The success of a vaccine against Ebola paves the way to end and stop the deadly virus outbreak in Africa.
(Reuters) .- The first world is about to be able to protect humans from Ebola, reported the World Health Organization ( WHO ) after the results of a trial in Guinea showed that a vaccine is 100% effective.
Initial results of a study that evaluated the immunization of Merck NewLink Genetics and called VSV – ZEBOV in more than 4,000 people who had been in direct contact with a patient with a confirmed diagnosis of Ebola, they showed 100% protection after ten days.
The data were described as “exceptional” and “revolutionary” by specialists in global health.
“We believe the world is about to have an effective vaccine Ebola” said the expert on immunizations WHO Marie Paule Kieny, at a press conference in Geneva.
The vaccine can now be used to help end the worst outbreak of Ebola on record, killing more 11,200 people in West Africa since its inception in December 2013.
The general director of the WHO , Margaret Chan, said the results of study, published in the online edition of the medical journal The Lancet, were “extremely promising development”
“This is going to be revolutionary,” Chan told reporters. “It will change the handling of the current outbreak of Ebola and future outbreaks,” said
This and other trials of experimental immunizations were accelerated with a huge international effort., As investigators struggle to achieve test potential therapies and vaccines in a time when the virus is in full flow.
“We knew it was a race against time and the trial had to be implemented under the most challenging circumstances,” he says John-Arne Röttingen, chief of infectious disease control at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and president of the group that led the trial.
Ring vaccination
trial Guinea to assess the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine began on March 23. A single dose of VSV was tested – ZEBOV using the strategy of “ring vaccination” in which people close to someone diagnosed with Ebola were immunized either immediately or a few days later.
As began to emerge data showing a high rate of protection among vaccinated immediately, researchers on July 26 decided not to use more strategy “delayed” since beginning to be clear that waiting involved unethical and unnecessary risk.
The trial continues and all participants receive a dose of the vaccine immediately. It will he extended to include children 13 to 17 years and possibly children aged 6 to 12, said the WHO .
“Our hope is that the vaccine now will help us to stop this epidemic (in Africa) and prepare for the inevitable future epidemics of Ebola, “said Jeremy Farrar, infectious disease specialist and director of the Wellcome Trust charity.
Doctors Without Borders, which has led the fight against Ebola in West Africa, is calling for VSV – ZEBOV is applied in other epicenters of the current outbreak, Liberia and Sierra Leone, where they believe it may cut the chains of transmission and protect health care workers.
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