In what can be termed as one of the biggest successes of medical science in the recent few years, researchers have been able to successfully test a vaccine for Ebola virus, reported The Guardian Newspaper on Friday.
The tests for the vaccine were carried out in Guinea and were found to be 100% successful in trials. The vaccine was were tried out during the outbreak in Guinea and it is experts hope that this would bring the west African epidemic to an end.
The unprecedented speed with which the development of the vaccine and the testing were carried out made the vaccine development remarkable. The vaccine was tested on 4,000 people.
The vaccine took just 12 months to be successfully developed by a group of scientists, doctors, donors and drug companies who collaborated to race the vaccine through the multiple development and testing process. Usually vaccine development testing and commissioning takes more than a decade. This makes the development of the vaccine more remarkable.
“Having seen the devastating effects of Ebola on communities and even whole countries with my own eyes, I am very encouraged by today’s news,” said Børge Brende, the foreign minister of Norway, which helped fund the trial.
“This new vaccine, if the results hold up, may be the silver bullet against Ebola, helping to bring the current outbreak to zero and to control future outbreaks of this kind. I would like to thank all partners who have contributed to achieve this sensational result, due to an extraordinary and rapid collaborative effort,” he said on Friday.
Till the 26th of July this year, there have been a total of 27,748 cases of Ebola in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. 11,279 people died in these attacks even there are suspicions that many more had not been reported and the actual tool could be much higher. However there has been a drop in the reported cases as was evident in the week ending 26th July with just four reported cases in Guinea and three in Sierra Leone.
The researchers have planned on a novel design for the trial given the diminishing number of Ebola cases in West Africa and the shifting nature of the epidemic that has resulted in limited and sudden attacks in limited areas. The researchers thus have planned to vaccinate all the contacts of the sick person who were willing – the family, friends and neighbors – and their immediate contacts. This was also the process of testing the vaccine during the testing period.
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation have expressed its happiness over the news of Ebola vaccine saying that World leaders such as the United States, the UK and others as well as leading global public health organizations must step up now with all due haste and all financial resources necessary to quickly bring this vaccine to development and to those in need, particularly in West Africa.
“After a poorly managed global response to the Ebola outbreak last year, news of the phenomenal successes of these vaccine trials in Guinea—100% efficacy in a trial cohort of 4,000 patients—is simply tremendous,” said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation said.
(Sources:www.theguardian.com & www.businesswire.com)
“This new vaccine, if the results hold up, may be the silver bullet against Ebola, helping to bring the current outbreak to zero and to control future outbreaks of this kind. I would like to thank all partners who have contributed to achieve this sensational result, due to an extraordinary and rapid collaborative effort,” he said on Friday.
Till the 26th of July this year, there have been a total of 27,748 cases of Ebola in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. 11,279 people died in these attacks even there are suspicions that many more had not been reported and the actual tool could be much higher. However there has been a drop in the reported cases as was evident in the week ending 26th July with just four reported cases in Guinea and three in Sierra Leone.
The researchers have planned on a novel design for the trial given the diminishing number of Ebola cases in West Africa and the shifting nature of the epidemic that has resulted in limited and sudden attacks in limited areas. The researchers thus have planned to vaccinate all the contacts of the sick person who were willing – the family, friends and neighbors – and their immediate contacts. This was also the process of testing the vaccine during the testing period.
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation have expressed its happiness over the news of Ebola vaccine saying that World leaders such as the United States, the UK and others as well as leading global public health organizations must step up now with all due haste and all financial resources necessary to quickly bring this vaccine to development and to those in need, particularly in West Africa.
“After a poorly managed global response to the Ebola outbreak last year, news of the phenomenal successes of these vaccine trials in Guinea—100% efficacy in a trial cohort of 4,000 patients—is simply tremendous,” said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation said.
(Sources:www.theguardian.com & www.businesswire.com)