal organs transformed into a semi-liquid mass, his skin, eyes, gums and anus weeping blood.
Uganda has had Ebola epidemics in northern Uganda in 2000, which, according to the Commissioner for Health Services, Dr. Sam Okware, killed over 50% of its victims and the recent one in Bundibugyo, which had a much smaller death rate of about 25%.
But the epidemics in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo claimed over 90% of their victims’ lives.
According to the Ministry of Health, the cumulative figures for Ebola cases in Uganda are 149 and the deaths are still 37.
Okware said the Bundibugyo Ebola was difficult to deal with because the strain had mutated and become difficult to identify.
That was echoed by Dr. Anthony Sanchez, of the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, the lead researcher in Ebola vaccine development.
According to ScoutNews, it was difficult to create a vaccine for Ebola, because simple ‘killed’ viruses that would trigger an antibody response from the body were not effective.
“For these viruses, we try to get a cell-mediated response, which involves our bodies producing killer T-cells before immunity is strong enough to prevent or clear an infection,†he said.
“We used several different recombinant DNA techniques to trigger a cell-mediated response and produce Ebola vaccines that are effective in monkeys. One of these vaccines will soon be tested on humans for the first time,†their statement said.
Monkeys rarely survive Ebola infection and have been very useful as animal models. The Ebola vaccine trials using primates have provided unambiguous results and have allowed the development of protective vaccines to progress rapidly, Sanchez said.
Successful human trials will mean that healthcare workers and other key personnel, who are active in controlling the spread of the disease, can be vaccinated during Ebola outbreaks.
The World Health Organisation and the Ministry of Health declared Uganda Ebola-free on February 22, this year.
LAST week, researchers at the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention presented a report about a breakthrough in vaccine development against Ebola. This was at a meeting of the Society for General Microbiology in Edinburgh, Scotland.
According to ScoutNews, the team of American and Canadian scientists said they had successfully tested several Ebola vaccines in monkeys and were now working to create the first human vaccine for one of the world’s deadliest diseases.
Ebola is a lethal virus, which spreads through contact with bodily fluids such as blood, excrement, vomit, saliva, sweat and tears. An Ebola patient literally bleeds to death, his internal organs transformed into a semi-liquid mass, his skin, eyes, gums and anus weeping blood.
Uganda has had Ebola epidemics in northern Uganda in 2000, which, according to the Commissioner for Health Services, Dr. Sam Okware, killed over 50% of its victims and the recent one in Bundibugyo, which had a much smaller death rate of about 25%.
But the epidemics in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo claimed over 90% of their victims’ lives.
According to the Ministry of Health, the cumulative figures for Ebola cases in Uganda are 149 and the deaths are still 37.
Okware said the Bundibugyo Ebola was difficult to deal with because the strain had mutated and become difficult to identify.
That was echoed by Dr. Anthony Sanchez, of the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, the lead researcher in Ebola vaccine development.
According to ScoutNews, it was difficult to create a vaccine for Ebola, because simple ‘killed’ viruses that would trigger an antibody response from the body were not effective.
“For these viruses, we try to get a cell-mediated response, which involves our bodies producing killer T-cells before immunity is strong enough to prevent or clear an infection,†he said.
“We used several different recombinant DNA techniques to trigger a cell-mediated response and produce Ebola vaccines that are effective in monkeys. One of these vaccines will soon be tested on humans for the first time,†their statement said.
Monkeys rarely survive Ebola infection and have been very useful as animal models. The Ebola vaccine trials using primates have provided unambiguous results and have allowed the development of protective vaccines to progress rapidly, Sanchez said.
Successful human trials will mean that healthcare workers and other key personnel, who are active in controlling the spread of the disease, can be vaccinated during Ebola outbreaks.
The World Health Organisation and the Ministry of Health declared Uganda Ebola-free on February 22, this year.