Scientists warn against complacency on Ebola vaccines

A team of leading international scientists has called for new Ebola vaccines to be made available in months rather than years and warned against complacency after a reduction in infection rates.

"Despite falling infection rates in west Africa, the risk that the current Ebola outbreak may not be brought completely under control remains," said Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, Britain's biggest medical charity.

"The accelerated development of candidate vaccines... is essential," said Farrar, who co-chairs a group of 26 international experts on vaccine development.

"We may see an end to this Ebola epidemic within the year if we continue with the current remarkable efforts, but we must not be complacent about the inevitable future epidemics of Ebola and other emerging infectious diseases," he said.

The group was set up in November 2014 by the Wellcome Trust and the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy to monitor global efforts on the challenge of developing vaccines in record time.

In a new report, the group said: "The commercial vaccine manufacturing model is not a good fit for meeting needs to rapidly develop and deploy new vaccines."

It also admitted that recent falls in infection rates in the current outbreak made clinical trials for vaccines "uncertain", but said they should continue to allow for vaccine development in future.

It warned: "The potential for EVD (Ebola Virus Disease) to become endemic... is a real and very concerning possibility".

The Ebola epidemic has affected mainly Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone and has killed nearly 9,000 people since it began more than a year ago.

The Wellcome Trust said earlier this month that clinical trials it was funding for a new Ebola treatment in Liberia were halted by pharmaceutical company Chimerix due to a fall in new cases.

AFP

A student has her body temperature checked as part of an Ebola screening at Don Bosco High School as schools reopened in the Liberian capital Monrovia on February 16, 2015. Children trickled back to school in Liberia after the restart of lessons that had been delayed for months by the deadly Ebola outbreak, as the country begins to turn the page on the crisis.

Members of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and EPRUS,  wearing personal protective Equipment (PPE), take part in a training session held by the military trained Civil Security (Securite civile), on checking and treating suspected victims of the Ebola virus, during a simulation drill on February 12, 2015 in Nogent-le-Rotrou, western France. Public health management of the Ebola virus disease involves a combination of techniques including quarantine, avoidance, engineering controls, work practices, administrative controls, and proper use, donning and doffing of personal protective equipment.

Jhpiego, a global health non-profit and affiliate of Johns Hopkins University, showcases an advanced protective suit for healthcare workers who treat Ebola patients during an event on the side line of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Fall 2015 on February 13, 2015 in New York.

US President Barack Obama (L) delivers remarks with Ebola response partners in Washington, DC, February 11, 2015. Obama spoke on the progress made to date and the next steps in our response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.