Ebola vaccine promising in first human trials
WASHINGTON, AFP – Researchers say they're a step closer to developing an Ebola vaccine, with a Phase 1 trial showing promising results, but it will be months at the earliest before it can be used in the field.
The news comes amid the worst ever outbreak of the hemorrhagic fever, which has killed nearly 5,700 people, mostly in West Africa.
Pharmaceutical companies and health agencies are scrambling to fast-track experimental drugs and vaccines that could help.
In the first phase of testing, all 20 healthy adults injected with a higher or lower dose of the vaccine developed antibodies needed to fight Ebola, said the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which conducted the study.
The volunteers were injected starting in September, and each showed a positive result for Ebola antibodies in blood tests within four weeks.
The 10 volunteers in the higher-dose group developed higher antibody levels, the NIH said.
None of the volunteers experienced serious side effects within the study period, though two had a brief, mild fever within the 24 hours after the injection.
The vaccine uses a modified chimpanzee cold virus to deliver segments of genetic material from the Ebola virus.
The genetic material cannot spread in the body like the virus does, but can still prompt the antibody response.
The version tested at NIH contains material from two species of Ebola – the Zaire species, responsible for the outbreak in West Africa, and another called Sudan Ebola.
But the vaccine is still a long way from being ready for use in the field.