Uganda is battling Ebola again – and the world doesn’t have a vaccine | Devi Sridhar

Covid has led to pandemic fatigue, but for both humanitarian and self-interested reasons, global governments must helpEbola is one of those diseases you ’d rather not know about. It has ahigh mortality rate, often over 50%, and while the symptoms start with a fever and headache, in the latter stages, the body internally bleeds to death. Because it ’s spread through body fluids, such as an infectious person’s blood, vomit, urine, saliva, sweat or semen, it’s not as infectious as respiratory pathogens such as Covid-19, which spread through air. Those most at risk of Ebola are healthcare workers and family members caring for their sick lov ed ones.Uganda is currently battling one of itslargest outbreaks of Ebola. The Ugandan outbreak is caused by the Sudan strain of the virus, for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments. This is why the new outbreak is particularly concerning public health experts. As with Covid-19, the race is now on to find an effective vaccine: there are two potential candidates from GSK and Oxford, andclinical trials are being launched in the middle of this outbreak.Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of EdinburghDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 300 words to be considered for publication, email it to us [e-mail] reading...

Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - October 10, 2022 Category: Science Authors: Devi Sridhar Tags: Uganda Ebola Africa World news Infectious diseases Medical research Source Type: news